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"Sticky Goo" Inside Remote

R

Ron

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have an older Mitsubishi TV remote and the channel up/down button
stopped working.

So I took it apart, and it had some kind of "sticky goo" inside. Not
only on top of the rubber keypad between the buttons, but also between
the keypad and the circuit board. It closely resembled Vasoline.

I cleaned the entire remote with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips and now it
works fine.

Does anyone know what in the hell the sticky goo was? The only thing I
could find on Google, was that it was a natural break down of the
rubber.

(and no it has NEVER had anything spilled on it)
 
J

jakdedert

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ron said:
I have an older Mitsubishi TV remote and the channel up/down button
stopped working.

So I took it apart, and it had some kind of "sticky goo" inside. Not
only on top of the rubber keypad between the buttons, but also between
the keypad and the circuit board. It closely resembled Vasoline.

I cleaned the entire remote with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips and now it
works fine.

Does anyone know what in the hell the sticky goo was? The only thing I
could find on Google, was that it was a natural break down of the
rubber.

(and no it has NEVER had anything spilled on it)


I'm thinking you dx'd it...rubber breakdown. I've seen it too.

jak
 
P

PhattyMo

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ron said:
I have an older Mitsubishi TV remote and the channel up/down button
stopped working.

So I took it apart, and it had some kind of "sticky goo" inside. Not
only on top of the rubber keypad between the buttons, but also between
the keypad and the circuit board. It closely resembled Vasoline.

I cleaned the entire remote with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips and now it
works fine.

Does anyone know what in the hell the sticky goo was? The only thing I
could find on Google, was that it was a natural break down of the
rubber.

(and no it has NEVER had anything spilled on it)


I've seen the same thing. I almost thought it was some kind of silicone
grease.
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ron(UK) said:
Warming them with a heat gun, and a bit of twisting often gets them
apart. Don't over heat ones with lcd displays tho.

Ron

I've often done that, assuming a hot air gun , masking off any problem areas
like LCD, soft buttons etc. Stout thumb nails are useful tools also,
structuraly just about the right material.
Anyone know of a similar material that is easier to use with heated plastic?
Thin, tough and short scale flexible, long enough to get some purchase
 
A

Allodoxaphobia

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've often done that, assuming a hot air gun , masking off any problem areas
like LCD, soft buttons etc. Stout thumb nails are useful tools also,
structuraly just about the right material.
Anyone know of a similar material that is easier to use with heated plastic?
Thin, tough and short scale flexible, long enough to get some purchase

I've used relay points burnishing files.
About 6-7 mm wide and ~10 cm long.
Got them 40 years ago as a Field Tech for IBM.
The wrong tool for the right job. :)

Jonesy
 
T

Tim

Jan 1, 1970
0
I've often done that, assuming a hot air gun , masking off any problem areas
like LCD, soft buttons etc. Stout thumb nails are useful tools also,
structuraly just about the right material.
Anyone know of a similar material that is easier to use with heated plastic?
Thin, tough and short scale flexible, long enough to get some purchase

I use one of those fake credit cards that come in the mail. They are
thin enough to slide along and release the catches, and if you damage
the card it's no big loss. I trim the card if it gets too raggy, and use
it until there isn't anything left to hold on to. Now I save all those
free credit card offers from American Express etc., until I get the fake
cards out of them.

- Tim -
 
R

Ronbo

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ron said:
I have an older Mitsubishi TV remote and the channel up/down button
stopped working.

So I took it apart, and it had some kind of "sticky goo" inside. Not
only on top of the rubber keypad between the buttons, but also between
the keypad and the circuit board. It closely resembled Vasoline.

I cleaned the entire remote with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips and now it
works fine.

Does anyone know what in the hell the sticky goo was? The only thing I
could find on Google, was that it was a natural break down of the
rubber.

(and no it has NEVER had anything spilled on it)

What kind of movies are you watching while using that remote?
 
A

Arfa Daily

Jan 1, 1970
0
William Sommerwerck said:
The worst part of it is that this problem is easy to fix, but most remote
controls are almost impossible to disassemble.

Screws aren't enough -- the back snaps together so tightly that, unless
you
have the right tool and know how to use it, it's impossible to open the
back
without destroying the unit. I irreparably damaged remote for a Toshiba
IDTV
doing this, and of course, full-function replacements aren't available.

The remote for my NAD MR-20a is secured solely wth screws, and is easy to
clean.

A blunt curved X-acto blade in a standard X-acto holder, will easily open
any clipped together remote control. It's just a case of experience really,
I think.

Arfa
 
J

jakdedert

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tim said:
I use one of those fake credit cards that come in the mail. They are
thin enough to slide along and release the catches, and if you damage
the card it's no big loss. I trim the card if it gets too raggy, and use
it until there isn't anything left to hold on to. Now I save all those
free credit card offers from American Express etc., until I get the fake
cards out of them.

- Tim -

Guitar picks...they come in many sizes/thicknesses/degrees of stiffness.
Top it off, they're almost the perfect size.

jak

jak
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
jakdedert said:
Guitar picks...they come in many sizes/thicknesses/degrees of stiffness.
Top it off, they're almost the perfect size.

jak

jak

That sounds likely , what do you mean by top it off? I may try gluing one in
a split or cut piece of wooden dowel. Whatever that material is , its
simulating human finger nail.
I too have held back mock american express cards but they are too floppy and
relatively thick for this task.
 
A

Arfa Daily

Jan 1, 1970
0
William Sommerwerck said:
A blunt curved X-acto blade in a standard X-acto holder, will
easily open any clipped together remote control. It's just a
case [sic] of experience really, I think.

I attacked the case quite aggressively, and it simply bent, rather than
budging. I wasn't even able to break the case -- though I did (as I found
out later) break the PC board, rendering the unit unrepairable.

I think I'm going to call Toshiba. Not only doesn't Toshiba make a
compatible remote, but they don't supply the full set of codes to
replacement-remote manufacturers.

You must normally release at least two of the clip points, holding them
released either with a second knife / credit card / finger / any of the
other good suggestions that there has been, before finding the rest of the
clip points, which will usually then just 'spring' quite readily. Once you
have three or four of them released, it will virtually fall apart.
Sometimes, they can seem like they are resisting unreasonably, but once you
find the right places to 'probe', it sometimes amazes you how readily they
then come apart, and you can't believe that it has taken you so long. The
top edge of some monitor cabinets is a similar case in point, where unless
you find the exact right place to probe, the clips will resist you until the
plastic breaks.

Arfa
 
J

jakdedert

Jan 1, 1970
0
N_Cook said:
That sounds likely , what do you mean by top it off? I may try gluing one in
a split or cut piece of wooden dowel. Whatever that material is , its
simulating human finger nail.
I too have held back mock american express cards but they are too floppy and
relatively thick for this task.
Should have read *To* top it off...just adding a further quality to the
preceding.

In fact, I saw instructions on the web somewhere for replacing cell
phone cases (by a company which sells such replacements). They sold
tools for installing their product--a t-? torx driver, and a....well, it
looked just like a guitar pick, but they called it something else and
charged a dollar or two for it.

One more quality to recommend the lowly guitar pick: they are (usually)
made of some sort of plastic--minimizing scratching/gouging if they
slip--and inhibiting the application of too much force.

jak
 
A

Arfa Daily

Jan 1, 1970
0
William Sommerwerck said:
Which is exactly the point. This is a large remote, and it's hard to even
begin to guess where the "ears" are.

I just bought some AR interconnects, which come in a large snap-shut
"egg".
I had little trouble getting it open. So why...?

You can usually insinuate the edge of the knife blade into the crack between
the case halves, and then rotate in the plane of the blade, either up, or
down. This will normally result in the case halves twisting apart at that
point, and will tell you which half is clipped over the other. You can also
normally see at this point, where the case halves are resisting twisting
apart, and that will be where your first clip point is located. You can
either slide the knife blade down to that point, and then knowing which way
the case is clipped together, twist again in that direction, or come out
with the knife and then move down to the clip point, and reinsert. Either
way, it's not that hard, and as I said, probably more a matter of technique
and experience, than special tools, or the manufacturers trying to stop you
getting in there.

Arfa
 
J

Jeff, WB8NHV

Jan 1, 1970
0
You can usually insinuate the edge of the knife blade into the crack between
the case halves, and then rotate in the plane of the blade, either up, or
down. This will normally result in the case halves twisting apart at that
point, and will tell you which half is clipped over the other. You can also
normally see at this point, where the case halves are resisting twisting
apart, and that will be where your first clip point is located. You can
either slide the knife blade down to that point, and then knowing which way
the case is clipped together, twist again in that direction, or come out
with the knife and then move down to the clip point, and reinsert. Either
way, it's not that hard, and as I said, probably more a matter of technique
and experience, than special tools, or the manufacturers trying to stop you
getting in there.

Arfa

Some of these remotes aren't even worth the trouble to repair (if
you can get the darn thing open in the first place) when they go bad.
I have a "GE" branded universal remote I bought from a discount store
for $5. I don't see any clips or other types of fasteners holding the
case together. It would seem to me that one would have to almost
literally destroy the remote to get it open.

Oh well. This type of remote is meant to be thrown away when it
fails anyway, like just about everything else these days. The only
reason I bought this particular remote is that it is the only
universal remote short of an expensive learning remote that will
operate all four components of my video entertainment system,
including my CyberHome DVD player.

OTOH, I also have a "One for All" universal remote that should be very
easy to open should it require service, as there is only one screw
holding the unit together. I would still be using that remote today if
it supported my DVD player, but it doesn't--none of the One for All
universals have setup codes for this brand of DVD. CyberHome even
mentions on its website that no other remotes than the ones supplied
with its DVD players will operate them. Jasco Products (the company
that manufactures "GE" branded universal remotes and other video
accessories under the GE name and logo) must have seen the need for a
universal (other than a learning remote) that would operate CyberHome
DVD players, as the unit I have, and likely most other recent-vintage
"GE" branded universal remotes, have setup codes for the CH DVDs, what
few of them are still in use (CyberHome went out of business not long
ago).

Jeff Strieble, WB8NHV
Fairport Harbor, Ohio USA
 
K

Ken G.

Jan 1, 1970
0
I dont think its the rubber breaking down . I have seen many remotes dry
as a dry bone . Many older remotes that were never used dont do this .

Here at my house the only remote that did that was the one i used to
hold i my hand alot . After i cleaned it and stopped holding it the goo
stopped .
I believe its somehow oils from the hands that get drawn in somehow .

I also found a good way to fix those remotes where the rubber pads
inside loose their conductivity .
Clean it real good . Smear a thin coat of auto emblem adhesive on the
pad .

Take a motor brush and scrape it with a knife to make powder on
something then push and smear the glue coated pad into the dust .
This might be old news ?? but it works pretty good .
 
A

Arfa Daily

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ken G. said:
I dont think its the rubber breaking down . I have seen many remotes dry
as a dry bone . Many older remotes that were never used dont do this .

Here at my house the only remote that did that was the one i used to
hold i my hand alot . After i cleaned it and stopped holding it the goo
stopped .
I believe its somehow oils from the hands that get drawn in somehow .

I also found a good way to fix those remotes where the rubber pads
inside loose their conductivity .
Clean it real good . Smear a thin coat of auto emblem adhesive on the
pad .

Take a motor brush and scrape it with a knife to make powder on
something then push and smear the glue coated pad into the dust .
This might be old news ?? but it works pretty good .

You can also keep the keymats from scrap phones / calculators / remotes, and
then, when needed, razor blade a black conductive lozenge off the rubber
substrate, then superglue it to the substrate on the keymat you're
repairing, after first razor blading off the worn out lozenge.

Arfa
 
J

Jim Yanik

Jan 1, 1970
0
You can usually insinuate the edge of the knife blade into the crack
between the case halves, and then rotate in the plane of the blade,
either up, or down. This will normally result in the case halves
twisting apart at that point, and will tell you which half is clipped
over the other. You can also normally see at this point, where the
case halves are resisting twisting apart, and that will be where your
first clip point is located. You can either slide the knife blade down
to that point, and then knowing which way the case is clipped
together, twist again in that direction, or come out with the knife
and then move down to the clip point, and reinsert. Either way, it's
not that hard, and as I said, probably more a matter of technique and
experience, than special tools, or the manufacturers trying to stop
you getting in there.

Arfa

maybe some of that steel banding used for going around shipping crates
would work.I use pieces of it for cal sticker scrapers.
 
J

Jim Yanik

Jan 1, 1970
0
We're not talking about universal remotes.

yes,factory remotes often have instrument-specific functions that a
universal remote will not activate;I have a Pioneer PD-M70 CD player where
the remote died,and a universal remote does -some- things,but not many
commonly used functions.

and a universal remote will not operate my new Magnavox OTA DTV converter.
 
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