Removing a MX Clear switch from WASD Code keyboard

Question

I recently purchased a few Code keyboards.

My kid spilled soda on the keys, and now a few of them are sluggish and don't "snap" anymore.

I removed the caps, and the switch itself is what is sluggish.

Is there a way to remove an individual switch so that I can put it underwater and clean the springs in the switch?

After taking the caps off, I tried to see if I can remove a switch, but with no luck. There seemed to be two levers (top and bottom of switch) that I could push in. I was hoping this would allow it to just "pop" out, but it didn't.

What are my options?

Answer 1

I'm not personally familiar with these keyboards, but have torn apart quite a few keyboards in the past and have had luck with the following.

You'll need to take the case off the keyboard and remove the 'tray' that the key switches are mounted to (with some you can't remove everything and will end up having to deal with dangling cables while cleaning the switches) and use isopropyl alcohol and some cotton swabs to clean each switch.

Alternatively, you can find a container large enough and soak the whole 'tray'. Be sure to actually activate the switch several times while it's wet to help clear the mechanism.

As a last ditch effort (depending on how long ago this was, or if it was something even stickier than soda) you can even soak the whole thing in water and then dry it out (hair dryer, oven on very low tempearature (150 or less so as to not mess up plastic pieces), nice sunny window sill after drying as much as you can first)

Answer 2

There are two stages to cleaning a mechanical keyboard.

First you want to clean out the tray. Pull off all the keys that don't have stabilizers (in this case you may need to use the ones that have stabilizers as well) clean out any dust, then use a swab (preferably a foam swab, but a cotton swab will do) moistened with electronics cleaner to clean out the tray. This should be done regularly to keep things like soda from causing problems.

Then, any keys that are misbehaving in their mechanical feel you will want to flush with some plastic-safe spray electronics cleaner, then lubricate them with some electronics-safe plastic-safe lubricant.

It all depends on personal preferences. You can either use electronics oil or electronics grease and there are plenty of types to chose from. As long as it doesn't contain conductive particles and is safe for plastic, electronics and switches it's fine.

The switch itself is self-cleaning, but the stem plunger may get some contaminates, like soda on it. You should not need to remove the switch, or even open it to clean it. Just flush and lube.