I have had many problems with the mx-900 buttons failing. I usually bring out a new control for the customer and get an R/A from URC and for $125 plus shipping, i get my remote replaced. I think the build quality is the worst its ever been. I still support the company due to the fact its the only control I know how to program/install. And for the $$$ they are great. Been replacing 980's lately too.

Just had another MX900 with bad buttons.

We went through a run where we had about 7 or 8 within a few months with bad buttons. They were obviously the most used buttons on the remote. Odd thing is they were all about the same age. Not sure if there was a bad run of these things. I think all of them were between 9 and 18 months old. Only one was under warranty however. Have not had a call in a long time. Fingers crossed as we have at least a hundred of them in the field. :)

I bought one of these MX900 from ebay. The volume down button was working intermittently. Complete disassembly (also took out the clear plastic used for light distribution) and cleaning with 90% isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) removed a little residue and fixed my problem too!

I would have tried calling URC, but I assumed they'd never talk to me since I'm not a dealer. I'm not complaining though. I paid $90 for the remote and a MRF-350 that appears to be still sealed. I'm clueless why anyone would pay a dealer $499 or whatever for it.

Overall, I think the remote software is very easy to use. I was able to do a complete install with an MSC-400 and an MX-900 in just a few hours and I've never done it before.

Cleaning contacts alone will not work.
Very easy fix. go to auto parts store and get permatex rear window defroster repair kit. Next remove battery cover and batteries and pry open remote. Once open take out the rubber sheet and clean the backside of connectors. Open the kit and find the small bottle of conductive paint and brush a small dab on all the contact let dry a few minute and reassemble. Just like that better than new. This fix can be done right at your customers house.

Well smack my ass and call me sally! That is a great little DIY project....good find man.

ripps486, I can't thank you enough for posting that. Remote is back to as good as new!! I had some other electronics with similar button problems, I'll be trying out this solution on those as well.

Huge thank you to ripps486 for showing us this repair and to kwindrem for showing us how to open the MX900. I just repaired two MX900's that I was about to toss in the trash, both working line new! And I'm an average joe, not an installation guy. Thanks again!

i just tried this repair technique and all of the lower buttons now do not work....

I'll be trying this fix soon, thanks for posting ripps! I've have many of these in the
field where the buttons have failed.

I took the remote apart again and reapplied the (stuff). Unbelievable!!!!!

It works... I was doing a test remote at my house before trying it on the clients remote.. Today I went and only applied the (stuff) to the button that had failed. (volume down). It worked like a charm....

Thanks so much for this info.. it is nice to know that I can save my clients some $$ and myself some headache....

I chatted with URC support a few weeks back on this issue, as I have not one but THREE clients who've experienced this issue ... for each of them, the SELECT button (arguably the most common button to be used on a remote) is working only when pressed very hard, or has stopped working at all.

Support told me that certain ranges of the MX900 are eligible for free repair, due to an issue, presumably during the mfg process - I plan to call them tomorrow w/the range of serial #s and initiate the RMA process, will post back here with any new news I get then.

Wow! I hope this works... I just logged on here to see if I could by a new MX-900 because of this button issue. I have tried cleaning it several times with isopropyl, but it seemed to get worse. I'm convinced now that I merely rubbed the conductive paint of the rubber buttons...

Off to get the kit tomorrow.

By the way, does anyone have a rubber "button" membrane to sell from an otherwise junk remote. My select button was the core of my problem, and I think I ripped it trying to debug/clean the damn thing. Once painted, it may be OK...

eMail if you do.

Thanks!

F A N T A S T I C ! ! !

Ripps486, thank you very much. disassembled, painted the buttons and reassembled...all in less than ten minutes. My mx-900 works BETTER than new!!

This is sooo awesome.

Yaaaahhhooooo!

Really, man. Thanks. The family was really eying the trash can in the corner for this one...

Sincerely,
Jeff

Update: I did this several months ago and the conductive paint has flaked off of several buttons now. Eventually, this ended up being a major pain as conductive paint flakes have scattered onto sensors, resulting in buttons being 'stuck'. I'm back to where I started, trying to find another conductive glue that will stick permanently. Either that, or trying to connect URC to see if I can get a replacement.