Hacked up TV Universal Remote Question

[rdowdy95]

Hey guys my TV doesn't autopower on, so I did a tv hack remote.   I have the IR extended and it is soldered to the TV remote board.  Now the pushbutton wires the + and the - they are pressed up against where the power button would go on the remote itself.  I can't solder these wires into anything though so I used black electrical tape.  Thing is it won't stay down on the PCB green board.  So I rubberbanded a thick rubber band over the black tape and tighted it pretty tight to hold it.  Here is the thing though once batteries are depleted I have to cut through all this tape and rubber band to get to the batteries.  Once I remove the batteries it loses the TV code and I have to renter it.  This hack does work, but it is just a pain in the A......Do any of you guys have a favorite remote that is better to hack.  I mean the one I have is a $6.99 RCA Universal Remote with the battery door right behind the place where the IR is.  So I have to cut the rubberbanded it part to undo the batteries.

[JustMichael]

Can you jam something in next to the power button on the tv to hold it in?  Some people have done this to make the tv turn on when power is applied.

[rdowdy95]

I wish I could I have held the button down as my Dad plugged in the TV and nada didn't work.  Man that would make things so easy. 

Yeah like I said it works okay now, but when the batteries run out, it is going to be such a hassle.  Once I get the cab all done, I may try walmart and look for some better remotes to hack.

[ChadTower]

You should just save yourself all of this hacking time and effort and get a TV that doesn't have this issue.  Remember, an older TV has just as good a picture as a new one.  They don't degrade.

[Lilwolf]

have you looked at the conductive glue?  That might help..

Why can't you soldier?  Not enought space?

And have you considered hacking the power to the TV itself?  It might be easier to access / hack (warning... Make sure to be VERY careful if you open your TV for all the normal reasons... don't know why?  look it up)

[ChadTower]

He's been working on this issue for a while now, tried a couple of different approaches.  The main problem is that the TV power on signal circuit for this TV doesn't really fit the requirements for this project without a fairly advanced hack that he isn't capable of doing yet.  Not to say he's incapable of figuring it out, mind you, he's definitely acquiring the skills as he goes.  But this TV has been more of a PITA than a TV has to be.

If he just wants it done, get another TV with the easier type of circuit.

If he wants to learn as he goes, he's doing a good job of keeping at it.

[gamenut]

Keep on trukin man.

I had a similar problem(i think) with my tv.
I made the mistake of glueing in the supports when i put in the tv.
So when i later realised i had to do something with the power switch, what a pain.

The buttons on the tv looked they pushed straight in. After cutting the plastic away, the buttons inside on the board went down. Kind of an "L" shaped thing on the back of the exposed button.

The buttons on the board had four pins each. Kinda wierd i thought. So i soldered one wire to each pin on the under side of the board since i couldn't get to the pins between the button and board.
After trying a couple wire combos, i figured out which two turned on the tv.
Done.

Another option would be:
I'm not sure what the IR is that you are talking about.
But try and move the remote sensor eye thing on the tv to a different place. Just by extending the wires to the eye, you should be able to move it where ever you want it.
Try putting it behind the glass of your bezel. Or drill a little hole in your CP box just big enough for the little eye.
Then you could use your remote from outside the cab to turn on the tv. With no hacks even.

You could send me a pm with a pic of your board and i might be able to tell you where to solder.

Hope i could help or give you some new ideas

[Chris]

What about hacking a little 3v transformer to the battery compartment so it never "runs out of batteries"?  The transformer would need to be plugged into an outlet that's always hot, of course, and would still lose the code in the event of power failure...