Remote problems - Twins and a stop-gap solution

The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.

Fortunately this remote is easy to dismantle and a bit of
experimentation revealed that the faults lay in the rubber keypad.

The keys must be coated with some sort of conductive material which
was either contaminated (possibly with curry or alcohol) or had worn
too thin to work.

I have temporarily solved the problem by putting small pieces of foil
under the offending keys but I am not convinced this will solve the
problem as the foil could easily end up*making a permanent connection
on one or more keys.

A better solution would be to recoat the offending keys with some sort
of conductive 'paint' for want of a better word. However I know not of
such a product...


--
Richard Watkinson

Treasurer Sheffield Folk Festival

http://www.sheffieldfolkfestival.org/

A kitten is for life...

Richard Watkinson wrote:
The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.

Fortunately this remote is easy to dismantle and a bit of
experimentation revealed that the faults lay in the rubber keypad.

The keys must be coated with some sort of conductive material which
was either contaminated (possibly with curry or alcohol) or had worn
too thin to work.

I have temporarily solved the problem by putting small pieces of foil
under the offending keys but I am not convinced this will solve the
problem as the foil could easily end up making a permanent connection
on one or more keys.

A better solution would be to recoat the offending keys with some sort
of conductive 'paint' for want of a better word. However I know not of
such a product...



Check out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pace_Twin_PVR

for advice on how to get replacements or substitutes

One for All off eBay may be the cheapest way of getting this fixed.

I've tried the foil technique in the past and it may work for a bit but
a remote that has dodgy keys can get very annoying.

On Fri, 14 Jul 2006 03:09:07 +0100, Richard Watkinson
wrote:


The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.


You can buy a new one for about £25 from Pace. I recently did just
that. Contact them at

David

http://tinyurl.com/s3l32

Cheers,

Chris.


"Richard Watkinson" wrote in message
...

The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.

Fortunately this remote is easy to dismantle and a bit of
experimentation revealed that the faults lay in the rubber keypad.

The keys must be coated with some sort of conductive material which
was either contaminated (possibly with curry or alcohol) or had worn
too thin to work.

I have temporarily solved the problem by putting small pieces of foil
under the offending keys but I am not convinced this will solve the
problem as the foil could easily end up making a permanent connection
on one or more keys.

A better solution would be to recoat the offending keys with some sort
of conductive 'paint' for want of a better word. However I know not of
such a product...


--
Richard Watkinson

Treasurer Sheffield Folk Festival

http://www.sheffieldfolkfestival.org/

A kitten is for life...

Richard Watkinson wrote:
The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.

Fortunately this remote is easy to dismantle and a bit of
experimentation revealed that the faults lay in the rubber keypad.

The keys must be coated with some sort of conductive material which
was either contaminated (possibly with curry or alcohol) or had worn
too thin to work.

I have temporarily solved the problem by putting small pieces of foil
under the offending keys but I am not convinced this will solve the
problem as the foil could easily end up making a permanent connection
on one or more keys.

A better solution would be to recoat the offending keys with some sort
of conductive 'paint' for want of a better word. However I know not of
such a product...

If the problem is contamination, cleaning should fix it. I've used isopropyl
alcohol to successfully revitalise remote controls in the past. Fixing
buttons where the coating is worn out will require recoating with a suitably
flexible conductive material, which I haven't tried. Or throwing out. What I
have done on one occasion is to swap a well worn button for a rarely used
button, but this was for discrete buttons built into a product, rather than
a remote control where they are all in a single sheet.

I have a vague recollection of coming across a proper recoating product in
the past, but I'm too lazy to search for it right now. Failing that, what
might work is the silver conductive paint used to repair car windscreen
demisters. You should be able to find that in Halfords. However, this is
rather expensive if you don't need it for something else, and I'm not sure
how flexible it is (i.e it might start to flake off).

I go along with the universal remote solution, it's what I use all the time
anyway as it saves having a battery of remotes.

However, ISTR that in my childhood we used metallic silver modelling paint
for situations where we wanted conductivity. There's also the copper-based
grease you put on car battery terminals. I'm not sure that either would be
a suitable substitute, but it's all I can think of ...

"Richard Watkinson" wrote in message
...

The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.

Fortunately this remote is easy to dismantle and a bit of
experimentation revealed that the faults lay in the rubber keypad.

The keys must be coated with some sort of conductive material which
was either contaminated (possibly with curry or alcohol) or had worn
too thin to work.

I have temporarily solved the problem by putting small pieces of foil
under the offending keys but I am not convinced this will solve the
problem as the foil could easily end up making a permanent connection
on one or more keys.

A better solution would be to recoat the offending keys with some sort
of conductive 'paint' for want of a better word. However I know not of
such a product...

Pyriform wrote:
I have a vague recollection of coming across a proper recoating
product in the past, but I'm too lazy to search for it right now.
Failing that, what might work is the silver conductive paint used to
repair car windscreen demisters. You should be able to find that in
Halfords. However, this is rather expensive if you don't need it for
something else, and I'm not sure how flexible it is (i.e it might
start to flake off).

That is also suggested in:

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/irrfaq.htm#irrdsg

It also suggests trying pencil graphite. Can't get much cheaper than that!
Another interesting idea was to cut the conductive pads from an unused
remote control and stick them on.

Well worth a read.

I'd second the view that cleaning may be all that's required.

A number of remotes I've had have developed dead buttons over time. On
each occaision, when I've finally got round to opening it up (which can
be the toughest part!), it's obvious that gunk has got in.

Normally the rubber inlay (containing the buttons) gets a good wash in
hot water with washing up liquid. I'll use a damp cloth to clean the
affected part of the PCB.

Wait until both are completely dry before re-assembling.

Used this just the other day to revitalise a 15 year old remote that
has had daily use - works like new again!

Pyriform wrote:
The remote for my Pace Twin has begun to develop problems with some of
it's keys - like not working at all or very awkward to get to work.

Fortunately this remote is easy to dismantle and a bit of
experimentation revealed that the faults lay in the rubber keypad.
If the problem is contamination, cleaning should fix it. I've used isopropyl
alcohol to successfully revitalise remote controls in the past.