Your Universal Remote Control Center
RemoteCentral.com
Harmony Remote Controls Forum - View Post
Previous section Next section Up level
Up level
The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:

Login:
Pass:
 
 

Topic:
Is It Possible To Fix Dead Buttons On H-659 (H659 bad connection circuit) ? SEE JPEG
This thread has 14 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Tuesday November 27, 2007 at 11:38
krowten
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2007
6
First the left one died, then the right. Two more are starting to die as well. Is there any way to revive them?

I opened it up to clean any crap that may have contaminated the connection but there was nothing. Even when I push down directly on the contact area, nothing happens.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Last edited by krowten on November 28, 2007 01:00.
Friends Don't Let Friends Drink & Drive or Buy Monster Cables
Post 2 made on Tuesday November 27, 2007 at 20:55
FONGW2
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
October 2006
21
Apparently you can buy special 'electrical' paint on the internet to re-paint the buttons as it is this black material on the underside of the buttons that completes the circuit on the circuit board and registers as a 'press'. At $25 a bottle however, I cheaped out and bought a small bottle of 'rear window defroster' repair paint. This is used to repair the 'metal' lines on your rear window defroster to complete the circuit and works pretty much the same way on the buttons. I got mine for about $8 at an automotive store.

The only negative I've found is that the paint is really not meant to be 'pliable' when the button moves, so over time it can sometimes flake away and you have to re-apply it. You also have to really clean these flakes off or else they will affect the operation of the other keys. (Randomly completing circuits!)

The only other option that I found on the net was some guy Krazy glued small pieces of tin foil to the underside of the buttons. The tin foil was the same idea as the electrical paint so pressing the key then cause the tin foil to touch the circuit board and complete the circuit resulting a button press. Same theory, just different material.

Of course if Harmony would just sell you a replacement keypad at a reasonable price, that would be easier. I've never thought to ask so that's another option.
OP | Post 3 made on Wednesday November 28, 2007 at 00:56
krowten
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2007
6
On November 27, 2007 at 20:55, FONGW2 said...
Apparently you can buy special 'electrical' paint on the
internet to re-paint the buttons as it is this black material
on the underside of the buttons that completes the circuit
on the circuit board and registers as a 'press'. At $25
a bottle however, I cheaped out and bought a small bottle
of 'rear window defroster' repair paint. This is used
to repair the 'metal' lines on your rear window defroster
to complete the circuit and works pretty much the same
way on the buttons. I got mine for about $8 at an automotive
store.

The only negative I've found is that the paint is really
not meant to be 'pliable' when the button moves, so over
time it can sometimes flake away and you have to re-apply
it. You also have to really clean these flakes off or
else they will affect the operation of the other keys.
(Randomly completing circuits!)

The only other option that I found on the net was some
guy Krazy glued small pieces of tin foil to the underside
of the buttons. The tin foil was the same idea as the
electrical paint so pressing the key then cause the tin
foil to touch the circuit board and complete the circuit
resulting a button press. Same theory, just different
material.

Of course if Harmony would just sell you a replacement
keypad at a reasonable price, that would be easier. I've
never thought to ask so that's another option.

Really appreciate the info regarding the tin foil. I just happened to have a roll of aluminum adhesive tape 24 inches from where I was sitting as I read your reply. Seriously, I didn't even have to stand up to to grab it. Anyway, I cut 2 small round pieces and stuck them to the back of the buttons. Both buttons work fine now. I'll also put 2 tiny drops of rubber cement on each button. The combination of the adhesive on the aluminum tape and the rubber cement will make the bond more permanent. Holy crapola, your advice got my remote up and running again within 5 minutes. A million thank you's.

PS.

I edited my original message title by adding relevant keywords so when others also have this problem, they'll benefit from this info when they perform a forum search.

Last edited by krowten on November 28, 2007 01:10.
Friends Don't Let Friends Drink & Drive or Buy Monster Cables
OP | Post 4 made on Thursday November 29, 2007 at 14:47
krowten
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2007
6
Here's the foil tape I used. It was under $5.00. I haven't used any glue as of yet because the foil tape is adhering to the button quite well.


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Friends Don't Let Friends Drink & Drive or Buy Monster Cables
Post 5 made on Friday November 30, 2007 at 22:24
FONGW2
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
October 2006
21
LOL. I have the same tape that I've been meaning to tape up my ducts with it and it never dawned on me to use it for that purpose. (Why glue regular foil when this stuff's already sticky?) That's priceless and I'm glad I was able to help. I'll probably switch to that if my paint keeps flaking off so thanks for thinking 'outside of the box' and coming up with the tape, definitely a lot cheaper!
Post 6 made on Monday December 17, 2007 at 22:43
ajlee7
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
December 2004
6
Hi, can someone point me to step by step instructions how to take this remote apart?
Post 7 made on Thursday August 14, 2008 at 18:16
ghoofie
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2008
14
Hmm...I tried this fix..after getting the remote open, I couldn't get the foil tape to stick to the rubber on the back side of the button.
Post 8 made on Monday August 18, 2008 at 11:43
ghoofie
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2008
14
Update... I bought some Caikote 44 at Fry's.... the stuff works !!! LOL
Post 9 made on Monday August 18, 2008 at 14:29
jlet
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2004
2,631
Now that you have mentioned "Caikote 44", I have found the other repair thread that mentions that stuff: [Link: remotecentral.com]
H659, H680, SA8300HD, TH-50PZ850, AVR-X4000
Post 10 made on Saturday August 23, 2008 at 09:24
eddieras
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2002
312
i also would like to try this and would like to know how to safely open the 659 - i searched and found another link that said to search 'repair' but i still didn't find any instructions.
any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Post 11 made on Monday August 25, 2008 at 13:35
ghoofie
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2008
14
The 659 was pretty simple, and I usually mess things up. First, there are four screws to loosen. Two of them are where you put the batteries in. Take the batteries out, the screws are under the batteries. There are also two on the backside of the remote. There are little holes and the screws are deep inside. After that, I used a very small flat screwdriver to pop open the two major halves of the remote. You have to pop open a spot, then move the scewdriver around and keeping splitting the halves. Once apart, you'll see the back of the buttons. It's an off whitish color rubber thingy that houses all of the buttons. There are two tiny screws holding the circuit board to the housing. I removed them, and then was able to completely remove the rubber button setup. The back of the buttons are a black color. If you push the front of the button, it pushes through and exposes the back of the button. You just paint over the black stuff with the Caikote 44.

I wasn't able to get the foil tape to stick to the back of the button, that's why I went with the caikote. I found it at Fry's for $5.99.

I figured I had nothing to lose, because most of my buttons around the display were failing and I was considering buying a new one anyway.

Good luck. And oh...I had to really push a sales person at Fry's to find the stuff on a shelf. He never heard of it. Once he took me over to a section where they had soldering stuff, etc...I actually found it before he did. But you can order it online from the manufacturer for $7.99 also.
Post 12 made on Tuesday August 26, 2008 at 07:25
eddieras
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2002
312
thanks! i'll give it a try
Post 13 made on Sunday August 31, 2008 at 02:52
ghoofie
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2008
14
Here's a littlle update:

The remote has been working great....until today.
I noticed, the green transmit light on was solid. Nothing
would work. Took batteries and start up again. Same thing.
Did an on-line remote update, thinking maybe it was
software. Still same thing. Whenever I put batteries in and
pressed any button, the green transmit light lit and stayed on.

I started thinking about something I read about this paint stuff
eventually flaking. So I open the remote and scraped the
little brass connections with a tiny screwdriver. Now the remote
works. The paint stuff flakes off and sticks making a constant
connection I guess.
Post 14 made on Thursday September 25, 2008 at 11:45
Freezer
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2006
14
I just wanted to thank all the contributors to this thread.

My Harmony 628 was experiencing the same problems explained in this thread. One of the six buttons (alongside the screen) had actually stopped working months ago. I was just doing various work-arounds to avoid needing to use that particular button. But then, slowly but surely, other buttons started to get difficult to work until some of the more crucial buttons were quickly dying.

I could not find a local vendor for the Caikote 44, so I figured to try the aluminum tape. I actually printed up the .jpg of the HVAC tape and took it to my local Lowe's & Home Depot. I ended up with a much larger role (but the smallest either store had) for $7.50. I'll be able to fix RC buttons for the next trillion years!

I took apart the remote. The 628 has six screws to deal with (four to take apart the plastic case and two holding the IC board to the front plastic panel of the remote). Then, after some exasperating sessions cutting the tape into extremely small pieces and using tweezers to affix it to the buttons, the remote worked just like new. Too cool for school.

It's hard for me to believe I allowed that one button to be inoperative for so long.

It seems like a pretty major design flaw for these things to be crapping out after only a couple year's use. Hopefully they've changed the design on more current models.
Post 15 made on Monday September 29, 2008 at 18:22
ghoofie
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2008
14
Since using the paint stuff, it works for about a week, then
the remote goes crazy again. Take it apart, scrap contacts,
and it's ok for a few days again. I probably put the paint
on too thick and it's peeling. But I ended up with buying
a Harmony One this weekend. Got tired of messing with the 659.


Jump to


Protected Feature Before you can reply to a message...
You must first register for a Remote Central user account - it's fast and free! Or, if you already have an account, please login now.

Please read the following: Unsolicited commercial advertisements are absolutely not permitted on this forum. Other private buy & sell messages should be posted to our Marketplace. For information on how to advertise your service or product click here. Remote Central reserves the right to remove or modify any post that is deemed inappropriate.

Hosting Services by ipHouse