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by Benjamin_Dobell 2096 days ago
I've got two MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000s in my cupboard. I'm currently on a Sculpt, but much preferred the 4000s. Unfortunately I uncovered their weakness - humidity.

I work from home with evaporative cooling over summer.

The first unit lasted a few years, but died on a humid summer day. Next one only lasted 12 months, again dying on a humid summer day.

First unit is irrecoverably dead. The second would come back to life after pulling it apart and cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, then die again a few days later (during summer). Issue is that the humidity seems to short the key matrix. If not careful it makes for some awkward typing mistakes.

The Sculpt seems a bit more resilient to humidity.

1 comments

Yes, the MS Naturals absolutely dissolve when exposed to water. I've destroyed at least a half-dozen over my lifetime by spilling small amounts of water on them. Only takes one drop to destroy some keys. Just after I finished high school, in the mid-2000s, I stocked up and bought four of them. Two of them have been wrecked since then, but the other two are still going strong. Still haven't seen a keyboard that I want to replace them with, but at some point, these will give up the ghost and I'll have to find something new to try.