i spilled coke on my tv remote it worked for about a day after but then sudenley stoped i driec it out that night as well any clues on howm to fix it

james mcdonald, March 2007

Oops I forgot. The alcohol would of course be easier for an amateur to use but it probably costs on the way to a new remote and so the way that I see it, water will do the job (as long as it is dried off thoroughly) which is the only benefit of the alcohol.

t, March 2007

Thanks for that. My point about using deionised water if possible was to minimise any salts that could be left behind with tap water. I have used water on electronic boards such as keypads for years with no ill effects. They don't have any connections to corrode and even if they did, as long as the component is thoroughly dried corrosion will not take place. We used to 'wash' SMT electronics boards in deionised water as part of the manufacturing process all the time when I worked for a large IT company as water is 'greener'.

t, March 2007

Water will start the process of corrosion of the legs of components on the pcb. Particulalrly at risk are the legs of the crystal, or resonator, if they are the flat profile kind. Water will also begin corrosion of any exposed copper tracks on the pcb itself. Depending on the structure of the board, it is possible that it will cause delamination of the base material.

Alcohol evaporates quickly, and is far less likely to cause these kind of problems.

Lee, March 2007

Why not use water?

Terry, March 2007

As the first reply, BUT do not use water, it will cause long term problems. Use Isopropyl alcohol instead. You can get it from places like Maplin, or probably from PC World and the like, as well as most chemists.

Lee, March 2007

You will probably find that the sugar in the coke has stuck some keys down. Carefully take the remote apart and clean the board that the rubber keys press down on with a damp cloth. (Pref with deionised water but ordinary is OK if you ensure that you rub any residue off afterwards.) Clean the backs of the rubber keys as well. Reassemble.

t, March 2007