That time I fixed a 20 year old TV remote with a pencil

I was at a friend's house last week and his Samsung remote stopped working, just dead buttons. I remembered reading some old forum post about graphite from a pencil bridging worn out contacts, so I grabbed a #2 and rubbed it on the rubber pads inside. Has anyone else tried this hack on older remotes instead of buying a new one?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice2421mo agoTop Commenter

Yo, that graphite trick works on TV boards too if the button leads are scratched!

pat_park24d ago

Same, I always thought solder was the only way but this graphite trick actually works great on worn pads lol

charles_coleman1mo ago

Yeah paint the graphite right on the circuit board traces if they're scratched through. Get a decent layer of it and it'll conduct just fine. I've saved a few game controllers that way, just gotta make sure the graphite doesn't flake off and short something else out. Works way better than trying to solder those tiny traces.