Unresponsive Remote Fix

[mcquaim]

Hi there,

I've had an LX3 now for a few years and I've always found the response of the remote pretty poor but it was manageable as the receiver was always directly in front of the sofa. I recently moved gaff and the sittingroom was a rectangle so the sofa had to be at an angle to the receiver.

The caused the remote to be unbearable to the point I was hardly using it and considered buying another brand of receiver. As I last resort I contacted Golden Interstar and I got email support from a very helpful chap called Udo.

Anyway, long story short he said the issue was the IR receiving diode on the front panel was sitting too far back from the front glass and I've a few options.

1. Try bending forward the diode so it is closer to the glass.
2. Extend the diode terminals to allow the whole diode to sit closer to the glass.
3. Replace the diode and leave it sitting further from the circuit board.

I went for option 1 initially and although it did help a little it still wasn't great. I went back to Udo with a few suggestions and he suggested to remove the shielding around the diode to see if that helped.

I took the front panel off again, removed the metal shielding around the diode and moved the bend further up the legs of the diode so it sat closer to the glass and put it back together. Bingo, it's like a new receiver, so much more responsive. It's not the best remote I've ever used as I've still to point it in the direction of the receiver but it's a great change for me.

So, anyone suffering the same dilemmas then give it a try. It takes a bit of careful navigation getting the front panel off the receiver as you've to disconnect the WiFi cable and a ribbon cable to the front panel but it's not a major operation.

Best of luck..

Cheers,
mcquaim

45444
45445

[Rob van der Does]

An other option would have been to use a Harmony remote. They have such a huge 'headlight', that all my boxes (even the ones that suffer from the same issue as you described) respond to the Harmony, even when pointing in a completely different direction.

[abu baniaz]

I find the harmony very unresponsive, laggy and end up with double presses. Online support completely useless.

[Rob van der Does]

I have (had) several Harmonies and have complete different experiences. As I said I can use them by 'shining' in any direction.
Also with their support, although quality has gone down a bit the last couple of years, experience is rather good.

[Lothar2]

Harmony is nice. But my Harmony need all 4 weeks new battery's.

[twol]

If you have an Ipad, another option is to use an IP remote controller (..and forget about the IR) ... see my signature

[aido]

That Harmony Hub is great - I use the phone app linked to that way more than the Ultimate remote that came with it!

This is a great post for LX3 owners so thank-you very much - i've got to admit mine isn't as responsive as some other boxes I've used but I don't think it was as bad as yours as I use it from quite an angle anyway and it still works for me.

[Larry-G]

Hi there,

I've had an LX3 now for a few years and I've always found the response of the remote pretty poor but it was manageable as the receiver was always directly in front of the sofa. I recently moved gaff and the sittingroom was a rectangle so the sofa had to be at an angle to the receiver.

The caused the remote to be unbearable to the point I was hardly using it and considered buying another brand of receiver. As I last resort I contacted Golden Interstar and I got email support from a very helpful chap called Udo.

Anyway, long story short he said the issue was the IR receiving diode on the front panel was sitting too far back from the front glass and I've a few options.

1. Try bending forward the diode so it is closer to the glass.
2. Extend the diode terminals to allow the whole diode to sit closer to the glass.
3. Replace the diode and leave it sitting further from the circuit board.

I went for option 1 initially and although it did help a little it still wasn't great. I went back to Udo with a few suggestions and he suggested to remove the shielding around the diode to see if that helped.

I took the front panel off again, removed the metal shielding around the diode and moved the bend further up the legs of the diode so it sat closer to the glass and put it back together. Bingo, it's like a new receiver, so much more responsive. It's not the best remote I've ever used as I've still to point it in the direction of the receiver but it's a great change for me.

So, anyone suffering the same dilemmas then give it a try. It takes a bit of careful navigation getting the front panel off the receiver as you've to disconnect the WiFi cable and a ribbon cable to the front panel but it's not a major operation.

Best of luck..

Cheers,
mcquaim

45444
45445

Nice fix, although a better solution would be for the manufacturer to remedy this with a hardware update for newer models, thats if they have not already.


I find the harmony very unresponsive, laggy and end up with double presses. Online support completely useless.

I have exactly the opposite experience from using both a harmony 600 and 650 for at least the past two years or more.


Harmony is nice. But my Harmony need all 4 weeks new battery's.

My two harmony's run approximately 6 to 9 months with a single set of batteries, and both of them are used as the primary remote for their intended devices and handled all day long. my only gripe is that I use them so much that the keys are starting to wear through a bit and by that i mean the paint wearing off showing the clear back-lit keys.

[mcquaim]

The support guy was very quick to point to where the issue was so I reckon it probably is fixed on newer ones!

I'm not sure if a Harmony remote would have worked much better with the way the IR receiver was located in the front panel initially. It was probably 1cm away from the glass and then shielded also so only a tiny part of it was exposed.. Maybe that is how they normally come but taking the shield off and bending it outwards is working great for me!

If it helps anyone else then happy days and if not then I'm still delighted lol...

[Rob van der Does]

I'm not sure if a Harmony remote would have worked much better with the way the IR receiver was located in the front panel initially.
I have (had) two boxes with exactly that same issue. The powerful IR-light of the Harmony 'fixed' that in both cases.

[mcquaim]

This fix was cost free but a harmony is far from it ;)

[Rob van der Does]

A Harmony is far from expensive (no need to buy one over 50 quid) and once you've got one, you won't understand you could ever do without it.

[Bazzer]

A Harmony is far from expensive (no need to buy one over 50 quid) and once you've got one, you won't understand you could ever do without it.

Totally agree with Rob had my harmony 650 for six months now controls 4 boxes and never changed the batterys .

[thisntaht]

Guys do the Harmony range of remote controls work with the VU+ Duo2?
I find the standard remote with the Duo2 beyond useless.
Thanks

[aido]

Yes mate, they'll work with pretty much anything that uses IR - if the device you want isn't already in the online database you can just learn the commands as required.

The Duo2 is fully supported and you can check all your other devices here:
https://support.myharmony.com/en-gb/compatibility

The higher end devices also support RF devices and even Bluetooth should you have any.