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Grateful for some help ideas on dealing with faulty remote on elderly Gryphon Callisto 2200

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Old Valve Git

pfm Member
The remote control for my Gryphon amp appears to have died or is close to death. Long story short, have not used this amp for a few years but when trying it again recently the remote seems to be mostly dead albeit sometimes some of the functionality works, i.e. will occasionally change the volume. I am assuming at this point that it is the remote and not something in the amp? And I have changed the batteries for 2 different sets.

The remote has 6 buttons:

· On/Standby
· Vol up
· Vol down
· Input Select up
· Input select down
· Mute


Not sure what to do with this:

1) The change of getting a replacement from Gryphon for an older amp may be impossible or cost prohibitive?

2) Is there someone / organisation who specialise in repairs of remotes - it could be a basic item just in a nice metal case?

3) Could I get some kind of generic remote that would cover most of the functions?

Be grateful for any thoughts and past experiences.
 
Checked the remote battery contacts and output window are clear? Would probably be a good idea to take apart and give a very good clean..

Also check the IR receiver in the amp hasn’t moved and is no longer in its window..

a good idea to test the remote is by pushing the buttons next to an AM radio - if the buttons are working (getting power) you’ll hear a noise through the am radios speakers. You’re not hearing the IR signal, but a resonator within the circuit which the remote needs to make the IR signal.. if you don’t hear a click/beep your remote is dead. (Test with another known working remote so you can see what I mean.)
 
Thanks for the replies so far, I'm gonna try Rug Docs AM radio test tomorrow and take the lid of the amp to see if I can spot the IR receiver and check it looks OK, but otherwise also looked at the website Dowser linked and that's a possibility. I haven't dismissed emailing Gryphon, probably will for completeness. Cheers
 
It might need a clean of the keyboard contacts. This is a ‘take it apart’ job which may be reasonably easy if they made it to come apart.
 
Thanks - looking inside it, it doesn't look like it will come apart easily. There are no bolts holding the pcb in place, looks like it has been sealed in with something that looks like black silicone all around the edge if the pcb and the metal case.......still got nothing to lose!
 
davidsrsb said:
99% of remotes are infrared, so the way to test is to use a phone camera, which can see the near infrared light.
Long ago there were ultrasonic remotes and these days a few bluetooth based.
Click to expand...

How cool, tried my TV remote and see red flashing. :)
 
Bit of an update, I tried the gryphon remote and known working TV remote as suggested with an AM radio, but they only 1 I have is in the car, and this was inconclusive. However, looked at the remote with my phone camera and sure enough the TV remote I could see was outputting but not the Gryphon's remote - other than intermittently the vol down control, which is the only thing the amp responds to. Does that mean that there could be some grunge or dust under the keys?

https://imgur.com/a/sSh85oN
https://imgur.com/Pxch5k3
 
The buttons do pack in. It's a common problem. Whether it can be fixed depends on the type. I've never fixed one, just replaced them. You should also check for bad connections. Can be something as simple as that.
 
I’ve repaired many remotes over the years and it’s usually the conductive coating on the underside of the buttons that wears out. Get some conductive paint from ebay and lightly apply. Don’t use too much . Then clean the pads on the PCB preferably with isopropyl alcohol. Don’t use any abrasive on the pcb as mostly the pads are carbon coated.
 
Another thing worth checking after the above.
Many remotes have a single capacitor, either ally-cap or a poly. Try replacing it.

My money is on battery connectors or keyboard pads/PCB pads.
 
By way of a follow up to this. After reading all the helpful comments and not being confident enough of my own abilities to take this apart (don't have any cleaning stuff) I opted to send it to remotefixer mentioned upthread by Dancer_not and whilst they found some issues with the pads and cleaned etc they also identified an intermittent fault which despite their best efforts is still there. They did however provide me with a cloned remote foc which I though was generous of them. I'll add that the remote fixer process was really good - fixed cost of £20 plus postage. So thumbs up for remotefixer and thumbs up and thank you for everyone who contributed. The remote control - phone camera trick mentioned by a couple of folk above has already come in hand elsewhere!

Cheers
 
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