Swimming with Keyless Remotes
 

Well, I decided to go swimming in the atlantic with my keys/alarm remote in my pocket, and needless to say it no longer works. Where can I get a new battery for this thing? Do I just have to purchase all 8 of those little buggers? And if it doesn't work after that, what should I do?

- Rob

Radio Shack has 1 battery that fits...Type in Radio Shack in the search field and you should find the battery type/ number.

Try letting it dry out a few days. I took a trip in the water once too and then it started working like 4 days later. Little rusty tho from the salt.

Rob you swim'n in the Jersey Shore again?? Unscrew the backing and let it dry out. I would repalce the batteries with the one from Radio shack.

CLEAN
 

Well since you dunked it once it wont do any worse a second time. Take it apart and was all the salt out. The salt can corrod and even short the circuits. You can let it dry a couple days on the counter, or it isn't plastic, you can put it in the oven at about 120 degrees for around 30 to 45 minutes. I'd recommed going with counter drying for about 4 days though. It's less risky. As long as the batteries are removed and ou dry it good enough before reinstalling them, there isnt much chance of causeing any damage. What can I say. Im an Electronics Tech.

while you're at Radio Shack buying a battery, get a can of TV tuner cleaner, then douse the inside of your remote with it and let dry. its also good for stereo knobs, etc. that get old and sticky.

Better yet.... lesson learned....
Do not go swimming with electronics in pocket...... :D

~~M

one word rob,, doh !!!!

wet electronics
 

I have a toy RC truck with a nasty habit of going deep-sea diving.
I think I have sunk the thing at least 10 times and never wrecked the radio or elecronic speed control over the course of several YEARS. Here is how:

After immersion, don't turn it on. Trust me. It won't work. :)

Take it apart and hose it down in WD-40. Remember, the WD stands for "water displacing!"

Next, hose it down in "electronic parts cleaner." Don't use carb cleaner or brake cleaner. It may smell the same, but those eat plastic!

Allow to dry. This requires the patience of preparing the water for SEA MONKEYS. Yes, keep waiting. I know you did a good job needlessly drying it out with the air hose and hair dryer... but wait AT LEAST 24 hours anyway.

Replace the battery and try it out. You just saved 40 bucks!

The radio Shack battery is GP-27A It is labelled as a keyless entry battery and costs about $2.50 for a pack of 2.

Thanks a lot everyone! I almost feel like ditching the plastic case and seeing if I can get someone to mill a few 'cases' out of aluminum or something. I hate the ugly red button, and the plastic on mine was starting to rip, so I tore mine off.

- Rob

Well... this thing doesn't work at all. I'm going to try again tomorrow, but after that I might toss the sucker on ebay for parts, along with the guts of the alarm system, and purchase an alarm system that doesn't have the build quality of taiwanese child slave labor.

- Rob

Hrm. Well, what do you guys think of this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14934

Car alarm (better than Subaru USA crap)
Remote entry (like factory)
Remote Start (better than factory junk)

Only 60 bucks.

Think I should go for it?

- Rob

reminds me of the time.....
 

I went swimming early last summer at Rocky Gorge on the Swift River in northern NH. I had tucked the keys and remote for the SVX in my waistband thniking that I'd be able to feel them and be able to tell if they were going to fall out. Well, the water was cold and I eventually forgot to keep feeling for them. The next time I checked for them they were, predictably, missing. We spent probably another hour swimmong and diving in the chily water looking for the keys. Finally, just as I was about frozen I noticed something flourescent at the bottom of the river. I figured I'd check it out. The flourescent thing was an old lure or something but next to it (and a dead fish) were my keys. Of course the remote was nonfunctional at the time so I set off the alarm by opening the door with the key. The remote does function now after I took it apart and let it dry out. Buuuut anyway, that was just my story.

Jay

I always hated the factory alarm and its wimpy honk, the pathetic range, and the ugly poor construction of the keyfob, I'm thinking I'll just spend 60 bucks and get an aftermarket one with keyless and all sorts of gizmos.

- Rob