Universal TV Remote, common faults.

Example of a universal remote control, one of many on the market; this one is already a few years old and performed its function perfectly.

Just remember that for this type of remote to work, you have to enter a code via the keypad, depending on the brand of the TV you want to pair it with; that code changes from one TV to another.

View of the inside of the remote opened using a thin-blade knife to pry it open.

What usually breaks on these remotes?

1st Battery corrosion on the battery compartment springs; the springs must be removed, cleaned, and lubricated.

2nd Broken infrared LED solder joints due to a drop; the solder joints must be redone with an electronics soldering iron.

3rd Deconfiguration of the entered code; the code must be reconfigured on the remote.

4th Key failure, possibly due to dirt or grease; the PCB must be cleaned with alcohol and the rubber keypad cleaned under the tap with a toothbrush and dish soap, then dried perfectly.

Since this is a universal, reconfigurable TV remote, it has more components on the side with the carbon keyboard traces.

On the bakelite side of the PCB, the remote has the 2 typical components: the capacitor on the left and the resonator on the right. In my years of experience, I have never seen these 2 components cause problems, at most requiring their solder joints to be reflowed.

Example of another remote control model, this one is not universal, where we also see the capacitor on the left side and the resonator, in this case yellow, on the right side; it corresponds to another remote model, and there are no other components on this one.

Videos on remote control repairs:

END of the guide.