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How to take apart an 890 Pro, 890 or 880
This thread has 11 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Thursday December 3, 2009 at 10:57
belzebutt
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
February 2007
17
I recently fixed two of my 890 Pro remotes by doing this, and I thought I'd share some tips.

1. Remove the battery cover and unscrew the two phillips screws at the back:



2. This is the tricky part: prying open the remote. There are 8 big tabs along the sides and two small tabs at the top holding it together. The side tabs are very easy to break, and you will probably break at least one. You don't need all of them to have the remote feel tight so don't worry too much, but here's how to avoid that.

Find some kind of thin plastic object (like a tongue) that can fit in the crack between the top and bottom. If you care about the appearance of your remote make sure you use something made of soft plastic! Hard plastic or metal will fray the edge of your remote. I recommend to start at the second tab from the top, as you will not feel that area when holding the remote in case it does get chipped. You don't want to start with the topmost side tab since the top tabs are clamping the top together. So take your thin plastic tongue and jam it in there, pushing against the tab. At the same time, pry the remote open with your fingers and push the top to the side to try to unhook the tab in order to avoid breaking it. The top tab clamps over the bottom tab, so if you're trying to open a left tab, push the top half of the remote to the right while prying it open.

Once you have one tab open, work your way around the bottom of the remote, and finally pull away the top.





3. Remove the circuit board by unscrewing it. There are two screws in the middle attaching it to the bottom half of the remove cover.

4. Remove the power connector, use a small flat screwdriver to pull away the two sides of the connector.

5. Pull off the daughter board (on the 890 Pro).







5. Now you have access to the circuit board. Here you can do a couple of things like:

- Replace the LCD screen: On the back side of the board, unhook the LCD connector. Unhook the four small white tabs that attach the LCD to the board. Slice the connector cable through the hole to detach the LCD screen.

- Fix the tilt sensor: on one of my remotes the tilt sensor broke. The tilt sensor consists of a little metal ball encased in a cavity surrounded by four metal contacts. When the ball shorts two of the contacts the sensor is activated. On my remote, the top cover on the cavity opened up, the metal ball escaped and was rolling free inside the remote. I simply put the ball back in and snapped the sensor cover back on.

- Reattach or solder any other loose components, like the USB connector.

- Fix broken/missing buttons: you have access to the top half and you can remove the tape and screws to replace missing buttons or clean it up.
3 x Logitech Harmony 890 Pro, 2 x IR Extender, 1 x Logitech Harmony 880
Post 2 made on Thursday December 3, 2009 at 13:52
rehaz1
Active Member
Joined:
Posts:
December 2005
522
Thanks for the great post, I am sure this will help someone needing to repair their 800 series remote
Post 3 made on Sunday January 31, 2010 at 10:58
afishy1
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2010
11
Thank you very much for this post. Great pictures and great instruction.
I am about to take apart my 890 for the lcd problem.
Hopefully, because of your post, I will not tear up too much.
I appreciate it very much.
Fish
Post 4 made on Monday February 8, 2010 at 21:01
afishy1
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2010
11
Well took the remote apart and tried reseating the LCD ribbon connector but it did not help. I ordered and received a used one off of EBAY for $26.00 shipped to my door.
Took out the old one and put in the replacement and everything functions correctly again.

Thanks again Belzebutt for the Post, pictures and instructions.
I hope this LCD lasts awhile. I am thinking of Bubble wrapping the remote.
LOL
Later,
Fish
Post 5 made on Thursday June 7, 2012 at 00:17
Arciel
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
June 2012
1
My Logitech Harmony 880 would suddenly not control anything, so I assumed that the IR LED transmitters were dead. Used this post of yours to disassemble the remote. Thank you!

Then I used this info to actually do the repair.
[Link: sites.google.com]

Total cost: $4.64.
Post 6 made on Wednesday September 5, 2012 at 19:55
wannawatch
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
September 2012
1
I got mine apart trying to fix a few non-responsive buttons. When I too it apart I pressed directly on the metal dome and nothing happened. I went and updated the remote and tried it again, nothing. I can see that the rubber nub is pressing the foil bubble on the edge, not in the center. Is there anything I can do to fix this remote? I don't want to buy a new one, and if I have to buy another one, it will not be another Harmony product. The button layout is crazy and it's not worked properly for 1/2 the time I've owned it.
Ok, I'll stop whining. I think the button itself is dead, can I revive it?
Post 7 made on Monday October 1, 2012 at 12:06
MaxH
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2005
2
wannawatch, I've gone through a few Harmony/Logitech remotes, and the buttons have always worn out quickly. If pushing down the metal "bubble" directly doesn't work, then your problem is likely not fixable without some soldering at the very least.

The reason I keep going back to them is the ease and flexibility. I suggest simply remapping the broken button's function somewhere else; you'll probably get used to the change quicker than you think.

Now if I only had the skills to solder back the mini-USB jack to my H880 board I'd be set for another year or two, but there are multiple pins, and I've never soldered before. :| Oh well, it's lasted me as long as any other H/L remote I've had.
Post 8 made on Thursday November 15, 2012 at 07:05
goujam
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2012
2
Hi I have repaired the buttons on my 895 but I think ive lost the ball bearing from the tilt sensor. Can anyone tell me the size of the ball bearing used? Or is there a replacment sensor I could use?


thanks
Post 9 made on Monday January 14, 2013 at 20:09
clubphoto
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2013
1
At first, I had no idea what you meant by a "thin plastic object (like a tongue)". The cover of the Logitech Harmony 890 is made of fairly soft plastic, so DON'T USE SOMETHING LIKE A SCREWDRIVER(jeweler's) to try to pry the two halves apart! You'll wind up with raised dings in the plastic. I wound up with a couple of tiny raised points by trying the above. Luckily I stopped trying this technique before I did any real damage.
My solution was a stroke of genius if I do say so myself. I grabbed a thin plastic guitar pick of mine, pushed it into one of the side tabs and presto....the two halves of the cover began to release...no broken tabs and no marring of the plastic whatsoever. Try it. You'll appreciate how effortless this technique is.
Post 10 made on Wednesday August 28, 2013 at 16:53
Jasonn B
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2007
37
My 890 has a bunch of unresponsive buttons. Mainly ones at the top left and right. The 4 small rectangular ones on either side of the lcd screen.

When I take it apart and press the metal foil bubbles with my finger nail, they work. I tried puttin some double sides tape overtop the bubble, very small rectangles and only peel the tape off on the bottom, so the top portion of the tape isn't sticky. This helped quite a bit, but some are still hard to press. Anymore ideas?
Post 11 made on Sunday February 9, 2014 at 03:56
J Miller
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
June 2002
49
This helped me out. Thanks for the post.
J Miller /007 Systems
http://www.007systems.com
Post 12 made on Thursday March 19, 2015 at 15:39
jataga1212
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2015
1
Thanks for the great information. I used the information you posted and was able to easily take apart my remote. Knowing where the tabs where located b/c of the pictures you took really helped.

I found using an old credit card worked perfect. I started at the bottom left of the remote and worked my way up the sides. no issues.

Thanks!


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