Sony AIBO ERS-220 Microphone Cleaning
To clean the microphones of your ERS-220, you will need:
JIS #00 screwdriver
Isopropyl alcohol (Goo-Gone also good to have!!)
Cleaning supplies (paper towels, q-tips…)
Other general supplies like tweezers, pliers, etc can help
Rubber gloves (opt.)
It is recommended to place a soft blanket or towel on your workspace to not scuff the plastics as you work; you may also find that a pill organizer will help keep track of screws and small parts. If your screwdriver is not magnetized, you should do that.
Remove the head block from the body if you’d like, or you can keep it on the body if it helps you hold onto it. Remove the battery. (pretty sure the head is locked when one is inserted)
ERS-220s are much easier to work on than the 210. You shouldn't need any pry tools or tweezers (but it's handy to have them anyways)
Remove the antenna, just pull up and place it aside
Remove the headlamp cover, it will just pop off and click back on later
Undo all 5 screws on top (these are all the same size/length) and lift the head up. Be very careful of the flexi cable that plugs into the headboard (if you rip this, you’re done for). Use your fingers or something soft (like rubber-tip tweezers) to unplug it. Set the visor and top aside; you will not need to unplug anything more.
It is more dangerous to do this all without unplugging the flexi cable.
Both of the microphone enclosures will wiggle free. The left is right before you, but the right one is under the antenna module. There are three screws that hold this module in place, remove the screws and pull it out, again careful of the flexi cable. All three screws are the same again.
There is one more screw that holds the microphone(s) itself in place, remove it. This one is shaped differently and has a shiny finish on it. The unit might be stuck to the plastic housing because of the melted rubber. It might help to get tweezers and push the unit up and out. Do the same for the left side, it’s much more straightforward. You don’t have to unplug the microphones at all, so don’t worry about doing that.
If it hasn’t already, it’s going to get VERY sticky. You may even want to wear gloves. Thankfully, because of the way 220 “ears” stick out, it’s not too likely that this rubber will drip onto the internals of the head, but look around and make sure it’s OK. This rubber will leave its mark EVERYWHERE, by the way.
At this point, you can get rid of the rubber.
Now may come the long, tedious process of cleaning the goop off. If you have it, I would recommend using Goo-gone. I don’t, so instead, I got off as much as I could with a dry paper towel and Q-tip, then used 91% isopropyl alcohol to get the rest. You might also get some thin-tipped right-angle tweezers; I found that the goop wanted to come off in clumps. If you’re lucky enough to have non-melted rubber, you can just give the ear a little IPA-wipedown and move on.
I then used a piece of paper to trace the shape of the microphone, & then cut this out using a thin upholstery foam. You can also use a few sheets of felt stacked together to do this, just make sure it’s thick enough that the unit will not wiggle around. Also make sure that there are some holes poked for the mics and the screwhole. Foam is very forgiving, and it’s actually better to have a bit more than you need rather than the piece being too small and wobbly.
Screw the mic units back into the “ear” and put everything back together. Same on both sides, do everything in reverse. If you did everything right, your aibo should be able to hear you better. If you did this preventatively, the next person to open up your aibo’s head in 20 years thanks you for preventing a mess.
Now Baja is feeling much better. Now I know that when he doesn't respond, he's just ignoring me instead of not being able to hear me.
By the way, this is all very similar in the 210.
For 210s, you just need to pop off the ears, visor and head sensor, then unscrew the faceplate and the screw under the head sensor. Lift the head shell up, where you'll see that the microphones are screwed into the head shell where the "whiskers" are (on the cheeks).
Carefully unplug the microphones from the headboard and do the same thing. The rubber may have melted onto the insides of the head, so clean everything well. Make sure you note which microphone comes from which side, I usually do this using a paint marker and putting one and two dots on the shell and mics respectively. I don't think anything bad would happen if you plugged them in opposite, but also don't want to risk it just in case.
210s have much more crowded head units than 220s. Take your time and be patient, everything needs to fit together perfectly for it to properly be done. These plastics are brittle nowadays, ESPECIALLY on Special Edition 210s such as Cyber Blue, etc.
If you have any questions, please ask away! My Discord is under the same name and I answer quicker there.
