Through a series of events root beer got spilled on the dashboard of my wife's honda odyssey. This has caused the hvac control buttons to be very sticky. Sometimes they go in and don't want to come back out, sometimes pressing one makes the ones next to it go down.The hvac seems to be functioning normally.
I considered using water but was concerned about causing shorts. I considered using alcohol on a qtip but I'm afraid that will erase the writing on the buttons.
What can I do to break down the sticky sugars inside without damaging the electronic controls inside or messing up the buttons outside?
That is a sticky situation. (Sorry!)
I would probably resort to repeatedly wiping with a fluffy, rather damp cloth and following with a dry towel to keep water from getting where it shouldn't. It's pretty much just a sugar residue, so you shouldn't need more than water as a solvent.
A shot of WD40 will often break the stickiness, and it won't disturb electronics. However, it was a water based thing that went in, and it still works, so I'd use a wet cloth and then don't turn anything on for a while. Car stuff is designed to be pretty robust to deal with your situation.
Alcohol should be safe on the labels. If that doesn't work, try WD40 next.
^^^ Contact cleaner is your friend!
I'd use a little bit of water on a soft toothbrush to get between the buttons. I would avoid any petroleum products due to the risk of damaging the plastic and/or labels.
How difficult is the HVAC unit to remove? I would try and remove it, see how hard it is to get the faceplate off and clean it that way.
Maybe a second, larger root beer spill would help
Slippery said:
I use that to regularly clean guitar equipment. Works as promised.
Best option is take it all apart and wash the mechanical buttons in hot water and dawn, completely dry, reassemble.
If you cant get it all apart, a steam cleaner will likely work.
Anything else will work for a while and then the buttons will be back to sticking eventually.
I've alway's decent luck with a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol
