how do the soft buttons on a TV remote work?

V

VV4yn0

Guest
I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons are
cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery part
is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Thanks
Wayne
 
"VV4yn0" <somone@el.com.au> wrote in message
news:4487b77a$0$17545$61c65585@un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au...
I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons
are cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery
part is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Click to expand...
Yeah, WES sells a little pot of the paint you put on the bottom of the
rubber button. Jaycar might be able to help, though nothing turned up on
their website from what I searched for.
 
VV4yn0 wrote:
I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons are
cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery part
is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Thanks
Wayne


give it a firm wipe with a clean cloth to expose
Click to expand...
more conductive material.
 
On Thu, 8 Jun 2006 15:36:58 +1000, "VV4yn0" <somone@el.com.au> wrote:

I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons are
cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery part
is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Thanks
Wayne
Click to expand...
Do what Mark said first... Also, some people use a pencil rubber. I
often find remote buttons have gunk on them (even if you can't see it)
from the oil from people's skin. It works its way in/under there over
time. I usually wipe the underside of the rubber buttons with
alcohol/glass cleaner. As you can tell, it's all the same sort of
thing.

Pressing the other button in, is completing a circuit by allowing the
"disconnected" side of the circuit another path. Sometimes this is
because the circuit tracks themselves corrode. This possibility,
coupled with the fact that the paint-on repair coating costs quite a
bit... If you find the general clean doesn't work, you might like to
consider a replacement remote instead. You can get good cheap ones
that do multiple devices. Aldi has one from time to time for about
$14 I think was. Folks seem to be happy with it.

Allan
 
On 2006-06-08, VV4yn0 <somone@el.com.au> wrote:
I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons are
cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery part
is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Click to expand...
paint the rubber part with rear window demister repair paint.
for a source try repco, supercheap, or jaycar.

Bye.
Jasen
 
you could get a tiny piece of alfoil glued to the pad (tiny real flat bit
 
Matt2 - Amstereo wrote:
you could get a tiny piece of alfoil glued to the pad (tiny real flat bit
Click to expand...
nope: it forms a thin oxide coating. There's no need anyway as all you
have to do is wipe the black pad and it's fixed, no paint or
anything
 
Just wipe it once across a piece of clean white printer/copier
paper.

--
Regards
Blue

Remove ZX from email address to reply directly.
 
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 21:23:35 +1000, Mark Harriss <billy@blartco.co.uk>
wrote:

Matt2 - Amstereo wrote:
you could get a tiny piece of alfoil glued to the pad (tiny real flat bit

nope: it forms a thin oxide coating. There's no need anyway as all you
have to do is wipe the black pad and it's fixed, no paint or
anything
Click to expand...

Back when I was doing repairs to try to make a living, I
encountered a lot of remotes with intermittent buttons (always the
ones which got pushed the most). No amount of wiping or cleaning would
fix most of them, but the remote repair kit from WES Components did
restore them to normal.
I also had some success with bits of aluminium foil stuck to the
pads, but they kept failing not because it wouldn't conduct, but
because no adhesive would stick permanently to the silicone rubber and
they kept falling off.
Just my 2c worth...


Bob
 
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:52:37 GMT, "aussiblu"
<zxaussiblu@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

Just wipe it once across a piece of clean white printer/copier
paper.
Click to expand...
Aw, get out the angle grinder...
 
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 17:22:41 +1000, Allan <justallan@COLDhotmail.com>
wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jun 2006 15:36:58 +1000, "VV4yn0" <somone@el.com.au> wrote:

I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons are
cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery part
is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Thanks
Wayne

Do what Mark said first... Also, some people use a pencil rubber. I
often find remote buttons have gunk on them (even if you can't see it)
from the oil from people's skin. It works its way in/under there over
time. I usually wipe the underside of the rubber buttons with
alcohol/glass cleaner. As you can tell, it's all the same sort of
thing.

Pressing the other button in, is completing a circuit by allowing the
"disconnected" side of the circuit another path. Sometimes this is
because the circuit tracks themselves corrode. This possibility,
coupled with the fact that the paint-on repair coating costs quite a
bit... If you find the general clean doesn't work, you might like to
consider a replacement remote instead. You can get good cheap ones
that do multiple devices. Aldi has one from time to time for about
$14 I think was. Folks seem to be happy with it.

Allan
Click to expand...
Forgot to mention too - if you buy one of those remotes, it can
"learn" the codes from your old one, if it's not already contained in
it's list.
 
Bob Parker wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 21:23:35 +1000, Mark Harriss <billy@blartco.co.uk
wrote:


Matt2 - Amstereo wrote:

you could get a tiny piece of alfoil glued to the pad (tiny real flat bit

nope: it forms a thin oxide coating. There's no need anyway as all you
have to do is wipe the black pad and it's fixed, no paint or
anything



Back when I was doing repairs to try to make a living, I
encountered a lot of remotes with intermittent buttons (always the
ones which got pushed the most). No amount of wiping or cleaning would
fix most of them, but the remote repair kit from WES Components did
restore them to normal.
I also had some success with bits of aluminium foil stuck to the
pads, but they kept failing not because it wouldn't conduct, but
because no adhesive would stick permanently to the silicone rubber and
they kept falling off.
Just my 2c worth...


Bob
Click to expand...

I must have been lucky as the dozen or so I've fixed just needed wiping
hard enough to remove an obvious glaze and expose the fresh conductive
rubber. I did wipe hard enough to leave black streaks on the cloth. My
theory was that the little black block was conductive all the way
through so abrading it with a cloth( or copier paper with it's kaolin )
would freshen up the contact. Tarzan's grip is good for alfoil or
gelgrip thinned out a bit with acetone or MEK.
 
Thanks to all - the owners have ordered a new one but I didnt have any luck
with the foil method - I couldn't make it trigger at all with foil - the
operation is intermittent even with other buttons from other positions. I
havn't tried the paint stuff but if it becomes critical - that will be the
next step.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Maybe a universal one is the next best thing - i think the original
replacement was pretty expensive - lucky its not my money :)
Wayne
"VV4yn0" <somone@el.com.au> wrote in message
news:4487b77a$0$17545$61c65585@un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au...
I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons
are cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery
part is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Thanks
Wayne
Click to expand...
 
On Fri, 9 Jun 2006 12:27:40 +1000, "VV4yn0" <somone@el.com.au> wrote:

Thanks to all - the owners have ordered a new one but I didnt have any luck
with the foil method - I couldn't make it trigger at all with foil - the
operation is intermittent even with other buttons from other positions. I
Click to expand...
If it is intermittent with other buttons then I would suggest looking
at the pcb for cracks and dry solder joints.


havn't tried the paint stuff but if it becomes critical - that will be the
next step.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Maybe a universal one is the next best thing - i think the original
replacement was pretty expensive - lucky its not my money :)
Wayne
"VV4yn0" <somone@el.com.au> wrote in message
news:4487b77a$0$17545$61c65585@un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au...
I have an AC remote that has one dodgy button - It is one of those soft
rubbery buttons that press on the circuit board beneath. The button works
when I "press" it's section on the board with another rubber button from
another location on the remote but not with its own - As all the buttons
are cast together I cant swap them around - My tests show that the rubbery
part is at fault but I dont know how they work - is it just some form of
conductance through the rubber? can I fix it?
Thanks
Wayne
Click to expand...
 
On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:19:31 +1000, Mark Harriss <billy@blartco.co.uk>
wrote:
I must have been lucky as the dozen or so I've fixed just needed wiping
hard enough to remove an obvious glaze and expose the fresh conductive
rubber. I did wipe hard enough to leave black streaks on the cloth. My
theory was that the little black block was conductive all the way
through so abrading it with a cloth( or copier paper with it's kaolin )
would freshen up the contact. Tarzan's grip is good for alfoil or
gelgrip thinned out a bit with acetone or MEK.
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, I've encountered a few remotes in which
the rubber was exuding a gooey kind of substance which was causing
intermittent button operation.
On the others, it's quite possible that I didn't clean the contact
material vigorously enough to get through the non-conductive coating.
It's a long time ago now, and gee I'm glad I gave up fixing
consumer electronics! :)

Bob
 
Back when I was doing repairs to try to make a living, I
encountered a lot of remotes with intermittent buttons (always the
ones which got pushed the most). No amount of wiping or cleaning would
fix most of them, but the remote repair kit from WES Components did
restore them to normal.
I also had some success with bits of aluminium foil stuck to the
pads, but they kept failing not because it wouldn't conduct, but
because no adhesive would stick permanently to the silicone rubber and
they kept falling off.
Just my 2c worth...


Bob



I must have been lucky as the dozen or so I've fixed just needed wiping
hard enough to remove an obvious glaze and expose the fresh conductive
rubber. I did wipe hard enough to leave black streaks on the cloth. My
theory was that the little black block was conductive all the way
through so abrading it with a cloth( or copier paper with it's kaolin )
would freshen up the contact. Tarzan's grip is good for alfoil or
gelgrip thinned out a bit with acetone or MEK.
Click to expand...
When i was repairing cash registers, the most common problem was these
contacts. The only sure way of fixing them, short of replacement was a rag
and metho on both contact and pcb.
 
Bob Parker wrote:
Now that you mention it, I've encountered a few remotes in which
the rubber was exuding a gooey kind of substance
Click to expand...
I've just given up keeping a DSE portable phone alive for years
past its land-fill date by opening it (eventually every couple
of months) to clean this ooze off the PCB and pads with metho
or propyl alc. Annoying job as it has about 20 small screws
holding 4 PCBs in place.
 
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