Using JP1 programming cable again after 7 years

[MaskedMan]

Ed, you could edit out the long url, and replace it with shorter url, and fix the thread.

[Ed]

I'm going to try a cleaning, but it that fails, I will try the ebay listing you found - it appears the remotes are new and have been in a plastic bag since production, so maybe that helps preserve them?

Once you get the hang of opening the case, cleaning is easy. I bought mine from ebay several years ago new. It's always worked well except for the time I left it out in the rain (I had been using it to control my patio TV). I took the batteries out, opened it up, and let it air dry and all was well in a couple hours.

A side note: I could not get the pause protocol working with the "common" extender for this remote, so I used extender v2.11. It works great for me.

[Ed]

Ed, you could edit out the long url, and replace it with shorter url, and fix the thread.

I went back to my original post with the shortened link and fixed it. I think Rob fixed the long one so the thread reads better.

[timg11]

I opened one of the 1056B01 remotes with a spudging tool. The buttons have black conductive material on the back that presses against interlaced traces on the PC board. There appears to be some kind of grease on some of the buttons and the PC board below those buttons. No visible corrosion or oxidization on the traces.

There is not any notable correlation between where grease is seen or not seen and buttons that work or don't work.

If the grease is supposed to be there, does anyone know what kind of grease it is? I can put some where it is missing.

If the grease is not supposed to be there, what would be a recommended cleaner? Isopropyl alcohol and q-tips?

[timg11]

Here are some photos. It seems the buttons press against targets made of conductive ink, not PCB traces.

https://i.imgur.com/hjOBQhg.jpg

A microscope shows what seems to be two types of conductive ink. Black for the buttons, and gray for a "jumper" - I suppose cheaper than using a real two-sided copper PC board

https://i.imgur.com/msiPnRC.jpg

Any suggestions on how this would be cleaned to restore button operation? I have no idea what solvents would be safe for the conductive ink, or the conductive plastic on the buttons. Or is it a lost cause, and a new remote is the sensible route?

Sorry I've blown up the formatting of the thread again. Any way to control IMGUR? I followed the FAQ on posting images.

[The Robman]

Sorry I've blown up the formatting of the thread again. Any way to control IMGUR? I followed the FAQ on posting images.

The forum doesn't re-size your images, it posts them in their original size, so if you take a massive photo, that's what it will post. For now, I have converted your photos to links, but next time you want to post an image, please re-size it first to a size that will display well. If you think the full size image would still be valuable, either post them as links like I did above, or make the small images be links to the large image.

[Ed]

I opened one of the 1056B01 remotes with a spudging tool. The buttons have black conductive material on the back that presses against interlaced traces on the PC board. There appears to be some kind of grease on some of the buttons and the PC board below those buttons. No visible corrosion or oxidization on the traces.

There is not any notable correlation between where grease is seen or not seen and buttons that work or don't work.

If the grease is supposed to be there, does anyone know what kind of grease it is? I can put some where it is missing.

If the grease is not supposed to be there, what would be a recommended cleaner? Isopropyl alcohol and q-tips?

Someone more knowledgeable than I may come by and help you with the cleaning details. I will say that I have cleaned the contacts on other (not 1056B01) JP1 remotes in the past and I used a q-tip and isopropyl alcohol when I did it. I let the contacts dry, and I was able to restore my buttons to working condition. I do remember when I did that there was some "gunk" on the non-working contacts that came off when I cleaned them.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[The Robman]

The grease is definitely NOT supposed to be there, so cleaning is a very good idea. Q-tips and alcohol would probably work, but what I use is an electronic contact cleaner like De-oxit.

I don't completely understand what they use to make the black rubber pads of the button sheet conductive but I do know that they can become non-conductive over time. At one point people were using those kits to fix rear window defrosters to fix the buttons, but I believe that stuff flakes off so it isn't a great fix. Some people have superglued tin foil on the underside of buttons, but I don't recall how long lasting that fix was. I think the main thing would be to thoroughly clean the PCB itself and maybe gently clean the underside of the buttons and see where that gets you.

[WagonMaster]

I've been successfully cleaning & restoring my JP1 remotes for many years now.

I use hot water and liquid hand soap with an old toothbrush to scrub both sides of the rubber keypad, being more gentle on the underside.

BTW, those little black things on the underside of the keypad are known as "carbon pills", "carbon pucks", or "electrically conductive pills". I've never tried to remove or replace one because gently cleaning them has been very effective, assuming they haven't degraded completely (which some eventually will, under the buttons you use the most, of course! ).

To clean the oil that accretes on the PCB around the buttons, which presumably comes from the natural oil from your skin after passing through the rubber membrane and onto the PCB, I use a paper towel and ordinary isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. I then dry the PCB and the rubber keypad with a clean paper towel and let it air dry further (or use a hair dryer if I'm in a hurry).

Good luck with your cleaning/restoration!

[StephenR0]

One of the reasons that I like the urc7880 is that the buttons are not actuated by the rubber button that you push. Here is a picture from the FCC that shows the little metal domes that actually make the contact. Another benefit of this is there's a certain amount of tactile feedback when you push a button. I don't believe these buttons will ever need cleaning.

https://cdn-0.fccid.io/png.php?id=3955078&page=9

[timg11]

One of the reasons that I like the urc7880 is that the buttons are not actuated by the rubber button that you push.

Thanks - that does look like a better design. They appear to cost about $45, rather than $15 for a 1056B01, but it might be worth it for longer term less aggravation.
It is only available from the 2nd tier suppliers (see all buying options) on Amazon. Has it been replaced by a different model with the same improved buttons/switches?

Can you confirm it is fully JP1 compatible, so the programming and keymoves I've developed in Remotemaster and RMIR for the 1056 ocap could be re-mapped to the urc7780 keys?

[The Robman]

...so the programming and keymoves I've developed in Remotemaster and RMIR for the 1056 ocap could be re-mapped to the urc7780 keys?

Just to be sure you understand, and forgive me if you already know this, but switching from one JP1 remote to another (of a different model) means you have to re-create all the programming from scratch. You can certainly re-use your RMDU files, but you will need to re-map some of the buttons, and any keymoves and/or macros will need to be re-created. We don't have functionality that can "import" all the settings from a different remote.

[Ed]

One of the reasons that I like the urc7880 is that the buttons are not actuated by the rubber button that you push.

Thanks - that does look like a better design. They appear to cost about $45, rather than $15 for a 1056B01, but it might be worth it for longer term less aggravation.
It is only available from the 2nd tier suppliers (see all buying options) on Amazon. Has it been replaced by a different model with the same improved buttons/switches?

Can you confirm it is fully JP1 compatible, so the programming and keymoves I've developed in Remotemaster and RMIR for the 1056 ocap could be re-mapped to the urc7780 keys?

There are at least a couple threads here documenting pros and cons of the 7880 and similar remotes. You might want to have a look at those. The 7880 is a very different remote from the 1056B01, for example.

Here are a couple links that might be helpful:

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... highlight=
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... highlight=

In short, as Rob notes, you won't be able to copy over your code from a 1056B01 to the 7880, but there are other things about the 7880 that you might like. I have a couple of them myself and I like it.

I've read the 7880 has been discontinued. I bought a couple from Walmart for about $25 apiece but I can't find them there now. However, Home Depot has them on their website for $33 now.

Edited to add links to 7880 posts

[timg11]

Thanks all for the help! From the three 1056B01 remotes I rounded up, we were able to clean the buttons and boards with alcohol, and one works perfectly now. So we're all set for the moment, but I'll be researching what a better long term solution might be.

We studied and considered the 7880, and disqualified it due to lack of backlight. I understand I'd have to re-create much of the programming for a new platform, but could re-use RMDUs. I'll have to re-learn that process of starting in RMDU since its been so long, and I've only used RMIR to program the same RMIR file.

As I look at the process to start from RMDU, I need to review the basics. Firstly, is the tutorial linked from RMIR and RMDU still accurate?

Dating back to years ago, I have two shortcuts in Windows:

"RemoteMaster" with a commandline of ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_311\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\Program Files (x86)\RemoteMaster\RemoteMaster.jar" -rm" which opens a main window with title RMDU

"RMIR" with a commandline of ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_311\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\Program Files (x86)\RemoteMaster\RemoteMaster.jar" -ir" which opens a window titled RMIR

The tutorial above only shows the main window of RMIR. But it seems that the RMIR instance only can open RMIR files, while the RMDU instance can only open RMDU files. Only the RMDU instance lets me select what remote is used.

Are these two shortcuts an artifact of older versions? Is there mode of operation that combines both?

[mdavej]

Opening a device in RMIR will open RM.