Are Mechanical Keyboards Waterproof, What If Water Spilled on it

Usually, electronic products are not waterproof. But in this modern era, most of the new products manufactured are waterproof. But be careful before using water around these products before you know it is waterproof. This point leads me to discuss are mechanical keyboards waterproof.

Mostly you can find a waterproof product or not from the user guide (manual) provided by the manufacturer. Some products can survive against a small quantity of water some are fully waterproof but for some products, water is very hazardous.

Keyboards are mostly not waterproof. But now some companies produce waterproof keyboards but they are still unpopular because they are still in beta condition. But you can find water-resistant keyboards on market.

are mechanical keyboards waterproof

Although mechanical keyboards are the most advanced versions of the keyboard they are still not waterproof. But due to advancements, mechanical keyboards are water-resistant, It means a small quantity of water cannot damage mechanical keyboards. Now I am going to discuss are mechanical keyboards are waterproof in depth. But before the start, I am going to clarify the difference between waterproof and water-resistant terms.

Waterproof vs Water-resistant. Two Different Terms

As cleared from the heading waterproof and water resistance are not the same terms. If your keyboard is featured as waterproof it means water cannot harm your mechanical keyboard. If accidentally it gets in touch with water it will survive or you can wash your keyboard with water without any hesitation.

Water-resistant keyboards are not fully waterproof. There is a protective layer on the surface of these keyboards to guard the keyboard against water. If this seal breaks then water can enter the keyboard and cause malfunction. And if the seal is not broken then it can survive water for some time, a longer interface of water can interrupt your keyboard.

Now the next question is how to find out if my keyboard is waterproof or not. You can check it from the user guide of the keyboard or the mechanical keyboard manufacturing company website using the model number of your keyboard.

Are Mechanical Keyboards Waterproof, Mostly Never

Keyboards are produced to use with computers and computers cannot survive against water. Due to this manufacturer never brings attention to making the keyboard waterproof completely. But now users often drink water or coffee while using keyboards. Or maybe by chance keyboard can be wet accidentally or from water vapors in high humidity areas. So they design a new feature in keyboards named water-resistant keyboards.

I water-resistant keyboard can survive against a small quantity of water easily. As they have a protective layer at the surface to protect the keyboard from water damage.

Mechanical keyboards are not waterproof and water-resistant; it means water can damage your mechanical keyboard. But you can save your keyboard from water in a few conditions. If you want to know how I am going to discuss this at the end of this article.

How Much Water Can Damage Your Keyboard

How Much Water Can Damage Your Keyboard

Keyboards are not waterproof and are not water-resistant but the manufacturer designed keyboards in such a way that they can survive against a slight quantity of water. But if water is near your keyboard and often your keyboard got in touch with water, then you should know that in your mechanical keyboard metals are used and this water can start metal rusting (iron rusting) that will cause problems in the future.

A few drops of water cannot harm your mechanical keyboard look at your keyboard. Water can only damage your keyboard if it got entered into the keyboard but how it will enter into the keyboard. There are a few holes in keyboards from where water can enter your keyboard and a few drops cannot target these holes easily. And the next weak point is under keys there are big holes but these holes are protected by keycaps. But if your keyboard is dubbed in water then you have to follow my guide to save your keyboard from water that I will provide at the end.

Now imagine your keyboard and you can find easily weak points where water can in now you can easily calculate how much water can be hazardous to your mechanical keyboard.

How Water Damage Keyboard

There are two ways how water can damage your keyboard the first way is it damages the circuit board of your keyboard through short circuits. But if your keyboard is unplugged then no short circuit will happen and your keyboard may survive. So unplug the keyboard immediately if water entered it.

The second way is by rusting. Mostly magnetic and metallic material is used in the circuit board of the keyboard. Water starts rusting these materials and results in malfunction in your keyboard.

What to do If Accidently Water Spill on Your Keyboard

If you accidentally spill water on your keyboard then you have to clean your keyboard from water immediately otherwise water will cause problems to your keyboard. To clean your keyboard from water follow the steps described below.

1.  Unplug Keyboard

The first step is to unplug your keyboard from the computer immediately. Water damages your mechanical keyboard by making short circuits in the keyboard. But if you unplug the keyboard, no current is following then no short circuit will happen.

2. Wipe Excess Water

The second step is to wipe out water from the keyboard as you can. You can remove some of the water before removing the case of your keyboard so remove this excess water that is still not entered into the keyboard to save your keyboard from further water damage.

3. Remove Keycaps

Most of the water will be under the keys as it is the favored location to enter the water. Remove the keycaps from all keys of the keyboard and remove as much water from them as you can. You can skip the third step if you think it is unnecessary for you.

4. Open Keyboard Case

After removing the keycaps now open the keyboard case, by opening the screws. Now remove water from your keyboard that is entered into the keyboard. Use some water-soaking agents to wipe out all the water from the keyboard. Because a single drop of water can be dangerous.

There are different areas on the keyboard where water can hide look at your keyboard and find these areas and clean them from water.

5. Disassemble your Keyboard Completely

After wiping out water from the keyboard, disassemble your mechanical keyboard completely as you can. As you know water can hide in a small hole so you should disassemble all the parts of your keyboard.

6. Dry Every Part of Your Keyboard

Now you have removed all the water from the keyboard. The next step is drying all the components of your keyboard.

The best practice is to expose your keyboard to the sun for a few hours. Sun rays will dry every molecule of water from your keyboard not only it will raise the temperature of your keyboard slowly which can help to remove water from the deep parts of the keyboard.

7. Wash Circuit Board (PCB) With Thinner

Thinner is a cleaning agent used by professionals to remove extra material such as water, dust, or rust from the board.

Use thinner to wash the PCB board of your keyboard. Use a cleaning brush with thinner to remove water from the circuit board.

There are some other cleaning agents available in the market you can use any of them if you want.

8. Wait for 24 Hours

We tried over best but if still some water in the keyboard can be dangerous to wait for around 24 hours to confirm the water is removed from your keyboard completely.

9. Reassemble

After removing all the water and washing your keyboard with a water drying agent now it is time to reassemble your keyboard.

Reassemble your keyboard completely and once you have done move to the last step.

How to repair a mechanical keyboard

10. Plug and Test

After confirmation no water has remained on your keyboard it is time to test your keyboard.

At first plug your keyboard in a USB charging slot, in your mobile charger, or somewhere else. If everything is fine then you can plug it into your computer. By plugging it into a USB charger you can confirm no short circuit is happening on your keyboard. That will save your computer from a short circuit due to water on the keyboard.

Everything is fine now it is time to plug it into the computer. If indicating lights are working then you successfully saved your computer from water damage.

Try every key from F1 to F12, A to Z, num keys, and every other key to confirm every key is working fine. You can use notepad or other keyboard testing software to test your keyboard.

Congrats you have recovered your mechanical keyboard from water successfully.

It is Safe to Soak a Keyboard In water

Yes, but if it is unplugged. If you want to wash your keyboard with water then you can but you have to follow some steps to wash your keyboard with water bellow

  1. Unplug your keyboard
  2. Remove keycaps
  3. Remove Keyboard Case
  4. Do not wash the keyboard circuit board with water.
  5. Use thinner or petrol or another cleaning agent to wash the circuit board of the keyboard
  6. Wash the keyboard with water
  7. Dry your keyboard
  8. Wait for a few hours to dry it completely
  9. Reassemble you keyboard
  10. Keyboard is Washed

By following this guide strictly you can wash your mechanical or ordinary keyboard safely. Keep in mind that water damages your keyboard if it is plugged in or through rusting.

Conclusion

 Largely mechanical keyboards neither are waterproof nor water-resistant. Experts do not think it is necessary because this feature is not needed for everyone but it will increase the price of keyboards and will impact negatively to Manufacturer’s Company so waterproof keyboards are not produced.

But still, you can wash your keyboard with water under some conditions and if you accidentally spill water on your mechanical keyboard then you can save your keyboard from water damage by using my guide. This article, are mechanical keyboards waterproof contains almost every information that you will need if you have water problems with your keyboard. If you want to know what is a mechanical keyboard, you can find it here.

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