Virgin Tivo box Remote Control

[Murphyv310]

Post in error

[Murphyv310]

Open it up and wash the pad with warm water and washing up liquid with a soft brush rinse with hot water thoroughly , do the same to the PCB. Dry thoroughly with a hair dryer and reassemble. You don't need new conducive material on the pads. Never put any other solvent near it just water and washing up liquid. Literally done thousands this way with 95% success.
Send them to me Gary if you dont believe me, £10 plus post and a full years warranty.

[Radio Fixer]

Well, thats great advice Trevor from someone who has actually found a way that works. Will put that on file.

thanks Gary

[Brunel]

New ones can be ordered from here: https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-...ontrol-app

[Murphyv310]

The biggest issue with remote controls is a reaction from our fingers. You often see a build up of a grease like substance between the pad and PCB. You won't find this on a new remote. Engineers often thought it was liquid spillage from coke or beer. But when your own plays up and you know its history then when it's opened you see the same issue.
As it's not a chemical issue as such the only solvent you use is water and detergent. This method will not remove the conductive coating and unless the remote does have known contamination from coke, beer etc it will cure the issue.
I'm not the only one that cleans them this way, some though won't do it and wrongly say the remote will never work again.
The only exception is ones with a built in back up battery, then you just clean the PCB contacts with a damp cloth not a full immersion in water.
Make sure you always thoroughly wash the pad on both sides and it's a good idea to wash the casing as well.

[Amie]

^^^^^
I'll second Trevor's method, I've done it myself! Washing up detergent, warm water, and, an old tooth brush, works every time, solvent cleaners are bad news on those pads.

Thanks,
Amie.

[Radio Fixer]

Only thing I dont understand is the gel on the buttons and the PCB.  How does it get in there?  The case is precision engineering plastic, it snaps together with a seal that needs multiple implements to open it again.

It cant get thru the key membrane as in my case that was one piece of rubber.  So to me it must have been there from new or its from the battery although none was around the battery clips and as said no corrosion.  A mystery   

Gary

[Murphyv310]

Gary I can assure you it does.
Even high end equipment sufferers the same fate.
It was extremely common on B&O remotes, they were no better than remotes made by Vestel, Amstrad and others. The Gel you describe is the problem, comes from sweat from hands etc.
Some car steering wheels degrade badly from hand sweat and acids too, funnily enough those on more expensive vehicles!!!

[Amie]

The oily substance is just skin oil that has permeated the membrane over time.

Oil goes through dirt stays on the button sides. Can't stop it, it will happen over again. You just have to do it again...

It looks like silicon grease, dad used to give them to me to clean if anyone brought theirs to him for repair.

Bit like air getting out of cheap bicycle inner tubes, bought some this summer, things are flat in three weeks! No punctures, and the valves are good,

[Murphyv310]

In addition to oils skin does exude more than that.

Most of us come with two types of sweat glands: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. Eccrine glands cover the majority of your body and are responsible for the cooling effect of sweating [source: Mayo Clinic]. Eccrine sweat is almost entirely water with a little salt and potassium, but it also contains trace amounts of ammonia, uric acid and urea -- all waste byproducts of the body's metabolism of nitrogen [source: Huang, et al.].