How To Know If A Remote Control Is Working

I presume that you already know what a remote control is? Ya, like TV remote, DVD remote and so on. (Just making sure).

I’m going to share with you a simple trick that you can use to check if a remote control is good or bad. You can use this method to check if a specific button is working or not, or perhaps the entire remote.

Basically, the main technology used in remote control is infrared light. This infrared light is achieved using a special type of light emitting diode (LED) known as Infrared Emitting Diode (IRED). The signal between a remote control and the device it controls consists of pulses of infrared light, which you can’t see with your eyes.

You may not know it, but the LED (small bulb) at the front edge of your remote control lights when you press a button on the remote control. That is of course if it is working.

So you get it now? To know if a remote control or a specific button in the remote control is working, simply check if the LED (the small bulb) at the edge of the remote control comes on when you press a button.

But how do you know if the light is coming on since it cannot be seen with human eyes? Simple! Place the remote control in front of a camera and press any button or the button you want to test. I normally use mobile phone cameras to do this but I believe it will work with any type of camera. So all you need to carry out the test is a device that has camera.

Side note: the camera should be turned on while doing this.

If the remote control is working, the LED should light like in the picture below.

That’s simple, right?

Additional Tip

If after the test and you find out that the remote control is not working, you can attempt repair. First, you need to check the batteries and make sure they are okay and are properly placed.

Also check if the metal plate or spring at the battery box is rusted. If so, gently scrape the rust with a sharp object.

After trying the above, and the remote control is still not working, if you can, open the remote control and bring out the panel. Gently clean the panel with a soft material damped with kerosene, and then air it to dry. (Do this at your own risk). I don’t know how this works but most of the times I have tried, it gets the remote working again. I said ‘most of the times’ which means it doesn’t always work, (in case you missed that).

After trying the method above and your remote control is still not working, know that you can always buy a new remote control.