Does anybody else have a Mac remote that is a sticky, gooey mess?

Yeah... the remote for my C220 tube preamp is like grabbing onto a stale gummy bear. Disgusting. I received an email from McIntosh today and they said to use alcohol on it to clean it up. I messed with it a bit over the lunch hour, and alcohol does seem to work, but it'll take time to clean it up. What I was left with was a dull, ugly looking whitish finish on the part I cleaned. What a disappointment.
Does anyone have a good link to a universal remote that will work with my C220 as well as the Comcast cable box?

My Harmony 650 can control every McIntosh component as well as just about everything else I can throw at it, including the floor fan in my room. I can customize both the button layouts and the secondary functions on the small display screen. The 650 is part of their more basic series but I chose it because I like lots of real buttons. The higher end models can integrate with your smartphone or tablet and have touchscreen remote units that operate on RF, with small repeaters that sit near the equipment, depending on how advanced you want to get.
 
What everyone is dealing with is the additives in the rubber leaching out over the years. The gummy stuff is effectively what keeps the rubber soft and pliable. Some plastics have this issue too, not to mention what you think is rubber may just be plastic with a lot of this softener. The alcohol method is the best way to clean it up. Sometimes the additives react in a way that turns the actual plastic or rubber into a goo instead of just hardening up. At that point there is no fix.

Usually you will first start noticing the problem as the remotes will get a greasy or wet feel to them before the chemicals have hardened up a bit. That is the best time to remove them. Also, heat and sunlight will accelerate this process.
 
This sounds like my grandmother's living room furniture 50 years ago, all covered with clear vinyl plastic. :D

The remote control for both my MS-300 and MVP-871 did this. I had them both in saran wrap and clean. The MS-300 did it first, I asked the dealer if you would warranty it, since I dropped nearly 50K$ with them during that period. They got me a brand new HR-053 and an HR-052 for the MVP-871 since it had begun to peal. I was told it is a combination of sweat and chemicals (didn't say which,.. like skin cream, that disinfectant gel you use when people get sick to prevent germ spread by contact, and so on) coupled with use, since I used the MS-300 a lot more than the MVP-871. I have the Harmony H-659 that came with the MX-136, and used it for almost everything except the MS-300, and put the other remotes away. When I went to use the HR 052 for the MVP-871 it was sticky in saran wrap, had NEVER been used, after a year of sitting in the remote caddy, with no sunlight exposure, or any exposure. This time they wouldn't replace them for free. After putting up with it for a few years, I decided to use alcohol wipes ( the big ones you pull from the dispenser), with 70% alcohol and anti bacterial/scent/cleaning additives. After an hour of rubbing on the HR-053 AFTER I took it apart for the MS-300, all the goo coating came off, with a light layer of the gold leaf or whatever that says "McIntosh) at the bottom. This left the plastic a bit rough and dark greyish. So while it was disassembled, I used NuFinish and polished the plastic housing and button face, until the entire unit looked brand new, minus the goo or whatever that no slip coating is / they are made with; I believe I was told what the gooey stuff is for before it degrades. The Gold Leaf 'McIntosh' on the bottom and the odd letter faded slightly, but overall it looks really nice, like it should have brand new, and the finish and silkscreen letters are no coming off after a few years since I did the remote. Realistically I think the gold was already wearing from use and the goo was taking it off as well in the stickier places.


I'm getting ready to do the HR-052 for the MVP-871 now, which is how I found this thread, looking for a better way to do it. It turns out my way IS the better way...Just FYI, the technique is pretty much fool proof, for those who want to give it a try. It beats throwing out a perfectly good remote, then spending 100$ for one that will do the same thing sooner than later. The NuFinish step is important, (you might be able to use a plastic cleaner-polish kit instead) the micro beads polish and the polymer restores the plastic to a rich black smooth color after the goo is removed, plus removes anything the alcohol wipes don't. I use NuFinish for a lot of my restoration projects, anodized metal, magnetic tape heads, glass face plates, anything you want a nice clean slick rich surface that stays protected over the long run. As a intermediate step, every once in a while I use Pledge spray can Furniture Polish and a microfibre rag to clean polish and preserve the finishes on all my remotes, plus the MS-300/750 keyboard. I lost the remote for my MS-700 in a move, but the one for the MS-300 works great.

If your in the position of owning these type remotes and don't relish throwing away 100$ for each one, only to go gooey again, give this a try, it does really work and is easy, just takes some elbow grease and patience.. Maybe when I get the MR-052 done, I'll post photos of both..
 
Did this:

Opened remote and separated keypad and pcb board from outer shell
Rubbed off sticky coating with Isopropyl alcohol
(looked horrible at this point)
Sprayed clear polyurethane coat x 2
Re assembled
Now its shinny and looks good and of course works. Not sticky
 
Old thread , but i am pleased with the results of nail polish remover . . I disassembled the remote . Hr060. Just bought a c46 preamp and came with a disgusting remote. So the front and back are held together with one little screw in the battery compartment. The front face fits male into the back female half . Popped them apart. Used a scrub pad and dishsoap to take off the bulk of the material . Use less chemicals later. Dried it off and began applying nail polish remover (acetone) with a cotton staining cloth from the hardware store, paper towel isnt strong enough . Sticky gunk melts right off like nothing. It didnt remove the lettering either . After i got everything off the remote looked a but hazy . Soap and water washed some of the haze off regular use and hand oils restored the color of the bare plastic. Its like a new remote now . Smooth and shiny .
 
Old thread , but i am pleased with the results of nail polish remover . . .

Or, for $60, you can call McIntosh Parts and buy a replacement totally-redesigned remote which doesn't suffer from the "sticky" problem. These came out about a month ago and work for most, if not all of the products that suffered from the "sticky remote" problem....
 
Every generation has it's own issues. Mine was the brown spots in the meters ... (mutter mumble)

mc2205-meters.jpg


No amount of alcohol would take care of that, unless it was the drinkin' kind and you got so you didn't notice it.
 
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Hello

your brown "spots" in the meters is coming from overheat on blue gel (probably caused by non original lamps )
replace the gels (if you can find some ) and your MC2205 will go back to original look
 
The remote for my MA6600 exhibited this problem. I called Mac to order a replacement and they sent me this at no charge even though my unit is several years out of warranty. It took about three months because they were backordered. Also, it’s worth mentioning I did purchase my amplifier new from an authorized dealer. I would suspect they would’ve charged had I purchased this used. This remote does not have the soft touch coating.
 

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I went to the mcintosh site i couldn't find remotes for sale. Be nice to have one a little more modern than the sticky Chinese one you get.
 
As a follow up to this, I talked to Mac about it. They said I could send it in if I wanted or they could tell me a trick to try. Well, give me the trick, I'm kind of a DIY guy. Guess what: 90% alcohol takes the goo off with a bit of scrubbing and does not affect the lettering. Another thumbs up to Mac for taking care of the customer!
That's exactly what I was going to suggest! There seems to be a rash of products that have had this "Soft Touch" layer applied to them, the stuff seems to break down in short order and turns to a disgusting sticky mess that you don't want to touch. I have used the alcohol method out of sheer frustration in the past (was surprised to see they recommended the same thing!)

I've had this happen with a beard trimmer, a thumb drive and probably a few other small devices I'm not thinking of right now, hope the manufacturers stop using this stuff...
 
I went to the mcintosh site i couldn't find remotes for sale. Be nice to have one a little more modern than the sticky Chinese one you get.

You need to call McIntosh parts. They have a newly designed, very rugged and well laid out remote that works on almost all of their 90's and 2000's vintage units. It costs $60.00. I bought two of them, one for my C2300 and one for my MR88 tuner.

They are not listed on the "mcintosh site" but are available from McIntosh parts.
 
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