Remote Maintenance

I don't check the batteries so it's usually when the remote starts to act slow and unresponsive is when I take a look and sometimes have to clean the contacts from the batteries eroding and leaving gunk on the contacts. Then I replace the batteries.

All the best,
Nonoise

Usually about once a week I fish it out from between the cushions, check it out for tequila infiltration, wipe it off and return to my margarita. Be careful though because Pina colada uses coconut syrup, dry towel alone won't do use damp sponge first. 

Remote, there is a love hate relationship. I hate when I’m looking for one, then to find out the batteries are dead or worse, spewed CRAP inside a 400.00 remote (Krell brushed aluminum IF you can find one). Some such mishap like dropping it on the only BRICK in the whole room (used as a door stop) or in the only cup of water in the whole room. You know, the CRAP you can’t plan in lifetime, BUT it happens on it’s own.

Drop a 400.00 just repaired remote, right in a glass of water. There is a clearance of LESS than 1/16" on each side. PLOP! Hole in one. You could have practiced for 100 years and not done it twice in a row from 4 feet up.

I liked it when the wife dropped the brand new Mac remote for my C2500 (when I first got it) face first in the fresh batch of egg salad. I didn’t talk to her for a month.
THAT was a pisser.

I new a service writer that threw his cell phone across the shop once a month and it would explode. 5 years that went on. THAT is what he was fired for, throwing stuff. He tried throwing one of the other mechanics across the shop, that didn’t work out to well. When he woke up in the hospital with handcuffs on, LOL he kinda knew don’t mess with old mechanics. They use to wire your jaw shut, when the ol jaw got broke (I guess they still do) He looked perfect for once in his life.

The point is I KNOW there are REMOTE thrower out there. Just like cell phone assassins. Beware.. LOL

I never got mad at tools or equipment, people, that’s a different story, I KNOW they're stupid..

Regards

Not a fan of remotes. Most are glitchy at best. I can still manage to walk 12 feet to turn it up or down and switch a source.

Now with the idiot box different story flipping between games and watching races (F1 and MotoGP)

I forgot. I use to clean remotes that were on job sites for a long time. Covered with grout. It (grout) was in every possible place it could be. I've rescued 20K remote boxes that were set up in 1/2 a yard of grout the only thing sticking UP was the shoulder straps. The ONLY saving grace was, it was still pretty green. I could get them pretty clean believe it or not.. The spare batteries were charged by the equipment, usually eco batteries all the way.. Rugged and expensive smart batteries.

Regards

 Most are glitchy at best.

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Mine aren't. ALL 50 of them..:-)

Wow 50 of them....................

Gee, and I thought I was bad! LOL, thanks for the responses. Look forward to more.

I’ve maybe had one glitchy remote in my life. On the battery thing, when they die. Dropping is bad, so I try to avoid that, particularly on ceramic tile. Oh, and I put little rubber feet on them so they are isolated from vibration… ;-)

I use specialized springs so when dropped they spring back up. You need quick reflexes to catch them on the way up.😀

@tom6897 bingo!

I have scrapped corrosion off the contacts of old ones, got em working

I have taken them apart, given the parts, rubber button sheets, printed circuit boards an alcohol bath with small brush, and compressed air dry, worked

my used Cayin came with remote that was erratic, took it apart, ... same. 

Steve at VAS was able to repair it. YAY!

The only remote I use is for the TV. When it stops working I replace the two AAA batteries. Simple! No sonic effect upon the HiFi system in the same room!

I don't have any remotes in my system just one for TV/Cable I just replaced the two AAA batteries yesterday.

Wow 50 of them....................?

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Ok I fudged a little, 49, and 50 in a box I don't use anymore.

This is an expensive remote, now think just the straps sticking up out on a blob of grout. Everyone scratching their heads. How did that happen. God did not make stupid people. They have to WORK at it, to get that way.

Regards

For remotes that don’t draw a lot of current I use good carbon zinc batteries Everedy for AA and AAA. This is because they are less proned to leaking which is what has damage so many of my remotes. Alkalines leak, Duracell has been the worst for me. For 9V, I use Everedy Lithiums. I know you didn’t ask, but I’ve found Everedy AA lithiums to be the best for my HVAC thermostats and high current draw devices. Those lithium batteries last a long time and I haven’t been disappointed yet. On the other end, their AAA lithiums, have not impressed me.

I put factory remotes in storage and use a simple single Logitech Harmony remote for everything. It will run for quite a while on inexpensive rechargeable batteries.

Now you got me worried about the leaky battery. So I built a power supply, run it to the remote, and thought it was great because now I can follow the wire and never lose the remote! But then, what's this? Sounded better with the battery??! 

So I tried silver wire. I tried shielded wire. Even tried Active Shielded wire. Still sounds better with the factory battery supply. 

In the end I decided to remove the screws and Scotch tape the battery cover. So I can check every day. Just in case. Spot the leak early. 

Whew! Close one. Averted, and all thanks to this thread. Who says audiophiles don't listen?

@millercarbon Yes, but was it a linear power supply? 😁

I actually have to be careful when using my Oppo remote. It triggers my pre-amp volume control and can drastically increase the volume unknowingly.

All analog. Tube rectifiers. Massive overbuilt caps. Deulund. Path Audio resistors. The power supply for the remote, not only cost more than the remote, cost more than the amp the remote controlled! Still it would have been a small price to pay to ease my mind of the constant incessant never-ending unfathomable stress of worrying a battery might leak, sometime, someday, possibly, maybe in the next dozen years. 

In the end I will switch to solar. No. Wait. Solar needs a battery too? Dang. Is it possible this is all a waste of time? At this point that would seem to be at least a remote possibility.

Pun intended?

Use Lithium-ion batteries. They last nearly forever, and they don't corrode. Acid based batteries not only corrode, they also drop in voltage putting stress on the circuitry, Lithium ion batteries are more stable, and drop rapidly so while I suspect that the stress tends to be a non-issue, I can't prove it. The corrosion issue is enough to drive me to Lithium ion batteries. 

Huh, aren't we talking ultra-low current here? L-Ion is for high current, and they degrade rapidly even when not in use. I have carbon zinc in a remote that is ultra-low current, and they have no corrosion in 10 years!. Just check the batteries every couple years for carbon zinc and every year for alkaline. lous - If you want to prove your LI point, I'd be willing to listen.