I'm dealing with a silicone keypad where the carbon pill appears to have lost it's conductivity due to the button being pressed quite a lot. Does anyone here have any ideas on restoring the conductivity? I tried to put some solder on the pill with no love... the silicone is resistant to at least 650F molten solder.

Here is a website which describes the pill and the button. These buttons are pretty common in electronics today. http://www.abatek.com/designguide/04Electrical.html

 

Search for remote control repair kit.
There are two types.
One has little conductive bits and some glue for attaching them.
The other has some conductive carbon paint/ink.