Nova Striatech DVR woes

[Richard Shelby]

The "blister buttons" on the DVR controller of my Nova 1624 are becoming difficult to press/activate. I've taken it apart and the switches are part of an integrated circuit. The whole board would have to be replaced. Is there a possible alternative controller for this "stepper motor"?

 

[Mark Jundanian]

@Richard Shelby
There may be a simple solution. Do an internet search for "bump dots" , also try "cabinet door bumpers"

For those who hate "Blister Button Switches," e.g. those on Nova's, etc.

Hi, For all who suffer from "Blister Button Switches," there is a reprieve. My X-wife is blind and uses numerous appliances, etc. that have these cursed switches. But, the blind community has long used small, self-adhesive plastic pieces called "Bump Dots" which allows them to both locate and...

www.aawforum.org

I found the flat soft rubber ones the best, but if my switches were going bad I'd try the small hard plastic type. You can probably find a pack with assorted choices.

 

[Russell Nugent]

If it's the switches becoming intermittent, then you'll have to reach out to nova. That's one reason to be nervous about the nova dvr lathes. I've had one preset button quit working, but that's it so far. I've also added the small plastic bumper stops mark mentioned.

 

[Bill Blasic]

23 years and my "blister buttons" are working just fine. Too early to tell on my Neptune but with 23 years on the DVR I'm not worried much.

 

[John Whitley]

This style of button usually has some kind of conductive pad on the underside of the “blister” side. When pressed, the pad makes contact against a matrix of traces on the printed circuit board (PCB) side and completes the circuit. Back In The Day, I used to rehab my keyboards at work that developed problems by disassembling them, cleaning ONLY the PCB side with a cotton swab and alcohol, letting it dry, then reassembling. This solves the problem where some of the conductive pad material gets stuck to the PCB over time, and eventually starts preventing contact across the traces.

I seriously doubt that replacing the PCB would be necessary unless the blister face cannot be easily separated from the PCB for the cleaning or other rehab process.

And as Russell said, the first stop is to reach out to Nova’s tech support and see what they say.

 

[Richard Shelby]

I am sending it to striatech
quote:
"Based on this image, he has physical switches. The controller would need to be sent in to have the switches swapped out on his board. Repair for this would be about $75-$100 due to the time to remove everything and swap out the switches."

 

[Mark Jundanian]

That sounds positive. Please keep us posted on how that goes.

 

[Richard Shelby]

The repair was simple and cost about $100 and 2 weeks of down time. I was suffering from "turning withdrawal". Kudos to Striatech. Making shavings once again.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

Happy to hear!