How to repair stuck key in built-in keyboard?

Telling someone whom isn't a computer professional to put water on their computer isn't a very professional thing to say, In my opinion. the alcohol method would be better. But just water alone can do permanent damage that sometimes can be irreversible. This is my two cents, But also I have about 16 years of Computer Repair behind me.

Check your chemistry - distilled water is not the bad guy, it's the salts and other minerals in tap water that does the damage or if it's coffee, tea or coke the acids & sugars.

I know this is an old comment/post but i i felt the urge to reply. I wouldn't advise washing a keyboard with distilled water. The keyboard itself is full of dirt and grime including salts from human finger contact. That distilled water is safe for electronics and is by itself, not a conductor and non-corrosive. However, it won't be a distilled water anymore when it gets mixed with the minerals and salts in the keyboard the moment you pour it on. You will essentially have a dirty water filled with corrosive properties due to impurities that the keyboard has. Use 100% isopropyl alcohol. Dip and wash twice.

Arvi - Yes dirty water would be bad too ;-} But! the idea here is to bathe the parts with multiple rinses.

Using isopropyl alcohol doesn't change the impasse as they both would be dirty with one dip. If you washed the parts a second or even third time each successive rinse would make the water/alcohol less dirty.

The problem is water is a better solvent for Acids, Salts and Sugars than isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol on the other hand is better with oils and can also remove the water (drier) which is why I use both!

Yes Dan, your statement is correct, I agree. However, the goal here is to remove the cause of the stuck keys which can be also be loosen using alcohol. There are cases where water are more effective depending of the kind of dirt. Hence i use a 70% alcohol on a distilled water. Diluting acids and salts is not the primary purpose here so alcohol or a 70% solution is IMO the better way to go here. Alcohol is also volatile enough to clear out in just few minutes. A 70% solution is also volatile enough to dry out relatively fast to cause shorts or corrosion. Distilled water however, will never maintain its purity during the drying process and has mor chance to cause corrosion and electrical shorts. Alcohol on the other hand, even the 70% solution one has less chance of contributing to the corrosion and shorts since it can evaportate quicker. I did not have to rinse multiple times just becuase of the contamination issue. Alcohol just needs to worry about loosening the dirt unlike a distilled water becoming unpure because of impurities while trying to loosen the dirt.