Garage door remote water damaged

[Mitchka]

I have a garage door remote that went through a wash cycle.
Not it works for a short time after it has been discharge and battery re-inserted.
Any ideas on possibly fixing this by some cleaning process using isopropyl alcohol?

 

[Harald Kapp]

You can try to clean it with demineralized water, then rinse with alcohol and let it dry completely. Visually inspect for any residue (it often shows as a white powdery film. If you find some, try to remove it using more demineralited water and e.g. a soft toothbrush.
Then give it a try.
You may upload a crsip foto of your remote's PCB (front and back), maybe someone here can point you into the right direction where to look for possible problems.

 

[bertus]

Hello,

What are the keys made of?
When they are of the rubbery kind, the graphite layer om the inside of the key may be damaged.

Bertus

 

[Mitchka]

Thanks Harald
Will give that a try first as they is some powdery film.

Hi Bertus the switches seem to work fine after i insert the cr2032 battery into the
remote. After taking some close up photos there is some corrosion.

 

[Mitchka]

But it stops working after a few minutes

 

[Harald Kapp]

But it stops working after a few minutes

Sounds like the batteries are drained by a short circuit or similar. Does the remote send commands without a button being pressed? That would indicate that the rf transmitter is active when it should be off. one reason for that could be a short circuit in one or more of the buttons as well as a conductive path on the pcb where none should be. If the problem persists after cleaning the pcb, inspect the buttons. If you have a multimeter, you can set it to Ω and measure between the pins of the buttons. There should be a very high resistance (in fact the meter should indicate overload or out of range) when the button is not pressed. There should be a very low resistance (< 100 Ω) when the button is pressed. A low resistance without the button being pressed indicates a problem.
Be aware, however, that you are measuring the button within the circuit. This may lead to erroneous results as the other components in the circuit influence the measurement. Ideally you'd de-solder the buttons for measuring, but it can be tricky to do that and reattach them without doing damage to either pcb or button.