How to clean Non-functoning buttons on remote

Written By: andre
  • Comments: 29
How to clean Non-functoning buttons on remote

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

5

Time Required

15 minutes

Introduction

With these remotes it seems to be a common problem some buttons cease to work after a couple of years. Usually, you just need to open the remote and clean the circuit board.

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    • For later testing: X marks butttons which still work, O marks buttons that don't.

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    • Open battery housing and remove the batteries

    • Remove the screw located in the center of the battery housing

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    • Top and bottom shell of the remote are held together by 4 latches per side. The most fore and aft ones are located about 1cm from each end

    • Pry them open with a small flat head. If you're carefull that will leave only tiny scratches, but it does take some force

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    • Once open, remove the insides and clean them from all the drinks and what not that has been poored over the remote

    • If necessary, add contact spray or alike to the buttom of the rubber buttons

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    • After cleaning and before full re-assembly, you might want to try if things improved.

    • Put the cicruit board back in, add batteries and put the rubber mats onto the circuit board

    • If the repair worked, you should the red top LED flashing

    • Put it all back together again. (Don't forget the screw in the battery housing.)

    • You might need some new batteries as well

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

andre

Member since: 12/03/12

1720 Reputation

29 comments

Having trouble with the latches. Can you explain the technique you used to pry them open?

Thanks!

bob -

Hi Bob. Force, brute force. Sorry, I don't have a better advice for you. ;-)

andre -

thanks, I fixed mine using your guide.

surfer -

You are a life saver, just fixed my onkyo RC-737m control with this guide... Broken a plastic clip but can't tell when it's back together. Cheers again! Leon

Leon Parsons -

Géniaaaaaaaaaaal!

Deux télécommandes dont les boutons du volume ne répondaient plus! Et hop c'est revenu ;-)

Merciiiiiiii

Thierry Paulet -

Worked like a charm! Just saved myself the cost of a replacement.

Tom Cecil -

Hi, I have two of these remotes (RAV 238...I purchased a replacement some years back). I've tried the disassembly/cleaning procedure multiple times. My issue with BOTH remotes is the "system power" and "standby" buttons. We have to press them progressively harder and harder whereby eventually they don't work. Any other suggestions besides just the cleaning?

Drew -

Thanks I've just fixed mine after months of frustration using your guide :)

michaelillenberger -

Thanks! This fixed my Yamaha RAV326 remote (no longer available). I did have to lightly scrape the circuit board contacts under the Volume buttons, which were the worst offenders. I used isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud to clean all the contact strips and the black rubber contacts. If this doesn't work the RAV328 is 98% compatible with the RAV326 and is still available. Some of the special effects buttons are different, everything else works.

Roger Carter -

This worked on an Onkyo RC-737M Remote Control. Thanks very much for your advice

iam unknown41 -

It looks like my 'enter' button is not working. When I took the remove apart and pressed the button I could see a hidden green led turn on when I pressed the button indicating that the button is working. However, the ampliefier does not respond when the button is pressed so I am unable to enter the 'Manual Setup', 'Signal' or 'Auto Setup' menus alas I cannot configure my amp now. I have tried resetting the amp to factory and replacing the batteries to no avail. If I could see a way to operate the amp and go through these menus using the amp itself then I would. Any suggestions?

Shaun Hill -

Worked for onkyo rc-765m. Volume buttons had stopped working. One screw them prize apart. A squirt of isopropanol screen cleaner did the trick. Thanks for the guide.

duncanshirkey -

Remote model: Onkyo RC-765 (volume button stopped working)

Bottom line; it works like a charm after cleaning all the contacts.

Really, really hard to pry this remote open; this was not designed to be friendly to opening by us customers. I scratched the !&&* out of it, all up and down the sides-- but the darn volume button works now. Thank you for your help. My 2-cents, put the rubber buttons back into the little holes in the front cover BEFORE re-assembly. Otherwise, they won't line up in the little holes properly, and then you have to pry it open again.

persephone99 -

This worked perfectly for my Yamaha RAV451 remote - the power on/off button had stopped working unless you kept it pressed for a long time, with this guide I managed to prise apart the control (needs force and determination, you will inevitably leave some scratch/gouge marks) and found that where the on/off button was located on the printed circuit there was an "oily" mark, cleaned this off with cotton wool and lens cleaner and then clicked just the top part (where the button is located) back together, to test the repair. Worked perfectly now, so I clicked the rest of the unit back together and replaced the battery compartment screw - very happy, thanks very much !

vandergraaf37 -

I've found that while cleaning hasn't worked, (1) taking some double sided tape, placing it on the back of a sheet of aluminum foil and (2) cutting to size (3) attaching the foil to the back of the non-functioning buttons (on the black pad) allows the circuit to complete.

methead -

Was considering purchasing new remote, because of non-functioning volume buttons on Yamaha RAV494 . This solution WORKED, best guide, best answer, best advice (search words!). The circuit grid had a sticky oily residue that also covered the buttons on that side. Still not sure where it came from, but it cleaned up quickly with rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, and lint free cloth. Used smallest thinnest tech flat screwdriver to pry open the case after removing battery screw. Cleaned circuit, buttons, and case before re-assembly. DEFINITELY line the buttons up before closing the case; turn the front upside down, insert the buttons, inspect that they are through their holes, then check again after inserting circuit grid but before closing case. Also cleaned infrared window. After closing case, I scraped and filed down the inevitable scratches back to a smooth surface. Works like new! I have a "new" remote, and a happy husband.

jbsanno -

Thank you!!! You made my Day!!

felipe andres -

Kudos to Andre! I would not have opened my discontinued remote without seeing helpful series series of photos.

toadman4life -

Yeaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! Easy and worked 1st time. MUTE is BACK and beautiful. Advertizers: you may bite the wax tadpole AGAIN. My wife will thank you also for a working volume control.. Thank you for posting this, don't know if i would have attempted to do this fix without. Thanks again.

William Helbling -

Onkyo RC-834M. Was almost about to buy a replacement but this guide saved me some money! Just like jbsanno there was a sticky residue on the circuit board where the + and - is (for volume) as well as under the rubber padding in the corresponding area. Compressed air, cotton swabs and some isopropyl alcohol fixed it right up. Works as if it were brand new! Thanks!!!

Harpua -

This is great! The volume & mute on our Onkyo RC-710M, hadn't been working properly for quite awhile. We were afraid that something had broken inside because of how hard & long we had to push the button to get any response. Because of this, I was looking to buy a replacement online when I came across this site. The simple steps & pictures, as well as the comments, made it so clear & easy to follow that I had to fix ours right away.

The most challenging part is the cover. Taking it off was difficult because there are a dozen+ attachment points. For closing, once I got the butt end pieces lined up, I really had to force it together before closing the rest (I was afraid I was going to break it after having just fixed it). Everything else was a piece of cake.

Interestingly, the mess that I cleaned up was like syrup & only in that problem spot - I couldn't see how it got there, since there wasn't anything that could leak in the area. The rest of the board was clean. One of life's mysteries I guess.

2 thumbs up!!

williams_clan -

Thanks for this, you saved me 20$ at least! Funny that I didn’t even think it could be fixed until my search for RC 737M showed this guide.

williams_clan, I had the same gooey mess ONLY under the Vol key!!! ( off gas leak or transfer through from finger on most used silicon??)

The engaging parts of the remote are on the bottom, I used a fine bladed spudger to go down from the top and then gently pry the top up while the bottom forced out. Yes you really have to snap it together with some force!

Works like its brand new !

zoobee22 -

Excellent, thank you. Hardest part was taking it apart. My particular remote (Yamaha RAV463 ZA11350) had more than 4 tabs. Had to start at a lower corner and and work my way up one side and then the other.Took two sets of hands. Helper held remote while I applied small flat screwdriver, thin metal putty knife and then larger flat screwdriver once we got it started. Works great now that it is gunk free. :-)

Debra -

Thanks for that. It worked after I cleaned the volume switch.

Wonderful clear instructions.

Tom

New Zealand

Tom Zonneveld -

Thanks a lot just save me 40.00 from buying a replacement remote. It was a little hard at first getting it apart. Didn’t want to break it.

Volume button stopped working, something had been spilled on it. Took it apart clean it real good and now back working. Thanks for the help.

My Onkyo RC-737M

DON MCELROY -

Fantastic ~ it worked perfectly - thank you.

cheers Mark

wpsvideoproduction -

Oh my god! You just saved me having to buy a smeggy 2nd hand Yamaha RAV271 remote from ebay which would have cost me £30 - £60!

I’m selling my amp for around £90 so that was a horrible prospect. Taking existing remote apart allowed me to clean off all the smeg around the casing where it splits (to open), also around all the button holes, and around the IR window, AND clean all the rubber buttons top, between buttons and underneath. I cleaned the contact circuit board contacts with isopropyl alcohol and it worked a treat, including getting some weird greeny black gunk off the + and - volume buttons, which were the main ones not working for me. And I could get some rust/battery juice off the battery contact wire. It helped cleaned up and fix my remote so much, it feels like a new one again! (Well, white volume buttons are a bit yellowy where they’ve discoloured over the years but hey ho, nothing doing about that…)

Thank. You.

James Nolan -

Thanks mate, volume button was the issue and a clean solved it. Thanks again!

Rod -

When I opened mine up, the inside seems sparkly clean. I gave it a quick wipe, and put it back together, and now it works! Sweet!

Joe Williams -