Tuesday, June 30, 2009

How to Repair Your Astro Remote Control Unit

Note: Sorry for not taking pictures of the internal parts of the remote control unit. It never came across my mind to post about this repair until I have finished putting it back together

My little toddler likes to play with the Astro remote control unit and sometimes he will just throw it on the floor. As the result, two of the transmitters in front of the remote control unit came off. Since it is already spoiled, I decided to open it up to check out the stuff inside. There are no screws holding the whole unit together so you have to use a small flat head screwdriver to pry open the cover slowly. First take out the batteries from the compartment. Then use a small screw driver to pry open the black coloured plastic in the front that house the transmitter. Then slowly pry the whole remote cover. The casing is tightly held together, so it requires some effort to open it. It is a bit tricky to open the casing but you can do it easily by prying different positions in each section of the casing. After you have opened the casing, take out the PCB board. The two transmitters in the front portion looks like led lights. It must be an infra red transmitter. I soldered back these two transmitters using a soldering iron. At first, I am not sure about the orientation and which transmitter is for which leg, but my brilliant wifey tried it out using some sticky tapes to stick them together. Then we marked the legs of the transmitter and I soldered them back in place. My soldering is not perfect, as it has been some time since I last did it, but the unit works fine now!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Children just love to throw either tv remote controls or the astro remote control. It's the same in my household....the culprits are my nephews...and sometimes, adults..accidentally dropped them.

Anonymous said...

I'm not technically inclined. Can go and buy those cheap made-in-China remotes and use instead or not? I know for TV, we can do that...

Pete said...

Mei Teng : Ya, kids like to imitate adults by pressing and pointing the remote at the TV. The leds metal legs are not strong. Breaks easily....

STP : China made ones are quite cheap, I think can get for around RM18 but I am not sure whether it will last or not. With my little naughty toddler around, I think it will last only one day! LOL

Pete said...

Mei Teng : Ya, kids like to imitate adults by pressing and pointing the remote at the TV. The leds metal legs are not strong. Breaks easily....

STP : China made ones are quite cheap, I think can get for around RM18 but I am not sure whether it will last or not. With my little naughty toddler around, I think it will last only one day! LOL

Penny said...

Thanks for sharing of the repair tips. I am looking for parquet floor repair services around Klang valley as well.