Motorola MD 400 Series - buttons will not dial number

It worked! Thank you!

Kellie is right on with the keypad repair. We have 4 handsets, for about 2 years now, and are very happy with the system. However, the most used phone started giving us fits with the '3' and the 'off' buttons not working. I washed and dried my iPod nano [in the laundry by accident], and was able to take that apart and get it working again so I thought what the heck-lets have a go at this larger Motorola phone handset. I actually did this before I saw Kellie's post, and after getting most of the phone apart, I decided to do a search for hints-when it felt I was about to crack something. After getting the phone apart, and cleaning it with a Q tip and rubbing alcohol it works perfectly. I considered calling Motorola and "demandimg" replacement handsets, but I am happy to be able to fix it myself. Here is what I did:
1] remove the clip- at first you'll think this thing is frickin glued or welded on, but you actually just need to spread the "wings" on the side of the phone outward, and you'll successfully remove tabs "A" from slots "B"
2] remove battery cover and remove battery-should unclip easily
3] remove 2 screws in battery compartment
4] remove the small plate on the back of the top of the phone just abouve the clip you removed. Use a thin screwdriver and pry from the bottom of the panel, as its like a door that will want to "swing up" and out
5] remove the 2 screws you have now exposed-they are the same size and type as the 2 screws you removed from the battery compartment
6] now your nerve will be tested. You need to seperate the phone into 2 halves- a front and back. As you do this, you will think you are gonna crack either the front or back plate in half. If you can trust us, and understand that the rubber "grips" on each side of the phone are the only thing really holding the front and back together you can win this struggle. Its hard to explain, but the rubber grips on each slide have a number of slots, and the front and back halves slide into these grooves snugly and at a 90 degree angle. You could just grab one end of the rubber grip and yank away like its a zipper, but I didn't do this because I didn't want to stretch or tear the rubber and have the phone look like hell after I put it back together. There are also 3 plastic "clips" one on one side and 2 on the other, but these are nothing. Defeat the rubber grips and these 3 little clip things you won't even notice. So take your time, and eventually you should get the front and back halves of the phone apart from each other and the rubber grips.
7] remove the 2 screws holding teh circuit board to the faceplate. The circuit board should come out easily-be careful with the soldered red and black wires to the speaker. When you take circuit board out it will still be tethered to the faceplate by the speaker wires.
8] take Q-tip and rubing alcohol and wipe all copper contacts and backs of rubber buttons like a wild man [wild woman]
9] let dry [a few minutes], put back together in reverse of way you took it apart- little stubby antenna will possibly fall out at some point, just set it back in when you put two halves back together, then enjoy Utopia as your phone will now work like it did when you first took it out of its stupid box !!!! Any questions? post a comment and I will try to answer them good luck, its really pretty easy ! If sexy Kellie can do it so can you !

Follow the link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B0000AKMKY/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/103-7434608-9035822?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=172282 scroll thru the customer reviews, until you get to "fixing keypad problem". It works exactly how he/she describes it. When I was completed, and was trying to get the battery plate back on, my finger touched the on button and the phone turned on! I was in amazement, due to the fact I had to use the "handsfree" button to answer calls for the past few months. I have heard for a few years now to stay away from Motorola Cell phones (they are junk), my guess is the same for their home phones. I think it is rediculous to have to do this to my phones.

The keypad has some kind of defect. I think that over time the silicone mold-release agent from the keypad buttons works its way into the electrical contacts. You can clean off the contacts with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. Here are instructions: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B0000AKMKY/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/103-7434608-9035822?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=172282