7 Sep
2004
7 Sep
'04
7:49 a.m.
How about copper foil tape, like that used by stained glass people?
I use this stuff all the time when I do prototyping, usually to lay down
power and ground "traces". I also use it for ground planes under
switchers and RF sections. And for hacks like this:
http://tinymicros.com/gallery/hasselblad
--jc
Dave Dunfield wrote:
<snip>
Paul:
I've tried several things on my Sony TV
remote control. The various
paints and other expensive fixes don't last very long. What finally worked
for me was some heavy aluminum foil tape used for sealing air ducts.
Cut some tiny squares of the tape just big enough to cover the two
contact pads on the circuit board and stick it to the surface of the key
plunger. Evidently the resistance value is not critical, as long as it's
below some minimum value -- zero ohms is OK. My repair has been working for
a couple of years now.
You can find the tape at home centers (Lowe's/Home Depot), and appliance
or plumbing parts suppliers.
Hi Guys,
THANKS for the good ideas...
I think I like the tape idea the best - I had thought about trying to glue
in a bit of tinfoil - I've done that for "round" pads, however these are
very thin/long pads, and the tape might be easier to work with.
Btw, they are NOT the kind where the PCB pads are interleaved "fingers" -
these are two separete pads which are perhaps as much as 1/8" apart - the
rubber bit is nearly 1/4" long and has a "bump" on each end to contact
the pads - this means that the rubber flexes as it pushes down, and I
think that graphite or paint would probably crack and flake off.
I don't think it would be easy to replace the rubber pads, as you would
need the right shape, and also the pad is bonded to a little strip of
material like this (cross sectional view):
| | <= Key plunger
| |
+--------+
| | <= open space
+--------+ <= "Carrier strip"
[====] <= Conductive Rubber Pad
Btw, this is for a Commodore PET - I just remembered that I have an
extra C64 keyboard, so I'm going to pull it apart and see if by any
miracle the key assembly is the same.
Regards,
Dave