Do IR Receivers fail?

Hi all. I have a media player that stopped reponding to the remote control. Thinking it was the remote playing up, I bought a universal remote which didn't work either. I verified that the old remote was sending commands to the univeral remote correctly, so it has to be a fault with the device itself. I opened it up and there is a seperate board that has the IR receiver as well as the power LED and an SD slot. The IR receiver is labelled 1838B. There is one capacitor on the main board that is slightly raised. It is worth trying to replace the receiver, or is it most likely to be a component else where and not worth the hastle?

 

They shouldn't fail any more frequently than any other electronic device - so failures will be rare but not impossible.

If there's a bulging capacitor, it'd probably be worth replacing that. Otherwise, if nothing obvious is wrong, it'll probably cost more than the device is worth to get it fixed.

 

Stick a multimeter on the data pin and ground of the IR chip and you should be able to detect that something is getting through by holding down a button constantly. Measuring DC, it should be either 5v or 0v out at rest, and around 2.5v with constant data received.

 

Thanks guys for your advice. I'll have a play and see how I go.

Cheers.

 

Also, some recievers can be particularly sensitive to interference - either sunlight or plasma TV's - and the cheaper ones on crappy chinese products are worse.

If you check out the IR chip with a multimeter/scope you might see it chattering away even when you dont press a button.

 

First things first, rule out its the remote controls fault. Point the IR LED at a camera and watch it on the screen. If you see it light up on the screen then we know it is working.

 

Hes already tested it.

 

ok. Verified the remote is definitely working with the camera test (used a point and shoot camera, doesn't work on the iphone 4S). Replaced the dodgy capacitor with one from an old motherboard, but still no response to the remote. Between the middle and outside pin there are 5 volts, and when holding down the remote button the voltage doesn't vary at all...

 

Did you uhh... use one with the same capacitance?

 

Give me some credit. (I won't back the soldering job though....)

 

I'm just surprised given the effort it would have taken to find a matching one on another board. Unfortunately there isn't really much else you can do, there is no real (easy) way of knowing where the fault is occuring, and even then, fixing it.

Perhaps you could try replacing the actual IR reciever itself if you can secure an equivalent, but they may just be throwing away good money.

 

Toying with the idea but three legs might be beyond my de-soldering ability. Still, for $2 might be worth a try..

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VS1838B-...763?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbd62028b

 

If you don't care about the component you are desoldering, then just cut its legs off and remove each leg from the pcb after that. A very doable repair for a novice

 

This.

Or just the good old fashion wiggle it out. Pliers and some patience. Or some desoldering wick/solder sucker.

 

Thanks guys. Replacement part on order from china. How the hell they can make money out of 1.99 + free postage.

 

They don't. No one makes money on ebay except ebay themselves

They are hoping you'll come back after trying one and order one hundred.

 

Status update... The new part finally arrived so I've removed the old one and soldered in the new and success. The remote now works perfectly. In case others suffer the same failure, its a HDium duo media player/DTV, the same as a himedia HD500b. Thanks guys for your help and advice. Best $1.99 I've spent this week.