I’m going to guess that model has little to do with it. Probably more related to which contract manufacturer got their materials from which supplier. What turned to goo? Rubber?
I assume it's conductive rubber from the membrane that covers the connectors. I don't have the right word for it. It could also just be the adhesive between the conductive pads and the board that went bad. HOWEVER, that's also a problem because the adhesive could be insulating the button from closing the circuit.
I have opened up non-Roku remote controls and seem the same goopiness. Nowadays, I think this is true for most remote controls, but the *time* it takes to degrade is usually years versus months. I was able to repair a non-Roku remote with the button repair kit from buttonworx. However, with a spare failing Roku remote I could not fix it with the repair kit.
cfg83
I've opened up a number of Roku remotes over the years and even within the same remote not all buttons are the same. You may have rubber buttons with a conductive coating for some and plastic "blisters" with a conductive coating for the others. I think the blisters may be more durable than the rubber buttons since I've seen both the conductive coating on the rubber buttons wear off as well as the rubber cracking around the buttons. For what it's worth, all of my numerous Roku remotes still work, but I did just get two from my mother that she killed by leaving batteries in them while they were unused for months. I'm still hoping to revive them. I still have and regularly use the remote that came with my N1000. 🙂
