RC-20

[Joe Appierto]

Hello All,

Yesterday I accidentally knocked my CJ RC-20 remote off the couch. It fell 18" and landed with a thud onto the carpet over wood sprung floor and I gave it no further thought. It no longer functions. I popped the back, replaced the batteries, and gave it a visual inspection: the circuit board is uncracked and the surface mounts are still securely fastened. It still doesn't work.

Before I contact CJ for a replacement (I think these things are around $200) figured I'd ask you folks for any suggestions. Meanwhile I can use the exercise.

Thanks,
Joe

[admin]

Try new batteries. When it hit the floor it may have pushed a button in that drained the battery.

Next question is the infrared emitter working? You can check this easily with a phone camera: https://youtu.be/vsSZ3IMUQYE

If nothing is working, you can go through the circuit board with the continuity probe on a multimeter and try to find a broken signal path.

[Joe Appierto]

Thanks. The batteries were the first thing I checked and put fresh ones in. The emitter is not working so guess I need to find my multimeter. It's around here somewhere. Thanks, again.

[AnotherJohnson]

I’ve never heard of one of these failing. They’re even more heavily built than the Audio Research remotes.

The fall you describe is well within their domain of acceptable treatment. When mine falls from the armchair, it lands on a concrete floor, albeit covered in “engineered” wood. I wonder if the failure is coincidental?

That doesn’t help you though. This may sound silly, but double check that you’ve got the batteries installed correctly, and while you’re at it, double check that they’re good ( I know that they’re nominally new ... check anyway).

There’s not much use in further probing or trouble shooting. You are correct that they are expensive ... last time I checked about adding one to a unit that comes with an RC-10, I think it was even more than $200. $300 sticks in my mind.

At that price point, CJ ought to be happy to repair it ... but, sadly, after the bench fee, it might be cheaper to buy a new one.

How old is the failed unit?

[Joe Appierto]

Bless you, AnotherJohnson.

It wasn't the batteries because they worked in another device. But you prompted me to take another look and this time I noticed some bluish corrosion around one of the positive contacts. I cleaned the contact with some 91% isopropyl alcohol, did a little careful rooting around the contact to remove what corrosion remained, put back the batteries and voila! The remote is working properly again. Don't know if it was the fall or what but in any case you just saved me a bunch of bucks.

Thank you so very much.

[AnotherJohnson]

All’s well that ends well.
I’m glad to hear that the solution was so easy. Congratulations!