how to clean razer blackwidow sticky key

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Razer has a history of making high-quality figurer keyboards, including the Blackwidow and its variants. One thing many people observe is that it requires a lot of cleaning as hairs, gunk, and dust are highlighted by the keyboard's LED lights. After properly disassembling your keyboard, you can apply rubbing booze, cotton swabs, pressurized air, and plain water to make your keyboard and its lights smooth similar new!

one
Take a picture of your keyboard to run across where each key is placed. Subsequently, you lot volition take to have out each individual fundamental cap and put them back in the correct spot. Have a picture of your keyboard before yous begin so you know the proper location for each primal.^[1]
- While you tin reference photos online or consult your user manual to figure out the correct locations, a moving-picture show lets you lot can run into the difference before and afterwards cleaning.
2

Unplug the keyboard and plow off any lights before you brainstorm cleaning. Blackwidow keyboards accept dazzling light displays, just these can exist damaged if y'all leave the ability on as you clean. Turn off all the settings on your keyboard and unplug it from your computer to foreclose shorting or damaging your keyboard's lights.^[ii]

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iii
Remove letter and number keycaps by pulling them off their base. All square-shaped keys on your Blackwidow can be removed simply by pulling the cover directly upward to dislodge them from their bases. You may need to wiggle the key covers a little bit to become them off, simply simply pulling upward should do the pull a fast one on.^[3]
- Don't bend the keys as you pull them, as this can damage the connection. Pull the keys straight up to dislodge them, revealing plus-sign-shaped holdings.
four
Remove whatsoever hinged keys, such every bit the spacebar, shift and enter keys. These hinges prune keys to the board, and usually are only used on larger keys. Compression the white stubs at the bottom of the clips together and pull them out of their socket.^[4] Utilise careful and slight movements to preclude breaking these delicate pieces.
- You can identify hinged keys by looking for white hinges on the lesser of whatever keycaps you couldn't pull off. Unremarkably, the spacebar, shift key, enter central, and tab key volition accept hinges.^[v]
- The hinges are slotted at the bottom of the keyboard and are more easily seen one time all other keys are removed.
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1
Place every keycap and hinged key into a plastic container. Choose a plastic container just large enough to fit all of your keys — a sandwich or a leftover container should suffice.^[six] Don't apply a plastic pocketbook or run the keys nether water individually or you won't exist able to loosen all the gunk and dust from them.
- Put a chapeau on the container to forbid leaks, and store it in the sink or in a draining area to avoid getting gunk on your floor.
2
Fill the plastic container completely with water and let the keys soak. ^[7] Fill the plastic tub of keycaps with warm h2o all the way to the pinnacle, or at least enough to encompass the acme of the pile of caps. Let the keys soak for at to the lowest degree 5 minutes to loosen anything that dirtied them.^[viii]
- Let the keys soak for longer if there are particularly bad stains on them, upwards to 30 minutes at most, as water could loosen the surface layer of pigment if left for likewise long to soak.
- Y'all can too add some mild lather to the h2o to help remove buildup.
3
Empty the h2o and dry off the keycaps individually. Empty the water into the sink with one hand holding the caps in identify to permit the muddy water drain out.^[9] Then, identify a towel over the counter, and dry off each fundamental individually with a cotton swab. When you lot've finished with a key, identify it symbol-side-upwards on the towel to let it sit down until there is no more water — this can take up to an hour.
- Let your keys sit on the towel until they are completely dry, fifty-fifty if it takes longer than an hour. Any water in your keyboard could damage the internal electronics, so be absolutely certain in that location are no drops left earlier you reattach them.
4
Dab whatsoever stained or persistent gunk with a rubbing alcohol soaked swab. If at that place are any keys that aren't cleaned by a elementary soak and dry, you will have to use a cotton swab with booze to fully loosen the material. Dip the end of a cotton swab into 70 percent rubbing alcohol and gently yet firmly rub the persistent gunk until it's removed or loosened.^[10]
- While rubbing alcohol evaporates on its own, it's even so best to run these keys nether water and dry out them again so your keyboard doesn't odor like alcohol.^[eleven] Identify them symbol-side-up on the towel when you've cleaned the persistent gunk.
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1
Use dusting spray on the empty keyboard to remove hair and big pieces. Compressed air spray, or keyboard squeegee spray, sprays a highly pressurized stream of air that is perfect for cleaning delicate electronics. Once the keycaps are removed from the keyboard, spray forth each line, row, and in the cracks and slots of the keyboard to loosen and remove large chunks of gunk and loose hair.^[12] ^[13]
- If you don't take admission to keyboard duster spray, you can use a leaf blower or similar loftier-pressure air bravado tool. Just lay information technology apartment on the ground, hold it steady with heavy objects, and let the leafage blower loose.^[xiv]
- This volition spray lots of gunk, dust, pilus, and other particles all over the identify. If you want to keep your floor and desk space clean, accept the keyboard exterior to spray it off.
two
Pour rubbing booze into a small dish and dip your cotton swabs. It's difficult to go the right amount of rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab from the canteen, so cascade out just enough to barely cover the lesser of a shallow dish, such as a small-scale bowl or a make clean ashtray. Dip your cotton swabs in the alcohol for but a moment.^[xv]
- If you leave your cotton swabs in the alcohol for too long the cotton will unravel from the stick and become unusable. Instead, just dip it in for a brief second, and let any backlog alcohol drip off.
iii
Scrub the key areas of the keyboard with the alcohol cotton swabs. Firmly grip a cotton swab and rub each individual key holder and in the grooves between them. It will take more than a few cotton swabs to get the job done.^[16] Be sure to use pressure as needed to clean heavy stains. Let the keyboard fully dry for near an hr earlier continuing.
- If you observe any gunk that is particularly stuck, effort using more pressure, or use a small-scale sharp object similar a pocket knife to gently chip away the outer part of the gunk and then rub it with alcohol once again.
- Exist careful around the LEDs and consider using a cotton swab that has barely any rubbing alcohol on these parts to prevent electric damage.
4
Make clean the outside of the keyboard with cotton balls soaked in alcohol. Dip a cotton wool ball in your rubbing booze dish and wipe the exterior of the keyboard with information technology — the black portion between the key areas. Exist careful not to soak your cotton fiber balls too much or y'all volition drip excess alcohol into the key area and possibly cause electronic harm.^[17]
- Permit the keyboard fully dry before continuing, and dab abroad backlog booze with a dry textile if necessary.
- You can also use regular cleaning wipes for this step, as they don't drip and are less likely to cause electronic impairment. Opt for alcohol-infused cleaning wipes to get the best clean.
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1

Attach hinged keys by adjustment the metallic bar and slotting the hinges. On Razer Blackwidow keyboards, the metal bar at the bottom of the cardinal goes behind the LED. Lay the metal bar behind this, then compression the white stubs together on each side and slot them into the keyboard'southward base. You should hear a click.^[18]
ii
Push the keycaps back into their proper place on the keyboard. Reference the photo you took earlier to detect the proper place for each keycap. Starting from the left of the keyboard, push the keycap gently onto its proper spot until information technology snaps into identify.^[xix]
- You won't hear a click, but the plus-sign-shaped pigsty should fit snugly over the plus-sign-shaped attachment on the keyboard.
- Practise not reattach whatsoever keys that accept not even so fully dried, every bit this could crusade damage to your LEDs or render the key unusable.^[20]
3
Plough on the LEDs to see if there are any spots that you missed. Once all keys are back in identify, plug in your keyboard and turn it on. Enable the LED setting to check for any spots you missed — the low-cal will highlight any obvious places yous missed.
- If you encounter gunk that you missed, merely remove keycaps from the surface area and clean it with a cotton swab once again. Y'all don't need to go through the unabridged cleaning procedure once again for one mark.^[21]
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These methods piece of work for both mechanical and non-mechanical varieties of the Razer Blackwidow.
Clean your Blackwidow at to the lowest degree once a week, or when yous offset to notice gunk edifice up underneath or on the keys. The LED lights are very good at highlighting dirty areas, which tin can brand your keyboard seem unclean more than oft.

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Just employ water on the keycaps, not on the keyboard itself. Rubbing booze quickly evaporates, which is useful for cleaning electronics, but water may seep into the circuitry and destroy your keyboard.

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