Opening a remote control

[Rick Hughes]

First off a warning - Panasonic remote controls are very poor .. TV & DVD only 2.5 years old on 3rd remote for each. They replaced them twice under warranty ... now out of warranty and they have gone again ... each time the same buttons fail - so assume design fault, especially as they are not the most frequent used buttons.

As they are not cheap items and more than 40 button on each do work ... it would be nice to fix the one button on each that does not work.

Presume it is contact dirt or similar ... now if I could get the things apart I could clean them, trouble is I can't !

They are both similar ...

A brushed aluminium front panel, which folds down the sides ... there is a joint between plastic base and aluminium, but too small to insert anything to try and spring open. There are 2 screws on the rear - remove them OK ... but does not free up the case.

There must be a particular technique to open these - anybody know ?

The remotes are model ... EUR 7635010 and EUR7721KNO

[Tim Downie]

Don't know about those remotes but if there are any sticky labels on the back, feel for a dimple or depression. There may be a screw concealed there. Also check inside the battery compartement if you haven't already. Another common hiding place for screws.

Lastly, it's usually possible to squeeze a thin paring knife into any gaps at the side and sping concealed clips that hold the halves together.

And absolutely lastly, even if you do get it open, you may not be able to improve te function of your remote. I've tried several times unsuccessfully in the past with dodgy remotes. Maybe it's loss of conductivity of the back of the button that's the problem. Just a guess.

Good luck!

Tim

[Robbo]

Generic all in one on Ebay for £5 delivered saved me 2 remotes at £30 each AND resurrected the old telly in the bedroom that hasn't had a remote for 10 YEARS and made it's teletext work too!

[Mike Dodd]

£7.83+vat, code HS01304

and EUR7721KNO

Bah, not stocked...

Not answering your question (although my experience has been poor with repairing rubber keypads) :-

very good for replacement remote controls (although only one of yours, in this case) - might be worth giving them a call with make and model to check if they have the 7721.

[Dave]

If you do get inside the control, then gently wash the rubber key pad in soapy water (Fairy works fine, with a very soft brush.) and use a pencil eraser on the tracks of the circuit board. That usually works. Make sure everything is dry and then re-assemble. With luck, it should work OK.

Dave

[Matty F]

Some remotes have a rubber pad where the underneath of each key has a metallic coating. This coating wears off for the keys most often used. I have had moderate success with painting the underneath of the key using the metallic paint from a "Rear Window Defogger Repair Kit". But the kit is not cheap. Perhaps somebody could recommend metallic paint that is cheaper than =A310 for 0.05 fluid oz.

I also tried gluing pieces of aluminium foil to the rubber using contact adhesive. But after a while they fall off and short out random functions on the remote and make your TV do very strange things.

[Merryterry]

As another poster says, buy an all in one remote. Bought mine from Lidl for about a fiver. There must be loads of others about.

[Doki]

Got any of the broken ones to play with / raid for parts? If not, and they work with rubber domes, I'd be tempted to swap the bits around and have a non working number 9 or whatever to get a working power button...

[Rick Hughes]

but not the genuine remote - this is a generic item ... the proper remote is what I want.

[Rick Hughes]

Exactly - if I could get it open.

Checked, no stcikers or dimples and the screws are removed, I guess it must have locking clips holding 3 halves together - with intent it should never be opened.

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