Yup, same problem. I got an RMA about 6 months ago, and received a new base, but with same problem. Logitech agrees, problem in recharging base. I received a 2nd full unit today, but guess what, same problem right out of the box, unfortunately they did not extend the warranty, so now I have 2 units, neither charge properly.

I also have the charging problem. Have had the remote about a month now. It would not charge without having a weight placed on the remote. Tried cleaning the contacts.

Got a new base station last week. It still has the same problem, although I have not tried cleaning the contacts on the new base station yet.

I have not read through this whole thread, but I had the problem with two remotes. The replacement remote was actually worse, kept the original instead.

I did seem to solve the problem for mine at least. I filed down the plastic on the back of the remote around the 3 gold contacts, so now when I place it on the base station, it seems to make a solid connection about 90% of the time (even when I am not placing it on there super carfully...)

No issue with mine. 4 weeks old so far.

Had the same problem with my 880. At first it was fine, but it got more and more finicky when placing on the charger. Over the past week it wouldn't work without a rubber band holding it tight in place.

I looked closely at the contacts on the base station, and one of them looked like it had a bit of black paint on the top, not just metal. With a dremel tool, I filed all 3 charging contacts until they were shiny everywhere, and did the same on the back of the remote for good measure.

I also placed a paper shim in the bottom of the battery inside the remote to make sure it was making good contact inside the battery case.

After doing both of those mods, it charges immediately when just placed in the base, but I'm curious to see if this is just temporary or a permanent fix.

I find that when the batteries are full, the remote seems to have more success in charging. I don't know how this makes any sense, but getting down to the single red notch almost always gave me problems. When the remote is near full, it starts charging much more often.

I've had an 885 since November 2005. Never had an issue charging it whatsoever. Am just about to purchase a 785 for another room, so waiting to see what that bring :-)

The Harmony 880 charging base was originally the wrong shape for the remote. This has since been remedied, but the only way to be sure to get a good remote is to call Harmony Support and they will replace the base station free of charge. You can take it back to best buy and exchange it, sometimes that works, but sometimes you'll get another remote out of the same lot as the first on, and it will have the same problem. My suggestions are that if you are having charging issues with the 880, call tech support. They will replace the cradle for free. You will have to do some minor tech support steps like cleaning the contacts, but nothing time consuming.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION:

I had the same problem, and call to Logiteh support to have a new cradle.
The new cradle works very well for me, and I have opened it for comparing the old an the new one.
What I was thinking about was here: the middle contact is useless!
Logitech has "repaired" this new cradle by adding a piece of plastic to prevent the middle contact touching the Harmony remote.

The Harmony is charging very well without it !
So for people who want to "repair" their cradle => put something on the middle contact(inside the cradle) to prevent it touching the Harmony...it works !

Mor_Stigm.

I tried the above and it did not work.

I have an alternate theory - the problem is with the remote and not with the cradle.

After the cradle adjustment failed to fix the problem I disassembled the remote. (It is quite simple to do. There are two small screw - one above the contacts and another inside the battery compartment. The circuit board is retained by two small screws near the waist of the remote. The keypad is an integral unit and does not fall apart when disassembled. )

I noticed that the charging contacts are attached to casing of the remote by plastic tabs. Mine had broken and the contacts were moving about a bit. I super glued the charging contacts back into place. The remote now charges perfectly.

I think the simplest thing to do is use the remote until you have 1 bar left then when you place it in the charger, lay another remote on top of it to weight it down. They will work for several days on one charge and hopefully you don't have to do this too many times before Logitech replaces it. (Just call them and order a replacement if you have charging issues, don't worry about messing with the charging base trying to fix it.)

I am assuming that there are a lot of old 880's floating around wth the old charging base and this has been a problem for quite some time (I called them and replaced my base about a year ago and it has worked perfectly ever since). Fortunately Logitech acknowledges the problem and is replacing the base at no charge.

All I did was placed a small silcone "protective foot" like you would place on the bottom of something to prevent it from scraching the top of a table/desk at the back end to raise the back up so that the remote was more in contact with the charging contacts.. and all is well in my world.... as far as charging this remote goes..

Has anyone been successful in getting a new base station from Logitech? I've emailed them several times and no return emails.

Call them, it worked when I did it.

Harmon Kardon send me a new battery and base no questions asked.

Unfortunately it did not solve my problem. Remote still thinks it does not have a battery installed.