[RE-wrenches] Repairing malfunctioning Mate buttons

[toddcory at finestplanet.com]

Sometimes a q-tip with alcohol will revive these as often dirt/ corrosion stops the contacts from working... but the disassembly to get to that area is the hard part.

Todd





On Wednesday, September 18, 2024 10:04am, "Nick Lucchese via RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> said:



Has anyone had any success or advice on how to replace the dying buttons on old classic Mates? I still have many systems out there that have the issue and replacing with a $500+ Mate3-s isn't a good option even if I could easily find them or want to give the new owners of Outback my money. I was able to pull out the soft silicone button yesterday and get a single press out of the INV button with two small screws on the contact tabs but was still problematic. The other buttons took about 30 presses to get a single response. Seems that sites that never utilize any of the features and don't regularly exercise the buttons are worse off than those that see frequent use.
Is there a good way to perhaps repurpose buttons from old MX/Flexmax controllers? How deep into the disassembly of the Mate do you need to go to get access for a fix? I observed four small phillips screws but it appears it requires going much deeper to get to the front side of the body. What is the actual point of failure, corrosion or dust covering the two little points? Is there a document that exists somewhere on how to resolve this? Would love to be able to remedy this for my clients.
Thanks Wrench wizards, Nick


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