Introduction: Apple Wireless Keyboard - Awesome Life-hack!

By Project 201
About: Life Hacker from Russia, interested in mobile an hybrid web-development, internet-marketing

Hope this article will be helpful to all the desperate owners of Apple wireless

keyboards :)

Step 1: Introduction

A little introduction: my Apple-keyboard (picture above) happened to lay for about

1,5 years in the package with the batteries inside. Of course eventually electrolyte spilled out of the batteries and filled up the battery compartment, chaining its lid to the keypad.

Using a coin or a screwdriver, as tools to open the lid, equally failed

Step 2: Only Hope

After short-time frustration and some considerable thinking I made a resolute

decision to drill a deeper groove, that could give me a chance of opening the lid with

the large flat screwdriver

Step 3: Mummy-style

But it was not that easy: crazy alloy the lid is made of managed to breake two drills

while the lid still remained intact. Finding multiple complaints to the same problem on different Internet forums, I decided to fill the battery lid with the famous WD40. The keyboard was preliminarily wrapped all over with the duct tape, mummy-style

Step 4: WD-40 Not a Hero

But using WD-40 did not make any noticeable effect ... to be honest – made no effect

whatsoever. Then I made an attempt take out the lid with Marita rotary drill

Step 5: Where Is Over?

That also gave absolutely no results

Step 6: Bosch Help Us

Then I studied the matter in question thoroughly and purchased high-strength drill

for steel. This time my choice was a Bosch drill.

Step 7: Progress

Little by little it started to make progress

Step 8: Oops

When one drill was sent to Kingdom Come, the lid finally started to give in

Step 9: Show Must Go On

But the next step was unclear: the second drill broke trying to expand the "hole" but

the screwdriver still wouldn't get in ... I made a decision to try a hacksaw (as it turned out, the metal of the keyboard shell was easy to saw)

Step 10: Open Your Keyboard

Then we unbent the incised part carefully and saw the thread filled with electrolyte

and the whole battery compartment

Step 11: Sorry, Tim

Now the whole quest seemed to be over but the batteries still refused to be pulled out,

and we had to use self-tapping screw (Tim Cook, sorry if you are reading this)

Step 12: Relax)

In fact it looked very cute

Step 13: Again, No...

But no matter how close we were to solving the mystery of the electrolyte, the battery

wouldn't go out. That's why we had to continue manipulations with the hacksaw

Step 14: Two Is Better, Than One

Suddenly the hacksaw broke in two pieces and we had to go on without a handle

Step 15: Four Is Better Than One

At the end the hacksaw consisted already of four parts

Step 16: Happy Birthday!

And here is the exciting moment of the first battery coming-out

Step 17: Looks Sweet

After removing the batteries the keyboard looked really horrible

Step 18: Turn on Sherlock

And here comes the long-awaited moment - trying to revive our old “apple”-friend

Step 19: Last Chance

But sadly - nothing happened! Bitter disappointment, frustration, emptiness and other

emotions overwhelmed us. We decided to stop any further attempts and throw the keyboard away the next day. But in the motning new batteries came to our office

Step 20: Useability: Level God

Pay special attention to the ergonomics of the battery fixation in a new version of the

keyboard

Step 21: It's Alive!

And .. a miracle finally happened!

Step 22: Work, Work and Once Work / Lenin /

It started to work!

For the conclusion – never leave batteries in the keyboard for long, but even if you did – there is always hope :)

Step 23: Thank for Attention

P.S. By the way, this article was typed with this very keyboard.

glad fo feedback: ak@pr201.ru

twitter.com/pr__201

From Russia with love)