Alright, so maybe this isn’t the best board to post this q’ on, but it’s the only one in which I’m still active to begin with, so here it goes…
After spending more time than I’d care to admit in line yesterday, I managed to come away with the Element 50’’ LED HDTV from Target on Black Friday. I installed it this morning, everything seemed to work fantastically, BUT…
The fucking remote will not work at all, which effectively nullifies damn near everything else that’s good about the TV. I tried swapping out the batteries to no avail, dicked around with some options on the display itself that also didn’t work, and now I’m just totally at a loss. The thing is, I’m fairly certain that the remote ITSELF works alright, given that I can look at it on my camera phone and see the infrared lights ostensibly sending out a signal to the TV.
Collectively, this makes me worry that the issue lies with IR sensor on the TV itself, which basically means that I’m going to have to return the entire set. In light of all the effort I invested into getting the TV yesterday, I’d be pretty damn well devastated to have to just take the entire thing back.
Any techies out there would be ENORMOUSLY appreciated. If there is anything else that I might be missing, please give me a heads up.
This is probably a long shot, but does the remote need to be programmed for your specific TV before it will work? You’ve probably already read the manual and eliminated this possibility, but I mention it in case you’re like the other members of my family and just junked the manual with the box.
Also, make sure the IR receiver on the TV isn’t being blinded by any other light sources. I had a mysterious problem with a cable box once that turned out to be the table lamp next to it was outshining the remote.
Well I used to work at a TV/VCR repair place in the 90s - I didn’t fix (usually), but I got to see what the problems were - and probably dealt with more than 1,000 TVs.
To the best of my knowledge - I don’t think a single one was due to the IR receiver being broke or needing to be replaced.
I think I probably ordered at least 100 remotes that we replaced due to remotes being faulty during that time period. We didn’t check to see if the IR was visible in a camera - so I can’t tell how often the IR still lit up, but didn’t work - but I know it has happened to me before.
I can’t say for sure it is the remote, but I think I could give you 25 or even 50 to 1 odds it is - and still come out ahead.
Take the others suggestions.
If you have a comcast remote - it is universal - and you could even use that in many cases to test.
Either:
take remote to store and see if it works on their TV (and usually it won’t even have to be exact model - if it works on ANY model - it is ok, but reverse isn’t necessarily true).
Or
Use universals remote (which you may have and don’t even know as many DVR/Dish remotes are universal on your TV. You can usually find code on inter webs (or people complaining they can’t find code for that model). Some brands - if memory serves RCA/GE is one - use the same codes for the vast majority of their TVs - while other are more of a pain.
You can be more confident that you have the correct code for brand B than for brand A.
Sometime I believe you can also “reset” certain remotes, but it has been a while - and I don’t have any great recollection of that being wildly successful.
My 2 cents since this is what it is when I get the “Why is the remote suddenly not working?”
Most remotes supplied with TVs nowdays will also control a dvd player and/or auxillary device of the same brand. In order for the remote to control each unit you need to choose which unit your remote will control by selecting a button usually located on the top of the keypad. They are probably all located next to eachother labeled TV, DVD, AUX.
If for whatever reason the AUX or DVD got pushed the remote is now sending signals to control them when you’re pushing buttons. It’s going to do nothing for the TV.
To set the remote back to TV mode you need to hit the TV button first.
Seems like a no brainer but it would be my first guess.
Quickly checking the manual for the TV, like I did before I suggested the same thing, will reveal that this suggestion does not appear to be applicable for this remote.
Or another remote. TiVo’s used to be known for ‘locking up’ if another remote got stuck in the couch cushions with a button pushed. The old trick (as the OP knows) was to use a digital camera to go around looking for a stray IR signal.
Well, at this point, I’m getting reasonably sure that it has to be an issue with the remote.
Through various measures of dicking around, I’ve gotten to the point where BOTH the standard TV remote & the universal remote I’ve been using (Logitech Harmony 650) have been able to control the TV. Everything will be going fine for a few hours, and then magically the remotes will refuse to work anymore. And I have NO FUCKING IDEA why.
The fact that everything works fine when the remotes are actually responsive suggests to me that the issue isn’t with the TV itself - otherwise there couldn’t be any remotes that would work, full stop - but rather with whatever IR signal is being emitted out of the remote that the TV doesn’t recognize. Perhaps my only recourse at this point is to get another Element remote and hope that does the trick.
But seriously, if any of you guys thinks I might be missing something, please don’t hesitate to say so.
You said “then magically the remotes will refuse to work anymore”. If you that’s what you meant, the remotes, all the remotes, as in everything works for a while, then all the remotes all stop working at the same time, then the problem is with the TV. If several separate remotes all stop working at the same time (and then start working later, and then stop working again) it’s likely the TV.
Now, if you meant “remote”, singular. As in the remote that came with it stopped working but the other remote continues to work, then your post makes sense.
Try something once. When the remote isn’t working, bring it right up to the TV, hold it right against the IR window, cup your hands around it so the IR receiver can’t ‘see’ anything else and then try it. This will block any stray IR in the room if it’s present. BTW, do you know where the remote is from your old TV?
When they stop working is it always the same time of day? Could be a light source that doesn’t hit the TV at certain times but does at others is interfering. Try closing blinds/curtains, turning off lights, etc.
