[CanadianFragger]

Summary: track ball click, escape button, and the 0 button ceased to function properly, and when pressed they would enter text such as "Yi" or "hl" or similar odd text strings.

At the onset of the issue the device froze. All buttons failed to work and the device went dark. Even the power button would not work. Removing and replacing the battery would bring the device back to normal for a few minutes, and then it would degrade to unusable again.

After a period of hours during which the battery was removed and re-inserted a series of times, the device returned to normal except for the functionality of 3 buttons: the track ball click, the escape button, and 0 button.

For each of these 3 buttons - they did not function properly and when pressed they would enter text such as "Yi" or "hl" or similar text strings.
In attempts to correct this problem I repeatedly "wiped" the device clean, and also reinstalled the OS / platform. This would not resolve the issue.

The device has not suffered water damage.

The kicker: when i synced the device on my office computer the problem would be resolved - i.e. the 3 buttons would function normally. After a period of time (days) the buttons would fail again. Syncing the device on other machines did not result the the problem being resolved - only my office machine sync would resolve the issue. I realize the observations described above seem unlikey, but they did happen. - Any insights?
i observed this syncing "fix" at least 2 times: once before I left my office for the holidays, and also upon my return.

[JSanders]

First, welcome to the Forums.

At first sight, I would say your issue IS water damage, as all your symptoms do seem to point to that, and I do note that you say it is not water damage.

Otherwise I really don't have a definite answer for you. Some guesses, or rather what I might first try--disassemble the BB, and make sure the keyboard is aligned correctly with the sensors underneath. I know that could be complicated.

I don't understand why syncing with your computer corrects it (even temporarily). Pulling the battery while powered on is often the best solution.

You may have a high level glitch here.