Repair your remote controls

I have repaired a quite a few faulty remote controls and most often they are repairable.
Getting a programmable remote is one way to solve the problem but the functionality and locations of the keys may not be satisfactory.
Repairing your remote should give you more satisfaction as you get to keep the remote you are used to.

Common faults are: some buttons not working, not working at all, corroded battery terminals. Often buttons are sticky because of some dirt accumulated over the years from the sticky little hands of your kids?
The hardest part of repair is often to open the covers. You do not need much experience in electronics repair to repair a remote. Also it is perfectly safe as there is no way to get an electric shock as they work with batteries.

Step 1 Test your remote with Digital Camera

Check your batteries first or buy new batteries. Once you have good batteries, you can test with a digital camera by pushing the buttons and having camera on and pointing to the infrared led. You should see red light if the remote is working. If no light comes up you obviously have a dead remote but do not despair and procede to the next step

Comments

[found12]

http://www.e-mashinki.ru/

[klaviatury]

Your remote is blasphemy and should be shot. I recommend upgrading to the Yamaha MCX-RC100BL.

[flobbie]

The remote for my Samsung STB has become unreliable (simply from wear and tear). I can fix it every time (so far) by removing the battery cover and squirting in contact/circuit board cleaner which comes in a pressure pack and has a fine tube you can insert in the hole revealed when you remove the battery cover. Squirting the stuff on and around the keys which are not working also works sometimes..
I squirt the stuff in until it is sloshiing around inside and coming out through the keys,
Sounds drastic, but it works (so far). The alcohol-based liquid evaporates quickly and does not have much odor.

[guguhema]

http://fixing-ideas.blogspot.com/

[bayyagg]

Hey! The problem usually some of the buttons are not working........ This 100% guaranteed to clean the carbon contact for that remote! Use ur soldering iron, heat it up, and get that hot iron tip into those carbon contacts ( don't worry nowadays remote are made of silicone and they don't melt with high temp. ). you will notice the glossiness of the carbon become matte black!

[roberthellier37]

Hi there thought i let you guys know this... as i a a deaf tv engineer... as i wear hearing aids... if i put my hearing aid on to T for telephone setting.. and place the remote next to my hearing aid.... i can hear the blips or beebs of the remote button when pressed... i discovered another way if you have a old MW or AM radio tune it onto a static station and place remote near by and press buttons you should hear blips,beeps etc there are different beeps for all makes of remotes. hope that helps.. Rob in UK

[pellepeloton]

Thanks Rob, Interesting, I will check this one out. Maybe it is because remotes have a xtal which gives out radio frequency?

[roberthellier37]

I can't say which radio setting is best all remote tend to be different.... I have used it on MW and AM frequency... just make sure there isn't a radio station coming through..... it has to be on static channel..... but not completely static.... try on LW setting too..... or buy a remote sensor with flashing LED.... you can buy them on a Key ring so thats useful for home visits... I couldn't just stick a remote on my ear in front of people or they think I am strange lol.

[omnibot]

I've played with this using an old walkman by extending the audio-head and using that to detect the emf. Remotes don't use radiofrequency, the xtal is there as timing for the IC.

[pellepeloton]

Most domestic AV remote controls use infrared LED's and some may use radio frequency? So those IR LED remotes are best to be tested with digital camera. My MB van remote key uses radio frequency so that needs preferably a spectrum analyser to test. As I do not have a spectrum analyser or do not know anybody who have one, I might try some radio receiver to test my MB remote?

[pellepeloton]

Some young person could start a business repairing remotes. It takes about 10 to 20 minutes to repair one and sending remotes by mail is cheap.

[neverlast]

A good way to open up remote controls without damaging them is to
use a guitar picku (thin-medium) since its flexible yet thin enough to get
into the gaps.

[powerboxx16]

you can also use the camera on your mobile phones

[pellepeloton]

Yes you are right, any digital or video camera will work.. Even you webcam on the laptop will work.

[hanjwint]

i fixed it! yay! i didnt think i would actually be able to just fix my remote but all it was was a dry socket, woop woop! thanks!

[Stew2]

That camera thing to test the remote is so cool! I have kind of gained the rep of remote repair guy in my family over the years. Sure, it's easy to go out and buy a universal remote, but they never seem to have the same functionality as the original remote... Especially those for satellite receivers and cable boxes. Plus, I don't like throwing things out if they can be fixed. Only thing that never ceases to amaze me is the amount of crud/oil/soda that seems to accumulate in these things! Again though, digital camera tip is awesome! Thank you :)

[Ideal_Ideas91]

I use to have a remote just like this but it was of a different brand and had less buttons. Those remotes I remeber worked nice and the numbers didnt fade away!

[hoey78]

step 5 worked for me. i.e cleaned the battery terminals and bingo! 1 remote fixed Thanks

[STANMAR725]

I've repaired some old remotes and always give the metal switch contacts a good cleaning using one of those ink pen erasers. The grit on the eraser will not damage the metal contacts, but will clean up the tarnish/oxidation. You can tell if the contacts are cleaned because they will shine after you are done.

[pellepeloton]

Good point, I have done the same but forgot to mention it.

[edwb219]

Hi, I have found out where you can go to have your remote repaired. Simply go to The remote doctor and follow the 3 simple steps and its only $23.00. They where able to fix my remote and get it back within 10 days. They're great!!!

[-smuli-]

Thanks from your tips, now my remote control is working again :)

[MiniDIYGuy]

My Success with Faulty Buttons Repair
Sometimes even after thorough cleaning, I still find some buttons not functioning and have discovered that this has to do with a lost of electrical conductivity in the pad. A quick solution I've devised and implemented successfully is by using ordinary kitchen aluminum foils.

I've posted detailed info at my blog http://minidiy.blogspot.com/2008/02/repair-remote-control-faulty-buttons-in.html
This method is still helping me to sustain my favorite universal remote for over 7 years now.

[pellepeloton]

Thanks for that, I was wondering how to repair non-functional buttons?

[MiniDIYGuy]

I suppose you haven't read the blog in the link provided: http://minidiy.blogspot.com/2008/02/repair-remote-control-faulty-buttons-in.html

It specifically deals with repairing non-functional buttons. Hope it works for you.

[clanger]

great instructable ,you can see if LED is working by viewing it through your mobile phone camera you will be able to see it flashing if its working

[johncar]

Re the bulb. Can one safely test it with a continuity meter? I am concerned that maybe the power could ‘blow’ the filament.

[Polymorph]

Not really testable that way. IR LEDs don't have filaments, it is like a standard visible LED except in Infrared. So it will take about 2V to forward bias it. A standard silicone diode takes only about 0.7V. So your continuity checker may or may not give you a meaningful reading.

[Prometheus]

it should react like any diode, passing current one way and blocking it the other

[comodore]

do you know how can I make a simple circuit that if i push a button on a remote, an led or something else turns on (wireless that is)

[epartgrocer]

You may log on the following website to have a look on the IR detector circuit for reference. Since you use the TV remote, the IR receiver module may be of 38KHz instead of 40KHz. http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/IrProximity.html
http://www.simerec.com/Sharp_QH3031.html

You may find the electronic components through some on line shops like digikey.com or epartgrocer.com

[pellepeloton]

This may do you? http://www.instructables.com/id/Universal-IR-Remote-Switch/

[Dwarg]

Yes it is invisible to the naked eye but not the camera because it does not filter out infrared light in fact it makes it visible to the naked eye by translating it to the visible part of the electro magnetic spectrum

[boocat]

I can test our remotes by aiming them at our old Furby. If the toy says:"Kitty,kitty,kitty" the LED is registering. That is the only simulus that ever causes the Furby to say that. It's very whiny and creepy, not its regular voice.

[Jesus10555]

wait wait wait, is that light invisible to the naked eye?

[Neodudeman]

Ooo, that's a good idea.

[Neodudeman]

AND since cameras can see IR light, that allows them to use Night Vision with IR emmiters! Yay

[Aeshir]

If you ever need batteries, (a double or triple A, or even a D cell) for a remote or something just take apart a 9v. They contain 6 1.5V AAAA's, which is exactly the same as pretty much every household battery. They just don't hold a charge as long as a bigger 1.5 volt such as a D or AA.

[Prometheus]

Someone further into the steps mentioned pencil-erasers to clean the contacts. Use that to clean the PCB contacts by simply erasing the dirt away. Quality pencil erasers won't leave a residue behind and should not look or feel greasy. A quality pencil eraser grinds away instead of smearing, try it on paper first.

Always clean an eraser on denim (preferred, or other cotton fabrics, but not synthetics) before cleaning any contacts with it; if you wear jeans, this is easy to manage. Second-best choice is dry, bare wood. *Clean* glass is equally sufficient, just don't rub over the same spot twice as you clean the eraser (or it will pick up contaminants again). If the eraser leaves greasy smudges on the glass, go buy a quality pencil eraser for crying out loud...

[pragmatica]

One other problem with older remotes (at least in my house) is that certain buttons simply wear out. Most remote controls have an injection-molded rubber sheet that lays beneath the buttons that you push. On the bottom side is a carbon-impregnated foam pad, which can wear out beneath frequently-used buttons. You can resuscitate these pads and restore the remote to working condition by cutting tiny pieces of aluminum foil and attaching them to the worn-out pads with contact adhesive or superglue. (The foil won't have the same conductive properties as the powdered carbon pad but I've had really good luck with it so I haven't needed to improve on it.)