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How do I disassemble the RM-L03 remote control?
There are no screws in the battery compartment so I assume it is just spring lugs on the plastic top and bottom but it is quite difficult to see where they are.
Several of the frequently used keys are intermittent and I need to fix them.
Done it.
The “lower grey part” and the “upper black part”, both on the top, are separate.
Insert a thin knife under the grey_part corner and gently prise it up while also pulling the black_plastic_bottom_wall outwards to free the spring catches. Once the grey_part has been lifted slightly at the corner it is easy to slide the knife edge downwards into the black plastic base and to ease it outwards to free the catches. The “clips” are on the black_plastic_base and they spring into recesses in the lower_grey_part. There are three catches along the grey_part side and two along the bottom.
Remove the black_top by easing the bottom_side_wall away at the red button and working along towards the top. Repeat starting at the blue button. There are four catches along each side and two along the top.
You can now lift off the rubber_button_tops to get access to the contacts.
I shall be sticking small circles of aluminium_foil_with_one_side_sticky to the underside of the rubber key tops to ensure good contact with the PCB switch contacts to fix intermittent keys.
I know I can buy a replacement but I like fixing things!
I have opened and cleaned several Humax remotes of different types and one thing I found is they open much more easily when they’re warm. A sunny window ledge usually works but I’ve resorted to a microwave combi oven set on convection at 40C in winter!
I usually wash the rubber keypad with warm water and a well known brand of washing up liquid followed by a thorough rinse and dry (the sunny porch works well).
The contacts usually clean up ok with isopropanol cleaning fluid and a tissue – keeping well away from the integrated circuit on the board. It dries quickly and doesn’t leave any residue.
Final job is to thoroughly clean the case and cursor inserts – they can have all sorts of food and human residues on them. Snap everything back into place, press the pvr button on the ones that have it and they’re usually back to normal.
Thanks for that.
What you have written suggests that the keys become intermittent / need more force to work because the surfaces get dirty and cleaning the surfaces is all that is needed.
I had always assumed that the keys become intermittent / need more force to work because the rubber loses its conductivity. I therefore cut small disks of sticky-back-aluminium-foil and glued them to the rubber keys to provide a new conductive surface. This worked well on all keys except the OK key and the eight surrounding it where the contact part was only about 2mm in diameter and it was difficult to get the aluminium foil to stick to it.
I refurbished my burglar alarm keyboard in the same way a few years back and it has worked well ever since.
But just cleaning the contacts is much easier!
There are various conductive paints available I’ve seen used on the rubber key pads – Amazon, RS components etc sell them.
Another thought. When I strip down rubber keyboards like this there seems to be a thin black grease inside between key and contact.
Is this a genuine grease which I should leave in place?
Or is it “collected gunge” which I should get rid of as batteryman does?
I’ve never seen any grease used between the rubber pad and PCB, It might well be the conductive coating that has worn off the membrane.
The insides generally collect oils from the skin after a while and this can oxidise to form a greasy, waxy substance similar to earwax. Sounds horrible but we all exude a bit of greasy stuff from time to time!
The black grease sounds like skin oils/conductive rubber debris. As far as I can tell, the conductive black rubber is not a coating, it’s the whole keypad – much easier to manufacture as a whole thing in the same rubber with coloured bits inserted for the coloured keys.
The membranes have a conductive coating on a rubber pad, that’s why they wear, I’ve seen temporary repairs done with a soft pencil.
Years ago manufactures used to supply all the spares for R/C we used to repair them, replacements were only for lost or smashed units.
jaeger
Thanks. I checked out that document and did some follow op searches and nothing mentions any grease when talking about rubber keyboard design.
I think the “grease” must therefore be gunge which should be cleaned off. Just doing so may be enough to fix the keys but, if not, adding a conducting surface like aluminium foil or conductive paint definitely fixes it.
See How to clean a remote control and How to Fix & Clean Your Remote Control Buttons for hints on how to do it.
Again, just cleaning is suggested and the “black grease” is gunge which should be removed.
The frequently used keys became flaky again so I attached aluminium foil to them – it’s back to like new again.
jaeger – 1 year ago »
There are various conductive paints available I’ve seen used on the rubber key pads – Amazon, RS components etc sell them.
Hiya mate,
which of the two mentioned ‘paint’ is the best, in your opinion ?
One important point.
When you replace the OK key make sure the OK is the right way up. The OK key has two small black tabs, a wide one on the bottom and a thin one on the top. These fit into recesses on the “four arrows” keys.
I have glued a small dimple onto my OK key so I can easily find it. It means I can’t see the OK and I managed to put the key back upside down.
Everything worked all right until I clipped the plastic front in place when suddenly the Back_arrow key did not send the correct signal. It took a few disassemble / reassemble to work out what was happening.
Similarly the “four arrows – up/down/left/right” key has a wide tab at the bottom (down arrow) and a narrow tab at the top (up arrow).
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