I wonder can anyone help me with a totally bizarre problem.

I bought an MX3000 about 18 months ago, programmed it (took three days to figure it all out) and used it happily for maybe 4 months. Then it started to malfunction, taking repeated key presses to trigger an action. Then it just stopped working. Battery fine. Tried it close to my unit's IR sensors. No help. Re-loaded my set up. No help. Did a factory default, reloaded. No dice.

Called my dealer; he said he never has had such a problem; I sent it to him; he couldn't get it to work either. He sent me a new one.

Worked fine, then a few months later an exact repeat of the problem. Sent the new one to him again; he was baffled; how could the same thing happen twice.

There is nothing weird abou my setup. None of the the individual remotes I used before ever had a problem. There are no strange electrical fields from outer space that I know of. I don't leave it sitting in the sun or the freezer.

My dealer sent me another.

Now the exact same thing has happened a third time! It has gone kaput again.

I do not have mental health problems, I know a little bit about computers, programming etc. I am not a crank. I am just totally puzzled, and wondering how come a $1500 unit (in Canada) can do that.

Could the IR transmitter (I don't use RF) be going belly up repeatdly?

Apart from not triggering the units sometimes you can't get back to the main page, like from back from VCR, for maybe ten button presses and then it goes back. Also sometimes the hardware page buttons don't work for a few presses.

Has anybody had a similar problem?

I assume my dealer won't send me a fourth unit. Would very much appreciate any ideas, suggestions. Can I take the thing apart and check if the IR unit is getting a voltage? How do I get it apart?

What could be happening?

I know it might be weird but I would uninstall your progam (mx-3000 edit) and re-download and rebuilt the file from scratch. I have never heard of that problem but it sounds like a bad file.

Thanks
J.Todd

Thanks, Mr. Todd.

You have put my thinking on a good track. It's not my program that's the whole problem, because when the dealer tried to make the thing work, with his own demo program, the MX3000 wouldn't work. Also, when I do a factory default and then re-load my program, it should work, as it did when first put in, and then fail again after a time, but it doesn't, it's belly-up from square one.

However my son, who's a skilled software person, points out that there may be a bug in the MX3000 operating system such that something in my program causes, over time, a build-up of garbage, which finally jams things up. In most cases, he says, going to the factory default should clear this garbage, but, in about ten percent of system programming this is not handled properly, so going to the default doesn't do it.

So it's maybe a combination of something in my prgramming and the MX3000 operating system that's the cause of the problem.

I'll see if the dealer can get the MX3000 prgarmmers to run my program and see if they can figure out where the bug is, but I kind of doubt that they'll be willing to do it.

Maybe there's a newer version of the operating system I can download and see if that fixes things.

Thanks again for a really good suggestion.

I've seen occasions where the touchscreen seems to crap for periods then works again, all with no rhyme or reason. When you touch a button, does the button change states on the screen?

Yes it does (changes color and beeps). And the failure is long term.

That's really strange. I think if it was an issue of the software built into the remote, more people would have had this exact same issue, which is why I disagree with that idea as a possibility for the failure.

I am wondering if maybe your batteries have been the issue. Do you have the charger plugged directly into the wall receptacle or into a power conditioner? If you have not had it plugged into a power conditioner, I recommend you do so in the future, just to see if it helps.

I have seen remotes appear to function when the batteries don't have enough charge, but they do not send commands as they normally would. This pretty much sums up your issue. In my opinion, it's most likely the battery or the charger.



Thank you,
Damon DG
= = = = =
http://www.ProRemotes.com - Authorized Dealer & Remote Programming Services

Thanks for the suggestion that it may be an issue with the battery or charger. But a)the battery shows as charged, b)the dealer had the same problem when I sent back numbers 1 and 2, c) would three batteries and chargers in a row be not properly functioning?, and finally d) the screen lights up as usual and the buttons beep; can these work OK if there's a low charge?

Aynway, I'll try your suggestion. Thanks for your help.

If the battery is not working properly, this is possible.



If the battery had a problem already, the dealer is going to see the same thing.



If there was some kind of power surge or electrical issue, yes. I've seen many homes with "dirty power" and all sorts of strange issues would crop up. A good power conditioner may help. You never mentioned if you had the charger plugged into one or if it was plugged directly into the wall outlet.



Yes. I have seen remotes appear to function when the batteries don't have enough charge, but they do not send commands as they normally would.



Thank you,
Damon DG
= = = = =
http://www.ProRemotes.com - Authorized Dealer & Remote Programming Services

Thanks for your comments, Damon DG. The charger is plugged into a power bar and it's quite possible the power maybe a bit wonky. We have electrical storms now and again. I definitely will try a power conditioner.

Could also be static electricty causing your problem every time you pick up the remote depending on where you live.

HEY! POGRESS! I moved the charger and battery to my workshop and left it there for several hours. Tried it, it worked again! Why the difference, I don't know. The voltage (125) is the same at both plugs. It didn't work for long, but at least I know where the problem is and I can do some more sleuthing.

I feel stupid for not having tried this before, but the charge light was indicating a full charge and checking the battery in the menu always showed it as full or very nearly so. You'd think the indicators would work better than that...

Thanks for everybody's help and specially to Damon DG who pointed to the power as the probable issue.

It's so great to have hugely experienced people so friendly and available!

Roman Kroitor

P.S., Does anybody knwo what the charger voltage should be, or how to check if that's where the problem is?

R.K.

Every charger supply I've seen has the voltage printed on it, even if it's sometimes black embossed on black and therefore not obvious.

With a weird situation like this, it often helps (see my signature below) to tell us what equipment you have. For instance, back when the only consumer remote made by RTI was the Lexicon T500, that remote learned an IR code for a Somfy electric shade motor that sent out an IR signal so strong that it actually blew some LEDs working off of a Niles IR distribution system. Another time I had to back away a satellite remote about five feet from the Lexicon to keep it from sending out a signal that would overload the satellite's IR receiver and thus not work.

IR things are under much better control now (I ASSUME!), but revealing your exact product takes this problem out of the realm of the general and lets us use our experience with individual products.

I just realized I left a point unspoken: if your program somehow does what my old Lexicon program did with really high IR levels, perhaps the IR LEDS or their drivers are failing. Thus, no IR output.

I have had this exact same thing happen twice to me now. I will try the move to a different outlet thing and see if that helps.