Help with Under Water Sony Remote?

[Kenith]

Our working Sony remote with 2 good AA batteries accidently was left on the floor and was immersed in water when there was an adjoining bathroom accident.

Cleaned the contacts and replaced the batteries but the remote does not work.

Did a forum search and found
"My wife is always spilling coke (a cola) on them or some other nasty thing. I have never had a problem opening them up, cleaning them with water, letting them dry out, and then reassembling them. Same works for pagers dropped in the toilet .The trickiest part is to figure out how to open it up without breaking it. Most of them are clamshell cases with plastic tabs hidden under the joints. Take your time and pry gently." https://www.electronicspoint.com/sony-tv-remote-t239048.html

The Sony remote is model RMT-V504A and the plastic tabs seem to be along the sides but have not yet been able to get it apart to try to clean it.

Am interested in any suggestions concerning both opening and cleaning these remotes.

Thanks

Ken

 

[CocaCola]

Without having one in hand I would simply suggest taking a butter knife and slowly working it into the seem with a twisting action and see if you can get the two halves to split apart... As always open the battery compartment remover the batteries and any screws that might be holding it together... In addition to screws in the battery compartment run your finger over any decals on the back of the remote feeling for an indent that might reveal a hidden screw under the decal...

Clean the circuit board with acetone, and clean the popple pad with dish soap and water, let dry completley before reassembly and try not to touch any of the contacts on the PC board or the popple pad with bare hands after they have been cleaned...

 

[Kenith]

Hi CocaCola,

"As always open the battery compartment remover the batteries and any screws that might be holding it together... In addition to screws in the battery compartment run your finger over any decals on the back of the remote feeling for an indent that might reveal a hidden screw under the decal..."

Thanks for the detailed instructions! Looked carefully but did not find any screws so will try your knife suggestion.

As mentioned the Sony remote is model RMT-V504A. Have checked Sony's website and found user guide info for RMT-V504A but no parts info...
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-remote.pl?mdl=RMTV504A&LOC=3

Thanks again for your help!

Ken

 

[(*steve*)]

CocaCola, any reason to suggest Acetone? In my experience it's quite likely to do nasty things to some plastics.

I generally prefer to use isopropyl alcohol, or if I have to do a lot of dunking, 50/50 metho and water first, and finish it off with alcohol.

 

[CocaCola]

CocaCola, any reason to suggest Acetone? In my experience it's quite likely to do nasty things to some plastics.

True it will eat some plastics, and caution should be taken...

I find it the best for PC board cleaning with little residue, there should be nothing plastic on the side of the PC board with the contact pads... I wouldn't suggest it on a PC board with lots of plastic parts that could get damaged...

I generally prefer to use isopropyl alcohol, or if I have to do a lot of dunking, 50/50 metho and water first, and finish it off with alcohol.

I would never dump in acetone unless the board was bare, only for swabbing...

I used to use alcohol but it seems to always leave a white residue (even more so with the new fluxes and lead free solders), and I use lab grade 98-99% isopropyl so it's not an impurity issue like over the counter 70% stuff... That residue would effect the buttons in this case...

When I worked at Motorola they were totally anal about not touching the PC board or the contacts of the popple pads, you had to wear white fabric gloves while doing that work...

BTW freon would be my preferred solvent, but that pesky EPA put an end to that, or at least crippled it...

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

Excellent advice from CocaCola, and Steve as usual.

I have heard that the carbon pads in the rubber key overlay that make contact with the gold plated contacts on the PCB when the button is pushed down can be rejuvenated with graphite (or powdered 6B pencil "lead" which is nearly the same). I don't know whether that's a great idea because the graphite would tend to fall off as the button was used, even if loose graphite was removed before reassembly, and the thickness of the graphite is important to making a good contact. Perhaps a very sticky label or very dense fabric that could be "written on" with a pencil etc, which would provide a base for the graphite.

But I guess you could just clean it all and that might fix it by itself.

 

[CocaCola]

If a rebuild is necessary they sell little rebuild kits that have the carbon pads and special adhesive...

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

I forgot to mention. I've found a good idea for electronic equipment e.g. cellphones that are dropped in water is to dismantle the device as quickly as possible, remove any RF shields if possible, and brush isopropyl alcohol liberally over all components and both sides of all PCBs, and into ALL crevices, using a soft bristled brush, or at a pinch, a soft grade toothbrush. It displaces the water and if you can displace ALL the water, you can avoid corrosion and rusting. Then dry everything slowly over a slow steady heat such as a night-store heater. If I had enough isopropyl alcohol, and the product was worth enough, I would immerse the boards (one end at a time, if necessary) in the alcohol while using the brush. I agree with whoever said that isopropyl alcohol is safer than acetone (or trichloroethylene), both of which can "melt" many kinds of plastic.

 

[CDRIVE]

I've used 'Big Bath' for years when I had a marine electronics shop. Spray it on, scrub with old tooth brush, spray rinse off. Good stuff!

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Chemicals/Chemicals.htm

In a pinch and if I had nothing else I've used mineral spirits with no ill effects. It's never hurt any plastics and dries fast.

Chris

 

[Kenith]

Hi CocaCola,

"suggest taking a butter knife and slowly working it into the seem with a twisting action and see if you can get the two halves to split apart..." No luck with standard butter knife because was too thick but a thinner "paring knife" worked!

When got everything apart, I noticed there was some residue around a couple of IC leads so cleaned and dried everything as you instructed, put it back together, inserted working batteries and then pressed the remote On button for the DVD player and it worked!!!

Thanks again for your help!!!

Ken

 

[Kenith]

Hi KrisBlueNZ,

"I've found a good idea for electronic equipment e.g. cellphones that are dropped in water is to dismantle the device as quickly as possible, remove any RF shields if possible, and brush isopropyl alcohol liberally over all components and both sides of all PCBs, and into ALL crevices, using a soft bristled brush, or at a pinch, a soft grade toothbrush. It displaces the water and if you can displace ALL the water, you can avoid corrosion and rusting."

What percent concentration of isopropyl alcohol do you use?

Ken

 

[Kenith]

Hi (*steve*),

"I generally prefer to use isopropyl alcohol, or if I have to do a lot of dunking, 50/50 metho and water first, and finish it off with alcohol."

Clarification: "...and finish it off with alcohol." Am guessing from your "I generally prefer to use isopropyl alcohol" that you finish with isopropyl alcohol. Is this correct? Also what concentration do you use?

I generally use "Isopropyl rubbing alcohol" USP/B.P. ranges from 68–99% of isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) by volume because of convenience but am wondering if the 70% isopropyl alcohol may have too much water and so rust certain metals? Am interested in any comments.

Thanks

Ken

 

[(*steve*)]

Clarification: "...and finish it off with alcohol." Am guessing from your "I generally prefer to use isopropyl alcohol" that you finish with isopropyl alcohol. Is this correct? Also what concentration do you use?

The spray bottle says "100% Isopropanol".

It's consumer grade stuff, so possibly not exactly 100% .

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

What percent concentration of isopropyl alcohol do you use?Ken

I guess I would prefer to use the purest I could get. I don't know the concentration of the stuff I've got.