Hi,

I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
430CDS laptop
and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
when I
press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
the
keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
number
characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
correct this problem?

Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
text.
Thanks,

Joe

I am not sure if this will fix it but try it.
This suggestion will only work if you spilled some puer water only and
not pop, beer etc.

I would turn off the laptop, place it upside down on a flat surface in
the open position, space it above the surface with a couple of books
to get a couple of inches of space between it and the table.
This will encourage any remaining water to drain back to the surface
of the keyboard and out of the laptop.

You can also speed up the process by usning a hair drier on the lowest
setting to blow warm air between the laptop and the table. Make sure
that this does not make any part of the laptop warmer than what is
comfortable for you to keep your hand on for an extended period or you
can further damage the laptop. You may have to do this for many hours
as the water will not easily come out of the switches but if you have
patience and keep checking the temperature of the laaptop to keep it
from getting too hot, this may help.
Good luck

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:17:58 GMT, joseph thornwall
<strimple@earthlink.net> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
>430CDS laptop
>and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
>when I
>press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
>the
>keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
>number
>characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
>correct this problem?
>
>Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
>text.
>Thanks,
>
>Joe

RMA,

Thanks for the suggestion.  It was pure water and I have tried to
dry it out by placing it in front of a hot air register for a day
or so but that didn't help.  This happened a week ago and I would
think the moisture would have dried out by now.  I will try your
suggestion by turning it upside down and blow warm air from
a hair dryer to see it that helps.  It is amazing to me that such
a small amount of pure water would cause this much problem.  The
key board circuit must be an extremely high impedance for the
leakage current caused by water is enough to screw it up.

Thanks again for your suggestion.

joe

RMA wrote:
> 
> I am not sure if this will fix it but try it.
> This suggestion will only work if you spilled some puer water only and
> not pop, beer etc.
> 
> I would turn off the laptop, place it upside down on a flat surface in
> the open position, space it above the surface with a couple of books
> to get a couple of inches of space between it and the table.
> This will encourage any remaining water to drain back to the surface
> of the keyboard and out of the laptop.
> 
> You can also speed up the process by usning a hair drier on the lowest
> setting to blow warm air between the laptop and the table. Make sure
> that this does not make any part of the laptop warmer than what is
> comfortable for you to keep your hand on for an extended period or you
> can further damage the laptop. You may have to do this for many hours
> as the water will not easily come out of the switches but if you have
> patience and keep checking the temperature of the laaptop to keep it
> from getting too hot, this may help.
> Good luck
> 
> On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:17:58 GMT, joseph thornwall
> <strimple@earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> >Hi,
> >
> >I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
> >430CDS laptop
> >and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
> >when I
> >press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
> >the
> >keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
> >number
> >characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
> >correct this problem?
> >
> >Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
> >text.
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Joe

RMA wrote:
> 
> I am not sure if this will fix it but try it.
> This suggestion will only work if you spilled some puer water only and
> not pop, beer etc.
> 
> I would turn off the laptop, place it upside down on a flat surface in
> the open position, space it above the surface with a couple of books
> to get a couple of inches of space between it and the table.
> This will encourage any remaining water to drain back to the surface
> of the keyboard and out of the laptop.
> 
> You can also speed up the process by usning a hair drier on the lowest
> setting to blow warm air between the laptop and the table. Make sure
> that this does not make any part of the laptop warmer than what is
> comfortable for you to keep your hand on for an extended period or you
> can further damage the laptop. You may have to do this for many hours
> as the water will not easily come out of the switches but if you have
> patience and keep checking the temperature of the laaptop to keep it
> from getting too hot, this may help.
> Good luck
> 
> On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:17:58 GMT, joseph thornwall
> <strimple@earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> >Hi,
> >
> >I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
> >430CDS laptop
> >and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
> >when I
> >press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
> >the
> >keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
> >number
> >characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
> >correct this problem?
> >
> >Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
> >text.
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Joe

I spent some time trying to dry out the computer using a
hair drier
to no avail. I did discover how to raise the keyboard by
removing
a small strip along the front of the keyboard which holds
the key-
board into the top of the case.  I blew warm air over the
"guts"
of the computer with the keyboard raised up and folded back
against
the display.  I don't see any sign of surface moisture
anywhere.
I did notice two NiMH batteries located under the left side
of the
keyboard.  One is a 7 volt 110 mAH battery and the other is
a
3 volt 30 mAH one. They each have a flying lead to a
connector. This
laptop was new in January 1997 - it will be 7 years old next
month.
One other thing did happen immediately after the water
spill that I didn't mention.  The audio output apparently
had
feedback from the output to the input because it "screeched"
very
loudly until I could close down.  Reducing the volume
control
didn't stop the "screeching" sound.  The next day this
problem
was gone.  I wonder if these two batteries need to be
replaced.  They are accessible only with thekeyboard raised
up.
Since I don't have a circuit diagram there is
no way for me to diagnose the problem.  I can measure the
terminal voltages of these batteries, which I will do when I
get a chance.

Joe

joseph thornwall wrote:
> RMA wrote:
>>
>> I am not sure if this will fix it but try it.
>> This suggestion will only work if you spilled some puer water only
>> and not pop, beer etc.
>>
>> I would turn off the laptop, place it upside down on a flat surface
>> in the open position, space it above the surface with a couple of
>> books to get a couple of inches of space between it and the table.
>> This will encourage any remaining water to drain back to the surface
>> of the keyboard and out of the laptop.
>>
>> You can also speed up the process by usning a hair drier on the
>> lowest setting to blow warm air between the laptop and the table.
>> Make sure that this does not make any part of the laptop warmer than
>> what is comfortable for you to keep your hand on for an extended
>> period or you can further damage the laptop. You may have to do this
>> for many hours as the water will not easily come out of the switches
>> but if you have patience and keep checking the temperature of the
>> laaptop to keep it from getting too hot, this may help.
>> Good luck
>>
>> On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:17:58 GMT, joseph thornwall
>> <strimple@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
>>> 430CDS laptop
>>> and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
>>> when I
>>> press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
>>> the
>>> keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
>>> number
>>> characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
>>> correct this problem?
>>>
>>> Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
>>> text.
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Joe
>
> I spent some time trying to dry out the computer using a
> hair drier
> to no avail. I did discover how to raise the keyboard by
> removing
> a small strip along the front of the keyboard which holds
> the key-
> board into the top of the case.  I blew warm air over the
> "guts"
> of the computer with the keyboard raised up and folded back
> against
> the display.  I don't see any sign of surface moisture
> anywhere.
> I did notice two NiMH batteries located under the left side
> of the
> keyboard.  One is a 7 volt 110 mAH battery and the other is
> a
> 3 volt 30 mAH one. They each have a flying lead to a
> connector. This
> laptop was new in January 1997 - it will be 7 years old next
> month.
> One other thing did happen immediately after the water
> spill that I didn't mention.  The audio output apparently
> had
> feedback from the output to the input because it "screeched"
> very
> loudly until I could close down.  Reducing the volume
> control
> didn't stop the "screeching" sound.  The next day this
> problem
> was gone.  I wonder if these two batteries need to be
> replaced.  They are accessible only with thekeyboard raised
> up.
> Since I don't have a circuit diagram there is
> no way for me to diagnose the problem.  I can measure the
> terminal voltages of these batteries, which I will do when I
> get a chance.
>
> Joe

At least one of those is the CMOS battery which powers NVRAM.  If this
battery were dead, the first indication would be that your clock would
reset to say Jan 1, 1980, your HD might not be recognized.  The other
battery I have no idea of its function, but I don't think it has
anything to do with the keyboard.

One thing is that if the ribbon cable is not firmly connected, you might
see this problem.  Since you moved the KB, this might be worth looking
into, although the connector used by Toshiba, from my experience is very
difficult to loosen.

It might be just a simple matter of letting the keyboard sit, open to
air for a few days.

Q

joseph thornwall wrote:
> RMA wrote:
>>
>> I am not sure if this will fix it but try it.
>> This suggestion will only work if you spilled some puer water only
>> and not pop, beer etc.
>>
>> I would turn off the laptop, place it upside down on a flat surface
>> in the open position, space it above the surface with a couple of
>> books to get a couple of inches of space between it and the table.
>> This will encourage any remaining water to drain back to the surface
>> of the keyboard and out of the laptop.
>>
>> You can also speed up the process by usning a hair drier on the
>> lowest setting to blow warm air between the laptop and the table.
>> Make sure that this does not make any part of the laptop warmer than
>> what is comfortable for you to keep your hand on for an extended
>> period or you can further damage the laptop. You may have to do this
>> for many hours as the water will not easily come out of the switches
>> but if you have patience and keep checking the temperature of the
>> laaptop to keep it from getting too hot, this may help.
>> Good luck
>>
>> On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:17:58 GMT, joseph thornwall
>> <strimple@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
>>> 430CDS laptop
>>> and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
>>> when I
>>> press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
>>> the
>>> keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
>>> number
>>> characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
>>> correct this problem?
>>>
>>> Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
>>> text.
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Joe
>
> I spent some time trying to dry out the computer using a
> hair drier
> to no avail. I did discover how to raise the keyboard by
> removing
> a small strip along the front of the keyboard which holds
> the key-
> board into the top of the case.  I blew warm air over the
> "guts"
> of the computer with the keyboard raised up and folded back
> against
> the display.  I don't see any sign of surface moisture
> anywhere.
> I did notice two NiMH batteries located under the left side
> of the
> keyboard.  One is a 7 volt 110 mAH battery and the other is
> a
> 3 volt 30 mAH one. They each have a flying lead to a
> connector. This
> laptop was new in January 1997 - it will be 7 years old next
> month.
> One other thing did happen immediately after the water
> spill that I didn't mention.  The audio output apparently
> had
> feedback from the output to the input because it "screeched"
> very
> loudly until I could close down.  Reducing the volume
> control
> didn't stop the "screeching" sound.  The next day this
> problem
> was gone.  I wonder if these two batteries need to be
> replaced.  They are accessible only with thekeyboard raised
> up.
> Since I don't have a circuit diagram there is
> no way for me to diagnose the problem.  I can measure the
> terminal voltages of these batteries, which I will do when I
> get a chance.
>
> Joe

BTW, Toshiba keyboards are about $25 on eBay.

Q

they're cheap & easy to replace, why not do that instead? and they're
almost impossible to take apart & reassemble.

Quaoar wrote:
> 
> joseph thornwall wrote:
> > RMA wrote:
> >>
> >> I am not sure if this will fix it but try it.
> >> This suggestion will only work if you spilled some puer water only
> >> and not pop, beer etc.
> >>
> >> I would turn off the laptop, place it upside down on a flat surface
> >> in the open position, space it above the surface with a couple of
> >> books to get a couple of inches of space between it and the table.
> >> This will encourage any remaining water to drain back to the surface
> >> of the keyboard and out of the laptop.
> >>
> >> You can also speed up the process by usning a hair drier on the
> >> lowest setting to blow warm air between the laptop and the table.
> >> Make sure that this does not make any part of the laptop warmer than
> >> what is comfortable for you to keep your hand on for an extended
> >> period or you can further damage the laptop. You may have to do this
> >> for many hours as the water will not easily come out of the switches
> >> but if you have patience and keep checking the temperature of the
> >> laaptop to keep it from getting too hot, this may help.
> >> Good luck
> >>
> >> On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 07:17:58 GMT, joseph thornwall
> >> <strimple@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi,
> >>>
> >>> I spilled a small amount of water on the keyboard of my
> >>> 430CDS laptop
> >>> and now a number of keys do not function properly; i.e.,
> >>> when I
> >>> press e I get es, d I get dx, etc - all on the left side of
> >>> the
> >>> keyboard.  Also, I can no longer obtain the upper case
> >>> number
> >>> characters !@#$$%^&&*()_+|.  Can anyone tell me how I can
> >>> correct this problem?
> >>>
> >>> Currently I am using an old IBM AT keyboard to create my
> >>> text.
> >>> Thanks,
> >>>
> >>> Joe
> >
> > I spent some time trying to dry out the computer using a
> > hair drier
> > to no avail. I did discover how to raise the keyboard by
> > removing
> > a small strip along the front of the keyboard which holds
> > the key-
> > board into the top of the case.  I blew warm air over the
> > "guts"
> > of the computer with the keyboard raised up and folded back
> > against
> > the display.  I don't see any sign of surface moisture
> > anywhere.
> > I did notice two NiMH batteries located under the left side
> > of the
> > keyboard.  One is a 7 volt 110 mAH battery and the other is
> > a
> > 3 volt 30 mAH one. They each have a flying lead to a
> > connector. This
> > laptop was new in January 1997 - it will be 7 years old next
> > month.
> > One other thing did happen immediately after the water
> > spill that I didn't mention.  The audio output apparently
> > had
> > feedback from the output to the input because it "screeched"
> > very
> > loudly until I could close down.  Reducing the volume
> > control
> > didn't stop the "screeching" sound.  The next day this
> > problem
> > was gone.  I wonder if these two batteries need to be
> > replaced.  They are accessible only with thekeyboard raised
> > up.
> > Since I don't have a circuit diagram there is
> > no way for me to diagnose the problem.  I can measure the
> > terminal voltages of these batteries, which I will do when I
> > get a chance.
> >
> > Joe
> 
> BTW, Toshiba keyboards are about $25 on eBay.
> 
> Q

Thanks for info on the batteries & kybrd. The ribbon appears
to
to be tightly seated and anchored in place.
I assume that, since my external IBM keyboard functions OK,
the problem has to be within the keyboard itself and not
other
circuits of the computer.  I guess this means that
installing
a new keyboard would correct the problem.  This Toshiba
keyboard
is made up of a very thin "sandwich" with a sheet of metal
on the
bottom side. I guess there could be moisture trapped between
the
layers that may take considerable time to dry out. BTW, on
page 81 of the User's Guide under "Five Things You Should
Never
Do" is this comment regarding spilling liquid into the
keyboard:
"If you do spill a drink that gets into the keyboard, turn
the
computer off immediately and unplug it.  Get as much liquid
out
of the keyboard as possible.  Leave the computer off
overnight
to give it time to dry out before you return to work."
I will raise the keyboard again and blow warm air over it
to try to dry it out.

Thanks again for the information.

Joe

robert wrote:
> 
> they're cheap & easy to replace, why not do that instead? and they're
> almost impossible to take apart & reassemble.

That is a good idea.  Is e-bay the best low cost source for
this keyboard or can you tell me if there are other sources?

Joe