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Cleaning of an iBook Keyboard
Pictures of the disassembling and reassembling steps
The pictures are old, from 2006, they show how the different keys and leverages of this kind of low-profile keyboards are built. At least all the iBooks and recent Powerbooks are built this way, plus some additional keyboards (MacAlly).
The pictures show the different steps, from the original state to the end. The lighting changes significantly because it was the first time and it took a couple of hours to complete the cleaning (the first after two years of use).
Some keys are more difficult to take apart (and reassemble) because they are bigger and therefore they need also a metal leverage.
The keys may have delicate couplings, especially if they are old.
The spacebar key is the biggest and requires a double metallic leverage:
The Return (or Enter) key has two plastic leverages but only one metallic:
The caps lock key has a LED, it is delicate and it should not be cleaned with too much force:
All the keys and some of the leverages removed:
The next pictures show the leverages open and closed, they can be mounted in only one way:
The housings can be easily cleaned now, but the dust cannot be completely removed:
Everything seems cleaner now:
Since December I'm using a keyboard protective cover similar to the iSkin, simply a chinese imitation of it. It works very well: the touch is improved, the noise is reduced, the dirt cannot go inside. The original costs about 25 euro (30-35 dollars?), it doesn't seem to wear out and it is a good idea to protect the laptop.
Update
I recently disceovered this webpage where a similar procedure is described. The difference is that even the sheet behind the leverages was cleaned, interesting for people willing to clean even more deeply.
Author: Olaf Marzocchi
First revision: 29 Maggio 2007.