TV remote conductive button repair
Discussion
Buttons not working on old TV remote.
I've taken it apart and cleaned with rubbing alcohol (both button underside and PCB pads) which has helped but it's stil needing a really really strong press on the button to make contact which is not great.
Guessing the conductive rubber pad has worn down and lost it's conductiveness.
Any suggestions for a repair - some kind of paint perhaps but not seeing good reviews on Amazon for similar conductive paint (reviews saying not getting dry and becoming dust over a short time).
Any good tips on how to repair? Seems a waste as it's something simple.
Many thanks in advance.
I've taken it apart and cleaned with rubbing alcohol (both button underside and PCB pads) which has helped but it's stil needing a really really strong press on the button to make contact which is not great.
Guessing the conductive rubber pad has worn down and lost it's conductiveness.
Any suggestions for a repair - some kind of paint perhaps but not seeing good reviews on Amazon for similar conductive paint (reviews saying not getting dry and becoming dust over a short time).
Any good tips on how to repair? Seems a waste as it's something simple.
Many thanks in advance.
Depends how much effort you want to put into fixing it/how worthwhile it'd be to fix Vs the cost of getting a replqcement.
If fixing is still your preferred option, then with the remote dismantled but with the batteries still in, try using one of the other buttons to make contact with the PCB traces you've cleaned up, as that'll tell you whether it's the pad or traces that are causing you the problem here. IME, the pad on the back of the button rarely causes problems until it wears out entirely (or falls off, if you've got a particularly cheap and nasty remote), and it's more often the PCB traces that pick up a layer of crud slightly more resistant to cleaning than you might expect.
If it is the traces, you may need to investigate alternative cleaning options designed for this sort of task, or you may just want to scrape back the top layer and touch up with conductive paint - when applied to a solid substrate like a PCB, rather than a flexible one like the button, it'll stand a better chance of staying put.
If it's the pad, you might get away with glueing a small piece of foil over the top of where the conductive surface is, although to give the same sort of material compliance/contact deformation you might want to find another remote to provide a donor pad you can slice off and glue into place instead.
If fixing is still your preferred option, then with the remote dismantled but with the batteries still in, try using one of the other buttons to make contact with the PCB traces you've cleaned up, as that'll tell you whether it's the pad or traces that are causing you the problem here. IME, the pad on the back of the button rarely causes problems until it wears out entirely (or falls off, if you've got a particularly cheap and nasty remote), and it's more often the PCB traces that pick up a layer of crud slightly more resistant to cleaning than you might expect.
If it is the traces, you may need to investigate alternative cleaning options designed for this sort of task, or you may just want to scrape back the top layer and touch up with conductive paint - when applied to a solid substrate like a PCB, rather than a flexible one like the button, it'll stand a better chance of staying put.
If it's the pad, you might get away with glueing a small piece of foil over the top of where the conductive surface is, although to give the same sort of material compliance/contact deformation you might want to find another remote to provide a donor pad you can slice off and glue into place instead.
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