Keyboard Key cleaning and Replacement

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I’ve been using my Framework 16 for a while. I will say, I dont treat it the best, but there’s a couple .. “issues”:

Sometimes the entire input deck would lose power. Seems like a contact issue on the trackpad module, as it gets move around the most, and is sliding action vs compressing action. Some advise on cleaning/reconditioning would be appreciated. Otherwise I might just cover it with soldering tin. After reseating the main board ribbon cable, but that seems ok.

My keyboard frequently get grime on it. Dust and various skin debris, usually not food crumbs. As a result The “D” key on the ISO keyboard is intermittent, so I removed the keycap and interface with the rubber dome instead. That keycap is now gone forever (At least I think). But some methods of removing dust and ingress? Or was it membrane key corrosion from ingress, and I need to spend $50 for a new one?

Its a RP2040, so regardless, it would be interesting to keep around.

Seems familiar, but this time is the Sixteen, and it’s not intermittent – I’d see the input deck lose power and get it back otherwise.

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I spilled tea on my keyboard a while ago, rewarding myself with a mushy right shift key. it might work less for large particle ingress, but 90% iso alcohol shot aggressively from a syringe did the trick.

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After seperating the rubber dome from the membrane (rip keyboard lol), I had now dislodged the bit of dust trapped under the key.
Not sure how it got there in the first place, but now the key work way more consistently, despite being marginally harder to press. And knowing that I now have a mostly working RP2040 keyboard that I need a extra $50 for should I want to fix my missing D key.

Quite steep considering OEM keyboards for Dell and like is in the range of $5-$15, even though it is significantly more work to replace.