Remote stopped working

[avalon65]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but I'm not sure which is the correct one.

I bought a new Gigablue V3 remote 6 weeks ago, and now it is doing just what the old one did. It worked fine upto about a week ago, and now it takes upto 5 minutes before the receiver responds, or at least until the led actually flickers on the remote and receiver. I have pressed the Giga button many times but still no joy. When I press the Giga button on the remote, the led does not flicker, and neither does it when I press the tv/rad button.

Is there a good alternative remote I can use for my receiver. I've googled that question but I don't know which remote would work for or with the receiver.
I need a permanent solution to this problem as I can't keep buying new remotes every few months
Thanks

[Joe_90]

The obvious thing would be to ensure the batteries are good - not using rechargeables by any chance? The fact that the LED on the remote is not flickering would indicate some battery issue, unless you are really unlucky with the actual remote. No possibility of liquid being spilled on the remote?
Other suggestions - an LED lamp fixture in the room (or the actual TV) might be interfering with the remote.

[adm]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but I'm not sure which is the correct one.

I bought a new Gigablue V3 remote 6 weeks ago, and now it is doing just what the old one did. It worked fine upto about a week ago, and now it takes upto 5 minutes before the receiver responds, or at least until the led actually flickers on the remote and receiver. I have pressed the Giga button many times but still no joy.

Is there a good alternative remote I can use for my receiver. I've googled that question but I don't know which remote would work for or with the receiver.
I need a permanent solution to this problem as I can't keep buying new remotes every few months
Thanks

To clarify, are you saying the visible indicator light on the remote doesn't illuminate when you press a button on the remote?

Have you checked that the IR LED on the remote is working with a phone camera. Note on some phones (iphones in particular) the main cameras have an IR filter which doesn't allow the IR LED in the remote to be seen. However the camera on the phone screen possibly doesn't have this filter. Point the remote at the phone camera and press any button - do you see the IR LED flashing on the phone screen?

If you have a digital multimeter? If so have you checked the voltages of the remote's batteries whilst they are still in the remote with a button pressed?

I assume that you are not using rechargeable batteries in the remote. Many remotes are sensitive to the terminal voltage of the battery and a rechargeable battery may only be 1.2V whereas an alkaline battery will have a nominal voltage of 1.5V. A newly charged rechargeable battery in a remote may only work for a short while before it needs recharging.

[Joe_90]

@avalon65 - I see you edited your post just after I had posted my reply, so I'm not sure if it was in response to my post. I have an original Gigablue V2 remote and it doesn't have any indicator LED, unlike the aftermarket V2 and V3 remotes which I can see on a well-known shopping site. However, as @adm posted, you should be able to see if the infrared LED (IR LED) is emitting by pointing a video camera at it. As I pointed out (and also @adm), battery voltage is important - rechargeables won't cut it.

[avalon65]

Thanks for the replies
No, I don't use rechargeables in the remote as I know there is a voltage difference, which matters.

I tried the remote again , but it didn't work with the receiver nor did the led flicker when I pressed any buttons.
I then tried the same with pointing the remote at my phone camera, still nothing. Then I took out the batteries to check the voltage on each. 1 battery read 1.458 volts and the other read 1.49 volts, after which I replaced the batteries in the remote, and it worked!!

So next time it doesn't work, I will remove the batteries then replace them. Hopefully that will work??

[Joe_90]

Thanks for the replies
No, I don't use rechargeables in the remote as I know there is a voltage difference, which matters.

I tried the remote again , but it didn't work with the receiver nor did the led flicker when I pressed any buttons.
I then tried the same with pointing the remote at my phone camera, still nothing. Then I took out the batteries to check the voltage on each. 1 battery read 1.458 volts and the other read 1.49 volts, after which I replaced the batteries in the remote, and it worked!!

So next time it doesn't work, I will remove the batteries then replace them. Hopefully that will work??

Good that you're sorted. Seemed to me that battery was the likely culprit as no indicator (visible) LED showing. The fact that the batteries were reading almost 1.5V on your meter would be the open circuit voltage and one or other might have dropped lower once inserted in the remote. Even so-called name-brand batteries can be variable in quality (or even fake). I use a couple of small LCD monitors for displaying electricity use and the three AA batteries last about six months or so. When I replace them I invariable find one battery is really low (below 1V) and the other two are ok.

[twol]

Thanks for the replies
No, I don't use rechargeables in the remote as I know there is a voltage difference, which matters.

I tried the remote again , but it didn't work with the receiver nor did the led flicker when I pressed any buttons.
I then tried the same with pointing the remote at my phone camera, still nothing. Then I took out the batteries to check the voltage on each. 1 battery read 1.458 volts and the other read 1.49 volts, after which I replaced the batteries in the remote, and it worked!!

So next time it doesn't work, I will remove the batteries then replace them. Hopefully that will work??

Noticed that for some reason the Giga remote is very power sensitive - changing batteries works wonders

[adm]

Noticed that for some reason the Giga remote is very power sensitive - changing batteries works wonders

Although much more expensive 1.5V lithium batteries will maintain a 1.5V terminal voltage for much of their usage lifetime. Approx £2 each for both AA and AAA.



https://www.energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-batteries


See performance graphs for the lithium AA batteries


https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/l91.pdf

[avalon65]

Update;
After 3 hours , I tried the remote again and it didn't work! I took out the batteries and replaced them, then tried again, no joy yet. So I then pressed the Giga button repeatedly until the led actually flickered, then it worked after about a minute or so.

I'll buy some new 1.5v batteries tomorrow , and see how they go.

@adm
Thanks for the info on the lithium batteries, and will look at those

[Joe_90]

Either you have some crap batch of batteries or the remote is actually faulty. You don't need to be spending big money on lithium batteries for remotes that hundreds/thousands of us use every day without problems.

[malcolmp]

Before you go shopping, do you have an Aldi store near you? Their batteries are a "Which best buy" and good value- £2.00-£3.00 for 10. Also when you test your batteries, did you do this with them under load? A quick way is with a 100 ohm resistor.

[avalon65]

@Joe_90.
I was using the original batteries which came with the remote when I bought the receiver back in September 2021, and thought they would be ok. Evidently not, as this is the first ever remote I have had to put new batteries in regardless of how long I have had the remote.
So I went to Wilkos and bought a pack of 4 AAA 1.5v Duracell optimum, which when measured , showed 1.7v with my meter. I put 2 of them in the Gigablue remote , and after 4 hours it is still working . It would seem then that the batteries I was using were probably 'crappy' or the remote is power hungry and doesn't work well with less than 1.48 volts.

@malcommp,
My nearest Aldi is about a 20 minute walk and by the time I saw you message I had already bought new batteries . No I didn't test them under load, but I should have done.
Thanks anyway

[cactikid]

Beware of Duracell batteries leak if you have other remotes , check them for leaks.

[adm]

Beware of Duracell batteries leak if you have other remotes , check them for leaks.

+1 They really are trading on their past perceived reputation but these days any Duracell alkaline battery (copper top, Procell, Industrial) are really poor and in my experience leak like hell even during their expected normal lifespan. In other groups I read similar observations about Duracell batteries have been stated by others. I used to buy a lot of Duracell Procell, later re-branded as Industrial, and noticed serious problems with them around 5 years ago. I no longer buy Duracell branded batteries.

[urie]

@Joe_90.
I was using the original batteries which came with the remote when I bought the receiver back in September 2021, and thought they would be ok. Evidently not, as this is the first ever remote I have had to put new batteries in regardless of how long I have had the remote.
So I went to Wilkos and bought a pack of 4 AAA 1.5v Duracell optimum, which when measured , showed 1.7v with my meter. I put 2 of them in the Gigablue remote , and after 4 hours it is still working . It would seem then that the batteries I was using were probably 'crappy' or the remote is power hungry and doesn't work well with less than 1.48 volts.

@malcommp,
My nearest Aldi is about a 20 minute walk and by the time I saw you message I had already bought new batteries . No I didn't test them under load, but I should have done.
Thanks anyway

September 2021 good luck when I just bought my gigablue uhd quad 4k , I thought the remote was broken just out of the box but know the remote was ok had to press giga button + 5 user error because hand book was in german but quick search eventually on internet I found the answer remote should have worked but at that time I did ask for openatv to be installed but for some reason remote control code was always set to 1 buy default on openatv. But remote controle code on remote as new was set to 2 .
I think it was at the time

[Joe_90]

@adm - most brands outsource to the cheapest manufacturer (or the original maker no longer trades and has sold the brand name). You've got to wonder what has happened to the quality when you see a brand name selling in the local discount store at 20 for a fiver or some such giveaway price.

[adm]

@adm - most brands outsource to the cheapest manufacturer (or the original maker no longer trades and has sold the brand name). You've got to wonder what has happened to the quality when you see a brand name selling in the local discount store at 20 for a fiver or some such giveaway price.

One reason that you shouldn't slavishly have brand loyalty without doing some research before purchasing. Many well respected companies from 20/30/40 years ago have ceased trading but their brand names still exist and the badge with these names appear on many goods on-line and in our shops. Often identical products will be marketed under half a dozen different brand names. Even when only the badge has been purchased and used the company using it may have a glossy web site claiming a history related to the original company.

Another marketing ploy is for an existing company to allow its brand name to appear on other manufactures goods - Hitachi TVs for instance.