Help with old remotes that don't fully work anymore (1 Viewer)

[Michael1]

Hi, all. I have two Sony remotes, one for my "AV System" (amplifier, radio, etc.) and another for my Blu-Ray player. Both of these components, and of course also the remotes, are many years old, and neither of the remotes works fully anymore. To be more specific, while some of the buttons on the remotes work fine, others seem to have stopped functioning completely. And here's a weird one: Some buttons need to be pressed SEVERAL times before they finally work. (I really can't figure that one out, because I would think it should be a simple "yes" or "no" as to whether a button still works, not "Yes, but you have to push the button about five times.")

I do have a third remote, for my TV/monitor, but that's a far more recent acquisition, so the remote works perfectly.

My question is, what would you all advise as my best option for dealing with the problems in the other two remotes? Of course I'm aware of universal remotes, but I have never had one in my life, so I'm reluctant to go in that direction. Should I just get over it and buy one of those to operate the AV system and the Blu-Ray player? Are the universal remotes easy to program, and do they work with any component you program into them?

I'm assuming there's no place I could bring or send these remotes to be fixed, so would another alternative be to try to find replacements for these specific remotes online? I'm guessing it's HIGHLY unlikely I'd be able to do so, as the AV system is at least 20 years old, and the Blu-Ray player not much younger than that.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated; thanks so much in advance.

 

[JohnRice]

There are a few solutions. Often, you can get an exact replacement, or better yet, a "Brand X" exact replacement, which is usually cheaper. Look on the back of the remote and search for the model number. Amazon is handy. Usually the remote for a later model of the same thing will also work, but might have buttons that didn't exist on the component you have.

A second solution is to get a programmed remote. These are the simplest universal remotes, and you just enter a code from the manual to tell it what it's being used for. You don't actually "teach" them any codes In this case, you need to look at the remote and see if it seems to have the buttons you need, because there are hundreds to choose from.

Finally, there are "learning" remotes. Sometimes they have codes like the previous option, but have a learning function where you use the prior remote to teach them. That will be a problem though, since your existing remotes don't work right.

The buttons on remotes wear out. It just happens if you use a component long enough.

 

[JohnRice]

For instance, HERE is a search on Amazon for Sony system remotes.

This One might do the trick for the AV System.

This should work for the BluRay player.

 

[Michael1]

Thanks so much

 

[Jeff Whitford]

If anybody else needs older remotes let me know what make and model numbers your looking for as I used to do custom installs so people would give me their remotes when we supplied them with preprogramed remotes. Mostly major brands

 

[Michael1]

If anybody else needs older remotes let me know what make and model numbers your looking for as I used to do custom installs so people would give me their remotes when we supplied them with preprogramed remotes. Mostly major brands

The two I need are Sony RM-A AL0001 (for the AV system) and Sony RMT-B125A (for the BD Player). Let me know if you have those two particular ones, if not, I'll pursue one of the other solution proposed above

 

[Michael1]

JohnRice, I bought those two remotes you suggested, and they work perfectly. Thanks very, very much

 

[LeoA]

You can probably revive these if you wanted to.

While I've not yet had the opportunity to try with a remote, I've revived multiple videogame controllers with dead or unreliable buttons in recent years by taking them apart and cleaning the contact points on the pcb with 99% isopropyl alcohol.

I'm reasonably confident that remotes that I've thrown away as dead in years gone by probably just needed similar treatment to their contacts on the circuit board, but I've not had one go on me in recent times to test my theory on.

 

[JohnRice]

JohnRice, I bought those two remotes you suggested, and they work perfectly. Thanks very, very much

Glad to help.