It’s necessary to know how to fix water damaged cable remote if you accidentally spill or soak it with any liquid because there’s a high possibility of acquiring damage.
It can be nerve-wracking to see your remote fall on a tub filled with water or a bowl filled with soup or accidentally spill a glass of water on your coffee table where your remotes are. There’s no need to worry too much; continue reading to know more about what you need to know before taking action in this kind of situation.
What Happens When A Cable Remote Gets Wet?
Usually, placing remotes on the coffee table was expected, while some people would also keep holding onto them wherever they go.
If you’re more of the former, you may also have already encountered spilling a glass of water or coffee on the coffee table, wetting everything there. If you are one of those latter, you’re more likely to misplace it or get it wet when you go near sinks and anything with water.
Those are just a few scenarios where your cable remote can get damaged by water, but it is not limited there. So it is best to have a holder for your remote and place it near your technological equipment.
Do you see those small gaps around the rubber buttons or the thin line at the side between the upper and lower body? Those are great places where water can enter.
Once the water enters the insides of the remote, then it can affect some buttons’ functions. You’ll know the extent of damage depending on how long, how much water, or if it was soaked or spilled.
Here are some of the possible damages caused by water:
- Buttons malfunctioning
- Damaged circuit board due to stains left by water.
- Damaged infrared emitters
Learn more from these two articles about how to clean water damaged electronics and what chemical works for water damaged circuit boards.
How to fix it?
Here starts how you can fix a water-damaged cable remote when you know that the water has already entered the insides:
Step #1. Wipe the outside
Make sure that you wipe the outsides of the remote with a cotton towel, which is more absorbent.
Step #2. Snap a picture
Please take a picture of the front body of the remote to use this as a guide later when you reassemble it. Taking note of the position of the screws would also help.
If you have a manual, you can heed to that, and there is no need to take a picture anymore.
Step #3. Take the batteries out
It’s best to deactivate the controller before proceeding with anything else, do this by removing the batteries. Usually, you would find batteries on the underside.
In some cases, removing battering was also necessary to remove the remote’s case.
Step #4. Opening the remote
Find the placement of each screw, then proceed with removing each of them. Look for the gap, and using a knife, pry open the upper and lower body.
If you see no screws, you probably have to pry it open.
Step #5. Unassembling parts
Now, you’ll need to unassemble the remote parts, such as the circuit board, the button mat, and the upper and lower body.
Step #6. Dry the wet parts
There are two ways that you can do this.
First is using a filament bulb; place the remote parts under the bulb and leave them to dry. The other way is to use a hairdryer, keep the remote components under the hairdryer; this should immediately dry the wet spots.
Step #7. Removal of wet stains caused by water
This part would need the use of an eraser. Rub the eraser gently over the stains on the circuit board until there’s no more to remove.
Here, you can use a cotton ball or other absorbent materials. Then go over each button, let the cotton suck all the liquid until the whole button mat is dry.
Step #9. Reassemble the remote
This would be the last step, and here you will need your manual or the picture you took of the remote’s upper body. If it has screws, then start with those.
Be sure to follow the proper placing of the buttons.
Here are a few tips that you can follow to prevent cable remotes from getting damaged by any liquid:
- Have a designated holder for your remotes
- Place the holder near your technological equipment
- Use a polythene plastic cover for your remote
For further knowledge, you may want to see these articles regarding how to repair a remote control and what do I do if I dropped my TV remote in water.
Conclusion
Cleaning after your mess would need thorough effort, significantly if it could affect your belongings. A spill of water or coffee already sounds like it would need a lot of energy to waste on cleaning.
It’s only tricky if you don’t know the process, so it’s best to be equipped with knowledge. Hopefully, this article concerning how to fix water damaged cable remote was able to aid and enlighten you.