# How do you disassemble an RC64R Remote?



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

I thought the RC64R might be different from an RC64 or RC65 in its ability to control the volume on my Olevia TV. I am told they are identical, except for the RF transmitter. I suspected as much. Anyhow, that mean, since other remotes do not work, my RC64R is probably defective but in a useful way and I need to try to repair it.

There are only three flakey keys, pause, reverse skip and fast forward. I tried squirting some contact cleaner in there but that didn't work. I need to open the caae. If the contacts are exposed I can spray cleaner directly on them. If they are sealed, I may be able to exchange the pad from the RC65 that does not work.

Yes, I know there are no "user serviceable parts" in there, but that never stopped me before. DTV certainly isn't going to service it, so it is up to the user (me) to do it.


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

It's been a while since I've tried but if I recall there are some screws hidden behind stickers on the back side.


----------



## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

Ther are a couple of screws beneath the oval shaped insert in the middle of the front side.


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

And a couple more under the battery cover


----------



## mstanka (Jan 26, 2003)

Why don't you call Directv and have them send you a new one? I've never had a problem.

Michael.


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

mstanka said:


> Why don't you call Directv and have them send you a new one? I've never had a problem.
> 
> Michael.


Check the thread concerning differences between the RC64R and the RC64. Apparently, my RC64R shouldn't be able to do what it does and the replacements can't do it, so I have to try to fix the one I have.


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

davring said:


> Ther are a couple of screws beneath the oval shaped insert in the middle of the front side.


That is what I am trying to get at. How do you access the screws? Can the oval section be removed by itself?


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

There are two screws at the back of the battery compartment and a clip in between them. I removed the screws and slipped the clip with a screwdriver. This allowed me to open the rear, but there is something else in the way further up the case. I thought it would just hinge open but it doesn't and i am afraid to force it.

I have no labels on the back that might have screws under them. My back is a rubber sheet that seems to be glued to the rear plastic piece. Does the rubber have to be removed to get to the other screws?


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

rbpeirce said:


> That is what I am trying to get at. How do you access the screws? Can the oval section be removed by itself?


That grey oval around the transport buttons does pop out. You have to be careful not to scratch up the edge but if you use a small knife you can do it without marring the edges of the oval plate or the top cover.

There are four screws under that plate and two screws under the battery cover. Once you get the screws out you top and bottom halves come apart.

Mike


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

Mike Bertelson said:


> That grey oval around the transport buttons does pop out. You have to be careful not to scratch up the edge but if you use a small knife you can do it without marring the edges of the oval plate or the top cover.
> 
> There are four screws under that plate and two screws under the battery cover. Once you get the screws out you top and bottom halves come apart.
> 
> Mike


Wonderful!! With any luck, getting the oval out may be enough. I really just need to get some contact cleaner on the three buttons that are acting up.


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

Mike Bertelson said:


> That grey oval around the transport buttons does pop out. You have to be careful not to scratch up the edge but if you use a small knife you can do it without marring the edges of the oval plate or the top cover.
> 
> There are four screws under that plate and two screws under the battery cover. Once you get the screws out you top and bottom halves come apart.
> 
> Mike


That worked great! Thanks, Mike.

I had been trying to spray contact cleaner through the front of the remote. I discovered all the buttons are on a single piece of rubber-like material. There was no way the spray could get through. I also discovered that the contacts are traces on the PC board. There is no way to get contact cleaner on them either.

The three flakey buttons work but you have to press them much harder than the other buttons. A light press produces either nothing or a delayed response. It occurred to me adding some material to the bottom of those buttons might improve their response. I was thinking of pieces of adhesive backed cork pads or something like that. Does anybody have any idea of what might be suitable. More important, does anybody have any idea of whether this will even work? In other words, has anybody ever tried this?


----------



## makaiguy (Sep 24, 2007)

With many remotes the rubber lumps have a conductive coating that makes electrical contact between two exposed spots on the circuit board underneath when you press down on them. (Don't know if the DTV remotes work that way, but there's a good chance ...). Sometimes the conductive coating wears off. You can renew the conductive coating by painting on the liquid that comes in a kit for repairing automotive rear window defrost grids. You can find this at most automotive parts stores. Here's one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-15067-Window-Defogger-Repair/dp/B000HBI9YQ


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

makaiguy said:


> With many remotes the rubber lumps have a conductive coating that makes electrical contact between two exposed spots on the circuit board underneath when you press down on them. (Don't know if the DTV remotes work that way, but there's a good chance ...). Sometimes the conductive coating wears off.


That was my first thought and I tried an ohm meter on the buttons, but they are non-conductive as fart as I could determine. Also, the traces do not seem to be exposed. It really appears the manufacturer was able to build the switches under the varnish (or whatever it is) that they use to seal the PC board. It is kind of clever. There really are no user serviceable parts!! That's why I thought padding the buttons might help by producing a bit more force without requiring a lot of pressure on the button. Again, I have no idea if that will work.


----------



## Edmund (Apr 17, 2003)

Replace the rubber membrane from the new remotes into the old workhorse remote that you want to fix.


----------



## bigglebowski (Jul 27, 2010)

rbpeirce said:


> That was my first thought and I tried an ohm meter on the buttons, but they are non-conductive as fart as I could determine. Also, the traces do not seem to be exposed. It really appears the manufacturer was able to build the switches under the varnish (or whatever it is) that they use to seal the PC board. It is kind of clever. There really are no user serviceable parts!! That's why I thought padding the buttons might help by producing a bit more force without requiring a lot of pressure on the button. Again, I have no idea if that will work.


The button pads on remotes are conductive but wont appear to be a short like a piece of metal would be. So if you were using an ohm meter with a real low ohm setting or the buzzer function on most meters will not buzz detecting a short. They will probably register in the hundreds of ohms or even 1k ohms. This is also true for the black traces on the board side, its conductive not like bare copper conductive.

Now for the diagnostic part. Is it the membrane pad or the PCB that is bad? To find out swap the membrane from your other working remote into the suspect bad one. You can swap in either direction and verify that you have either good buttons or a good board. It may be a trace on the board that has worn away and is common to all of the buttons that dont work.


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

Thanks!! The logical solution was a conductive button closing open traces on the PC board, but it didn't seem to be that way.

The buttons I tested all registered as open circuits. If they were conductive I would have expected some resistance reading. The black traces also appeared to be coated.

I will swap the membranes to see what happens. Thanks, again.


----------



## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

rbpeirce said:


> Wonderful!! With any luck, getting the oval out may be enough. I really just need to get some contact cleaner on the three buttons that are acting up.


I bought 8 of the RC64RB nfl remotes for about $25 each. Now those are worth fixing. I am having some similar button problems and am curious how you corrected the problem if you ever do. So the front panel you removed is the huge 1-3/4" x 3-1/2" plate? Mine are all different colors so gray doesn't do me any good. Other than the backlight and fancy color scheme I assume ours are the same build.


----------



## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

Problem solved. Thanks everybody. I moved the pad from the RC65 to the RC64R and it is working they way it used to again.

The oval cover was easy to pop off with a pen knife. The four screws and the two at the end of the battery compartment required a very small philips head screwdriver. A small flat-bladed screwdriver popped the back loose at the battery and then I needed to remove a screw holding the RC64R circuit board in. The RC65 didn't have this. I swapped the pads, re-assembled and tested. The RC64R was fine again.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Happy end !


----------



## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

rbpeirce said:


> Problem solved. Thanks everybody. I moved the pad from the RC65 to the RC64R and it is working they way it used to again.
> 
> The oval cover was easy to pop off with a pen knife. The four screws and the two at the end of the battery compartment required a very small philips head screwdriver. A small flat-bladed screwdriver popped the back loose at the battery and then I needed to remove a screw holding the RC64R circuit board in. The RC65 didn't have this. I swapped the pads, re-assembled and tested. The RC64R was fine again.


Way to go! Congratulations.

Still very puzzling that the codes sets weren't identical.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

It would be easy task - get learning remote with JP-1 connector and PC ...


----------



## jimbo1mcm (Sep 10, 2011)

Get a Harmony One and program what you want to turn off and on.


----------



## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

Waaayyyy back in the day I used to repair electronic calculators and I don't think keyboards (or remote controls) have changed much since then.

There was a circuit board with tracks over each "button" which was a rubber piece that pressed on the circuit board to complete the connection. Rarely did the conductive surface on the rubber wear off but it DID often get "insulated" by dust or other contaminants in the air.

The fix was to rub the circuit board and the conductive rubber pad with denatured alcohol using a clean lint-free cloth (like the kind sold to clean eyeglasses).


----------



## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

jimbo1mcm said:


> Get a Harmony One and program what you want to turn off and on.


Heck, any programmable remote will do that. It doesn't have to be a Harmony. It's a nice remote but not the only game in town. 

Mike


----------

