On Tue, 7/7/2026 4:55 AM, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

On 7/7/2026 4:37 PM, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 7/7/2026 2:06 AM, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

If a keyboard's Cherry MX keywitch got some
WD40 inside, is it possible to flush it out?

Is replacing the MX keyswitch the only way?

You'd flush it out with WD40.

Well, you should not have used WD40 in the first place
(we could have told you that).

No, it's a cheap keyboard that looked new in
Sham Shui Po. I bought it home then found
that some keys were stuck, notably the ENTER
key and the Right Shift key under it.

I popped their keycaps and smelled the
corresponding MX keyswitches underneath.
It's like kerosene or WD40, I could not tell.

So, could those mysterious liquid be cleaned
without replacing the corresponding keyswitches?

Maybe an arsonist suddenly aborted a dark
operation and dumped the keyboard. I dunno... :)

It is probably less trouble to find another keyboard.

I don't know how much solder-heat a switch like that can take.

Paul



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 7/7/2026 6:32 PM, Paul wrote:

On Tue, 7/7/2026 4:55 AM, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

No, it's a cheap keyboard that looked new in
Sham Shui Po. I bought it home then found
that some keys were stuck, notably the ENTER
key and the Right Shift key under it.

I popped their keycaps and smelled the
corresponding MX keyswitches underneath.
It's like kerosene or WD40, I could not tell.

It is probably less trouble to find another keyboard.
I don't know how much solder-heat a switch like that can take.

No, I wanna repair/save/fix the keyswitches.

Is there an easy solution to flush whatever
fluid as trapped inside those 2 Cherry MX
keyswitches?

I don't wanna re-solder those 2 keyswitches.
That would be a lot of trouble-s. :)

--

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/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
The game is afoot... Meow...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 7/8/2026 7:24 AM, Nick Canuck wrote:

On Tue, 7 Jul 2026 16:55:16 +0800, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

If a keyboard's Cherry MX keywitch got some WD40 inside, is it
possible to flush it out?

I popped their keycaps and smelled the corresponding MX keyswitches
underneath.
It's like kerosene or WD40, I could not tell.

So, could those mysterious liquid be cleaned without replacing the
corresponding keyswitches?

I would personally try 99% isopropyl alcohol. It is cheap and likely easy
for you to find, and likely will take most of the oils off the keyboard.
It shouldn't take long to fully evaporate either, probably real quick if
you put it out in the sun.

I suppose both kerosene and WD40 are volatile
fluid? In that case, maybe I could just bake
the keyboard under bright sunlight for a few
hot summer days in Hong Kong right now.

Then I could immerse the TKL keyboard into
a big bucket of hot water for a day, then
leave it to dry under sunlight again for
a few hot summer days.

Well... worth trying as this method does
not need anything special, nor involve
fire risks. Meow....



--

@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
The game is afoot... Meow...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)