Logitech’s Harmony Remote is a really nice remote. I’ve had mine for a couple years but now the most commonly used buttons are wearing out. Since I have a Tivo the most used buttons are the forward buttons that I use for skipping commercials. These buttons are pretty much unusable now, they will work some of the time but only if you press really hard.
It seems stupid to buy a new Harmony remote every couple of years just because the buttons wore out. So here is how you can fix the buttons. These instructions are for the 676, but should work on most other versions too:
- Open the remote by removing the four screws at the bottom (two are under the battery compartment.
- Pry the remote open.
- Remove the two screws that are holding the circuit board on.
- Take the button piece out and flip it over too see the backs of the buttons.
- On my remote the buttons that were broken had some kind of shiny liquid on them. I’m not really sure what this is or where it comes from, all I know is you need to get rid of it.
- Take a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and scrub the keys and the contacts on the circuit board.
- Put the remote back together, it should now be working.
After I performed the above procedure the remote buttons started working perfectly.
Update 4/8/2010: The buttons stopped working again so I tried the cleaning process again. The buttons look very clean but for some reason the buttons still don’t work. I’m not sure why it would work great the first time but have no effect the second time.
I was looking around online and found a product called CaiKote 44. This product is designed for exactly the type of button repair that I needed. It is a paste that you put on the bottom of the buttons and it restores the conductivity. Application is pretty easy, using the included swabs just spread a thin layer of CaiKote on the button and let it dry for a few hours. Once I put the remote back together it was working perfectly again.
The problem seems to be finding CaiKote. The only physical store that I know of that carries this product is Fry’s Electronics. They sell it for $5.99. It was difficult to find, it took two workers a while before we finally found it. If you go it is located in the electronics parts department near some LCD screen cleaning products.
I haven’t found a good place to buy it online. You can but it from the manufacturer, but they have a $25 minimum order. It is also sold on Amazon here, but as of right now the price is very high, maybe it will drop to a more reasonable price in the future.
#1 by help on November 11, 2008 - 5:16 pm
I’m having problems with the remote freezing and not working. Do you by any chance know how to fix that?
#2 by Patrick on November 12, 2008 - 8:58 pm
Sorry, I’m not sure how to fix a problem with the remote when it is freezing. You might just have to buy a new one.
#3 by RJ on December 8, 2008 - 8:19 pm
Hi Patrick
I have a 676 and the LCD display died on me. Want to open it up to see if I
can do a simple fix. Is it possible to share pictures of your dis-assembly.
BTW, what type of screwdriver did you use?
#4 by Patrick on December 13, 2008 - 5:02 pm
RJ, sorry I don’t have pictures of the disassembly. That would have been a good idea, next time I’ll take pictures.
I used a Phillips screwdriver from a jeweler’s screwdriver set. The screwdriver says 0×20mm on it.
#5 by PK on January 17, 2009 - 6:40 pm
This works very well. I was about to toss my 676, but this method brought it back to full functionality. Works like it did right out of the box. I’m content knowing that I’ll know exactly what to do if this problem crops up again. Cheers to Patrick. This guy saved me another c-note.
#6 by MBOYLE on January 23, 2009 - 11:57 am
Did this to the xbox harmony remote, worked like a charm. getting the remote apart was the hardest part, almost broke the face bezel several times, take your time and go slow, it will come apart. Works like the day I bought it!
#7 by Adam on February 19, 2009 - 2:01 pm
Just did it on my Harmony 676, and it worked perfectly!
Thanks for the post, it certainly saved me some money.
#8 by Rob on December 17, 2009 - 6:44 am
This technique seemed to work on all the buttons except my skip forward button. Which is the button I use most of the time. All the other buttons are now fixed and are very responsive. I don’t have the push the buttons as hard anymore. Any ideas why it didn’t work on the skip forward button?
#9 by George on May 23, 2010 - 6:38 am
I was able to fix my 520. Several buttons required me to hold them for 1+ seconds before the connection was made and the signal was sent. I didn’t clean away any of the existing conductive liquid with alcohol or anything. I just flexed the rubberized keypad enough to “scrape” up any extra conductive gel (there was some gel on surfaces that didnt require it) onto the backs off the buttons that had stopped working. I didn’t have to buy any conductive liquid at all!