Remote Control Repadding

When a remote control no longer works or works intermittently and the usual fixes don't work (cleaning and fresh batteries), it's likely the conductive pads under the buttons are worn out. This happens from regular use and bad design.

With some effort, it is possible to put "new pads" under the buttons to fix this. This should only be done as a last resort as the process will need to damage the remote beyond original recovery during the repadding.

An easy way to test a remote is to get a camcorder or digital camera, point the remote directly at the lens, and press the buttons. While infrared is invisible to humans, the CCD in the camera can see it. A working remote will show a flashing LED in the camera's display.

Things to get from the store: aluminum tape, gorilla glue.

Steps.
• Disassemble the remote control. Most will have both screws and snaps in odd places.
• Wash the rubber number pad and plastic parts in dishwashing soap (not hand soap because of residues). If the rubber number pad is really oily, it may need multiple washings. If it's really, really bad, soak it in warm soapy water for a couple hours. Let these have plenty of drying time.
• Gently wipe the circuit board with rubbing alcohol. Do not drench or submerge the circuit board.
• Inspect the circuit board. It should not have heavy wear marks under the buttons. If there are broken traces, look up "circuit board trace repair" in your favorite search engine. The most popular finds will have some kind of conductive epoxy or paint used to rejoin the traces. It has been reported that car rear window defroster repair kits also work.
• Make sure the battery terminals aren't corroded and are clean.
• Get a small file and rough up the underside of the rubber buttons on the number pad (the part where the rubber pad touches the circuit board).
• Clean the roughed up button pads with rubbing alcohol. They should be greaseless.
• Get some aluminum foil tape and stick a couple inches of it to a piece of paper. The foil tape should be flat without bumps. The foil tape will stick to the paper and the glue will stick to the paper (but not the tape).
• Cut out button size pieces of the "foil tape on paper".
• With a toothpick, put a thin layer of gorilla glue on the roughed up button pad.
• Place the paper side of the "foil tape on paper button cutout" on top of the glue and slide it around a little bit to make sure there is good contact. If glue bubbles out from under it, too much glue has been used. Tweesers may be needed for positioning. If any glue gets on the upper aluminum side, wait until it dries then carefully scrape it off.
• Keep repeating the glue steps for each button with a problem. Often times, this will be for all the buttons.
• Let the glue dry over night to make sure it is properly cured.
• Reassemble the remote control and test it again. If all was done properly, the buttons should be very responsive and none should stick on. If a button does stick on, a foil pad has fallen off and is shorting on a button trace.

There are variations to these steps that may or may not be appropriate for your situation. Use your head and show some intelligence if the above steps do not fully work.

Things that have failed. Staples bent and jammed into the rubber buttons would seem like a solid solution, but end up digging into the circuit board and destroying the traces. Thumb tacks would prevent this but are far too thick and often not flat enough.

Conductive glues and epoxies may or may not stick to the bottom of the rubber number pad. Nearly all the glues I tried with mine failed. I haven't tried the special mail order glues as these are expensive and somewhat hard to find. The glues may also flake off over time and those pieces may end up shorting out a trace elsewhere causing other strange problems. If a conductive glue is used, it is imperitive that it be very flat and not concave or else electrical contact will not be made.

If a foil tape cannot be found, regular foil, paper, and 3M Super 77 glue might be used as a substitute. This combination is difficult to get perfectly flat, though. Foil also does not stick to glue very well (even the more expensive stuff).

Few glues will stick to remote control rubber pads, especially if they are oily or get oily. This process may have to be repeated a few years down the line. Some buttons may work better than others and is hard to track down.

This is a picture of my first remote I repaired. Notice the conductive foil under the buttons. Notice the extra glue residue of the other glues that I tried and failed (this got sloppy, don't let yours end up like that). Also notice that my circuit board is clean and in good shape.