[Asterisk-Users] Grandstream Flash Button

[Stephen R. Besch]

Here's a little tidbit about the non-functional flash key on the 
Budgetone 100's.  I have 20 of these phones. On some, the flash key 
works, and on some it does not. Since the problem is utterly independent 
of the firmware revision, I suspected that it was hardware based.  So, 
in the interest of scientific inquiry, I took one of the non-functional 
ones apart to see what I could see.

The results were very interesting. During the original assembly of the 
phone, several parts, mostly wires, were drizzled with some kind of 
semi-elastic adhesive, no doubt with the intention of improving the 
physical shock resistance of the phone. The problem is that the 
drizzler, whoever he/she may have been, was exceedingly sloppy.  The 
result is that the adhesive was drizzled right over the contact area on 
the keypad circuit board, preventing contact from being made when the 
key is pressed.  There were actually several such keys on the phone I 
examined, one of which was the flash key.

So, I took some acetone, which dissolves the goo nicely, and a cotton 
swab (several actually) and cleaned the stuff away.  While I was at it, 
I cleaned the contact area of all the keys.  The result is that the 
flash key now works on that phone.  Now if you decide to see if this is 
the issue with your own copy of the phone, be careful to not spill the 
acetone on the case since it will probably dissolve it as well - I 
completely removed the whole mess from the case. Also, take extra care 
to not leave any fingerprints on the contact areas since acids from the 
fingers are known to be associated with long term degradation of circuit 
board contacts.  And, finally, be careful when replacing the screws 
holding the circuitboard in the case. They are very easily stripped. I 
know this because I had to repair one of them with a dab of glue - much 
more carefully placed, I might add.

Simple? Yes.  Irritating? Yes. Poor quality control? Well that's real 
understatement. Are you listening Grandstream?

Stephen R. Besch