rm-f01 Remote Control

justmegt

New Member
I have the usual problem with the OK button needing a lot of pressure to get it working.

I have opened it up a couple of times and cleaned it with a cotton bud. It works for a while then gets really annoying again.

I found several tips on using Isopropyl-Alcohol, which I haven't tried yet. I do have some and will try using it next time.

I have not found any reference to, what appears to be, silicon gel all over the inside. Is this normal?

I'm not sure if it can be seen from the picture. Should I clean all this out?


rm-f01 remote 3.jpg
 
Close ups. Please click on thumbnails for larger pictures.

It looks like silicon gel but I'm not sure. Are the insides of these remotes normally bone dry?
 

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Still can't see it...

There should be nothing to interfere with the contact between the conductive pads on the rubber membrane and the interleaved circuit tracks on the PCB. I would expect them to appear clean and bright, maybe even gold plated.

Be very careful if cleaning the tracks, you don't want to wear them away. I find a coarse pencil eraser works well.
 
AS far as I can remember the pads on the circuit board have always been black. I'm not aware of anything being spilt on the remote. I was planning to use a cotton bud dipped in Isopropyl-Alcohol.
 
It looks like silicon gel...
I'm guessing you mean silicone grease? It's not.

It's difficult to tell from your pix, but I'm guessing what's on the rubber keypad and PCB is what looks like a clear oily liquid?

If this is the case you'll find that surprisingly plain water takes it off. A good rinse under the tap (the PCB too), shake off as much water as you can, leave it somewhere warm say overnight to make sure everything's dry, then reassemble.
 
I've got some Servisol Silicon Grease. It's the same consistency but it's opaque. The liquid inside my remote is clear and doesn't evaporate. So I have ruled out water. I will clean it out tomorrow and see how it goes. Later today even.
 
You don't think it's been transferred from the membrane pads?
No. It's conductive carbon, used because it's a lot cheaper than gold plating and can also make low current jumpers - have a look at the picture of the PCB and you'll see there are several dozen examples.
 
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It's the same consistency but it's opaque.
That's the stuff.

The liquid inside my remote is clear and doesn't evaporate. So I have ruled out water.
Surprised me when I found it was water soluble.

IME it only seems to appear on keyboads that are used and then usually only under keys that are used a lot, which suggests it's some breakdown product that gets squeezed out of the rubber with use. Any on the top of the key gets wiped off but not on the underside.

Edit: Maybe not a breakdown product but something that's supposed to remain locked up in the silicone but doesn't?
 
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Justmegt : I have not found any reference to, what appears to be, silicon gel all over the inside. Is this normal?

All surfaces inside the remote should be 'dry', any 'gunge' should be removed with something that doesn't leave any residue, but be careful you don't over clean, as some conductive surfaces are very thin, have a look at the Wiki page on this subject here :-
https://wiki.hummy.tv/wiki/Remote_Disassembled
 
"It looks like silicon gel but I'm not sure. "
"It's the same consistency but it's opaque. "

I read in another forum that removing the adult channels from the Channel list can cure this issue.
 
I washed the parts of the remote under a tap, as everthewatcher suggested, let it dry out, not difficult in this weather, cleaned every pad and circuit board contact with some cotton buds, dipped in Isopropyl-Alcohol, let it dry thoroughly, put it all back together and the remote has never worked so well. I will post back if it starts playing up again.

Thank you all for your help.
 
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