So you’ve gone and done the one thing you swore you’d never do – you’ve spilled water all over your mechanical keyboard.
And now you’re starting to panic.
Let’s look at your situation in a bit more detail and explain what you need to do next.
Can water really mess up a mechanical keyboard?
Yes, water can mess up a mechanical keyboard because if and when water comes into contact with an electronic circuit such as the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) inside your keyboard it can cause an electrical spark known as a “short”.
This electrical short can cause permanent damage to your favorite keyboard in the worst cases, destroying the PCB.
In less serious cases the keyboard might only short out temporarily and can be left to dry out.
What do I do if I get water on my mechanical keyboard?
So what happens if you spill a little water on your mechanical keyboard – or a lot of water for that matter?
The first thing is, as Douglas Adams would advise is, “Don’t panic”, which is always good advice.
Unplug it
You should then unplug your keyboard immediately.
That just means disconnecting it from either the USB or PS/2 (if you’re old school) port that it’s connected to, although I’d imagine that 99% of you own a USB keyboard.
Flip it over
Grab some paper towels, a towel or clean cloth and lay them out on a flat surface.
Now take your keyboard and turn it upside down, with the keys now facing the paper towels. Give it a few good shakes to dislodge any remaining surface water.
And “good shakes” means gentle shakes – the same amount of force you use to release the cookie and sandwich crumbs that regularly get stuck in your keyboard.
Gently lay the keyboard case flat on the cloth or paper towels ensuring it’s angled in such a way as to funnel or channel any trapped water away from areas it might get trapped.
Give it time
Even though it only took a split second for the water to make its way from your cup or glass onto your keyboard, I can assure you that it took just another split second for the water to reach all the way inside your keyboard, potentially damaging sensitive components.
So give it plenty of time for the liquid spill/water to drain away safely over a period of at least 48 hours.
If at all possible leave the keyboard drain in a warm room or in directly sunlight – slow evaporation is always better than rapid. Which we explain in more detail in the next section.
Don’t use direct heat
PCBs don’t dry like fabric and they’re extremely sensitive to extremes of heat or cold.
That’s why you should never apply direct heat to a water-damaged keyboard in the form of a hair dryer or heat gun.
I’ve seen some “expert” guides advise that you should use a direct heat source but to “not get it too close to the keyboard”. There are two issues with this advice:
- It doesn’t specify if “too close” is 2 inches or 2 feet.
- Never, ever, ever apply a direct source of heat to an electronic component. Ever.
I can promise you that you’ll either directly melt something you can see (key caps for example) or cause further heat damage to the interior of your keyboard by causing the water to boil off while it’s sitting on top of a circuit board.
How do you fix a water damaged mechanical keyboard?
Now that you’ve taken care of what to do immediately after spilling water on your keyboard…what comes next?
The first thing is to make sure you’ve allowed at least 48 hours of your keyboard drying in a warm room before you do anything else.
Don’t shortcut the above part of the process.
Plugging your keyboard to an active USB port too early in the drying process will just cause it to short out. Probably on a permanent basis.
Vacuum
If you’re lucky enough to own a wet/dry vacuum cleaner than flip your keyboard over, attach a soft brush attachment to the vacuum cleaner and very gently run it across the keycaps and keyboard case.
What you’re looking to do here is suck up any stray droplets that haven’t naturally evaporated.
Don’t use rice
Even if you can find a container large enough to accommodate your keyboard and probably around 10kg of rice, this isn’t how you dry out your water soaked mechanical keyboard.
It works pretty well for smartphones, but not for larger electronic devices.
Remove the keycaps
Very gently remove each keycap with a removal tool. Once you’ve done this then use a lint-free cloth to mop up any surface liquid left over after the water spill.
You can also examine the mechanical switches for damage and check underneath the each keycap for any excess water too.
Test it
And finally it’s test time to test your keyboard to see if it’s working properly.
Signs that your mechanical keyboard is permanently damaged include no response from the keys, or pressing one key produces a random letter.
In this situation the PCB for your keyboard is most likely fried, so unless you can replace it then you’ll need to find the cash for a new keyboard.
WD40 (your last resort)
WD stands for “Water Dispersal” – it was originally designed to disperse water from around mechanical components.
It is as an absolute last resort to disperse the water from inside it before you bin your water damaged mechanical keyboard.
A tiny irony here is that a membrane keyboard – due to its design – is possibly more resistant to water spills and damage than its mechanical cousins.
What about sodas or coffee?
Clearing up after a water or soda spill is a little bit more complicated because these typically contain sugar or dairy and are far more acidic than water.
This can result in two potential long-term issues:
- Damage to the PCB
- Residues on contacts
The reality is that if you do spill soda or coffee onto your keyboard you’re going to have to dismantle the keyboard and clean every single internal component – from keycaps to mechanical switches – before the liquid has time to dry out.
In fact, you’ll probably need to use a soft cloth or cotton buds that’s been dipped in warm water – cold water won’t be enough. Obviously, do not go splashing water around inside your keyboard.
Because the longer you leave coffee or soda liquid inside a keyboard the more time it has to turn into sticky acidic goo that you’ll have to scrape off with a knife.
So you need to mop up a coffee or soda spill with a paper towel immediately after it happens.
Can water permanently damage a mechanical keyboard?
Yes, water can permanent damage a mechanical keyboard. The longer the sensitive electronics inside your keyboard are exposed to water the higher the chance that your keyboard will be damaged beyond repair.
Can you get waterproof mechanical keyboards?
Yes, you can buy a mechanical gaming or work keyboard that’s also waterproof to at least a certain extent.
In my experience it’s always better to treat any electronic device as being “water resistant” and not actually waterproof.
So you’re buying a water resistant keyboard instead of one that is entirely waterproofed.
The good news is that waterproof (resistant) mechanical keyboards are available from leading brand names such as Corsair.
Wrapping it up
Hopefully the information shared above helped you bring your keyboard back to life after your unfortunate water accident.
But if not:
- You tried
- You learned a valuable lesson
So the very worst outcome here is you’ll have to bust $80 – $100 to replace your mechanical keyboard. Oh, and spend $10 for a cup with a lid on it – don’t make the same mistake twice.
