Slow remotes, or mobiles

dohouch

Still using 2 very old remotes, one Sky and one HiFi. Been getting more and more annoyed with the the number of times I was not getting the expected result from key presses. Batteries were O.K. so there was nothing for it but to open the remotes. Have a can of Phillips Contact Cleaner that I bought about 10 years ago. Used this to with cotton buds to clean the circuit-board contacts for the keypad.

But I think equally important, after disassembly, was getting the toothbrush+ washing-up liquid to the rubber keypad and the holes in the cover.

Now I get instant response to a button press.

Opening remotes, try Youtube for help if you can't figure it yourself .

Also have a Nokia 6310i (legend phone) which was suffering same problem, also got an improvement here.

I think not all remotes will allow you to separate keypad from circuit board, but you can still clean up the keypad and button-holes in remote cover

Capt'n Midnight

Be very careful electronics don't like solvents, especially capacitors. SMD chips means capillary action so count on a long time drying out.

There is a reason no one covers water damage on phones, it's like the exposure to lightening someone who lives up the mountains gets from from their computer / phone line. It may work for a while , but it will almost certainly keel over and die pre-maturely.



Isopropyl alcohol (at any good pharmacy) is the recommended cleaner.

If you want to go medieval on it Ambersil Amberclens is wonderful stuff. Spray, wait 30 seconds and wipe off. If using on electronics , spray on a cloth and then wipe.


Things like washing up liquid and putting keyboards in the dishwasher are best left until you you've decided it's "kill or cure" time.

Cheap pound shop remotes can work on older kit

Chet T16

Our harmony one is a disaster for getting gunked up, i've had to open it twice to clean the contacts and around the buttons. The child slobbering on it is mostly to blame!

Capt'n Midnight

If you have kids then get a universal remote and then program it to change channels / volume on your TV
SKY remotes can be setup for this, including the one you get in the pound shop

Put the real remote away , just use it to setup options/

dohouch

dohouch wrote: »

But I think equally important, after disassembly, was getting the toothbrush+ washing-up liquid to the rubber keypad and the holes in the cover.

N.B. Only use use the water and washing-up liquid method if buttons are not one with their contact board.