I have one button of a tv type remote control that is not working.
I can get the remote control apart and have cleaned the bottom black bit of the button and the surface of the PCB where the button makes contact but I have not managed to get the button working properly. Is there anything else I can try before buying something like a Harmony Remote Control?
rub pencil on the rubber button or paint it with colliodal carbon.
NT
probably one of those plastic bubble button jobs with the contacts within...unfixable
A tiny bit of conductive material glued to the underside of the rubber, as eventually the conductive coating goes hard and falls off. Brian
There are few of those made these days as people cannot find the buttons. I suspect the other replies in this thread are the way to go. It is normally the ok or on off buttons that go first due to the degeneration of the much on the button and its tendency to wander around in the unit stopping the button going down. My feeling is that when one goes many others follow, I've been running a clean and fix with a friend on goodmans smart talk ones for bllind users for some time locally. I think both the box and the remotes are now becoming unrepairable though due to old age generally, but there is no replacement made any more. Maybe they think blindness has been cured in the last ten years? Brian
It may be that the rubber on the back of the button has lost conductivity, or it may be that the tracks on the PCB have an interruption for some reason - say a hairline crack. Test if the "button" works when you short the tracks on the PCB. If it does not, then you may need to trace the track back and add a wire or two.
You need to get hold of a black antistatic bag of the type used to contain electronic components. They seem to be less common than they were, but probably anyone in the trade could find one somewhere.
Cut a small piece out to cover the button bottom. Glue it on with a slight smear of silicone sealant. Sorted.
I did this on all ~30 keys of an 'electronic dictionary' which my dad was used to and for which there was no exact replacement. It works perfectly now, which is more than can be said for him.
Cheers
You would be able to get this stuff in the UK.
If the OP want's to try that and can measure the diameter of the button 'pad', I have a load here and will happily pop one in the post.
I think the idea is that you can the old button pad off with a sharp pair of side cutters (to accommodate the thickness of the new conductive rubber pad) and sick it on with some suitable (silicone?) glue?
Cheers, T i m
You are lucky.
IME some remote controls don?t just have carbonised material painted on the back of the rubber mat button, but instead have springy metal contact 'cups' held onto the conductive carbon tracks of the PCB, by an arrangement of sticky tape.
That tape, itself coated with conductive tracks as part of the remote control's circuitry (saves for additional wiring or the cost of a double sided PCB, then cheapskates), is troublesome to remove and replace reliably.
My recent case with a worn out BT YouView remote of that build with FF/REW buttons shot, caused me to search eBay and luckily I found a whole box/remote package cheaper than just buying the remote!
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