Steve_L Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 So my Harmony 880 that I got for Christmas a couple/few years ago, seems to have died today. I got back from shopping and went to put on a DVD and nothing. It has the words "System Options" on the screen in the lower left hand corner, and then I seemed hung in whatever funky state it was in. So I pulled the batter and put it back in hoping it would reset, but no joy. Then I had to download the latest version of the Logitech software for Vista to get into that and redownload my configuration. Still no joy. So then I called product support. He had be look at the emitter through a LCD screen camera, where you can see the red emitter signals that way (I never knew that).. and yep... No Joy! ...and I'm out of warranty.. and it's more costly to fix that it's worth. But, they'll give me a 50% discount on a new one. So I go to the web site and the Harmony 1 is like $249! and the Harmony 700 is $149. The 700 seems reasonable. Has anyone gone through any of this? Any magic I can use to fix the one I've got? Any other tricks? If not, whats the best bang for my buck for a remote? Harmony or some other brand. I hate electronics that seems programed to fail. They dude on the phone didn't seem at all surprised that I had this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Don't know your answer; mines 2 yrs old as well. You might try logitech's forum, it's informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Good idea. Money is for upggrades, but this isn't an area I was looking to improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Well, if you go to the Logitech support forums and search you get nothing, BUT, if you go to Google and search on Harmony 880 failed you get a direct hit to the Logitiech forums forums that tells you the LEDs are the culprit and if you have old useless remotes around the house (of which I have a few) you can rape them for IR diodes and solder new ones in and you're in business. So tonight I sourced the IR LEDs, but I don't have any solder.. of which I need less than an 1/8th of an inch.. but I'll do that tomorrow. ...well, or maybe Wednesday, I need to go pick my daughter up in Brooklyn and bring her and the Grandpuppy home for the holiday. More later. Your Harmony may be next, it's pretty common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Care to post a 'how to" on the emitter swap out so i can be prepared? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 Im not done yet, but I did steal the IT LEDs out of some old remotes. Here's the directions. My Harmony 880 also died suddenly, and after reading through all of these threads about Infrared LEDs failing, I decided to pick up a couple at Radio Shack and give it a whirl. No one on any of the threads I viewed gave the part number. Well folks, I can happily tell you that I replaced the pair on my remote, and it is working beautifully once again. Here's what I used. Due to a lack of identifying marking on the Infrared LEDs, and the fruitless search for a schematic, I am not certain that this replacement part is an identical replacement part, but it did work for me. A $4.00 repair attempt seemed worth the risk to me, considering I had a $200+ dead out-of-warranty remote!!!Radio Shack Catalog 276-143 $1.99 ea. · Note: I am a computer technician with a degree in Electronics Engineering Technology so this was a simple task for me to perform. Use the following steps at your own peril. or have a qualified person do this rather simple repair for you. Unsoldering and soldering is required and the use of a magnifying lamp (if available) may help with the soldering process...· Remove battery cover and battery. · Remove 2 small Phillips head screws from rear of remote · Gently pry apart the upper and lower casing. There are about 3 locking tabs on each side of the remote that make this a little difficult to pry apart, so be gentle as not to break the tabs, or gouge the seams along the sides of the remote. I used a small flat head screw driver to gently spread the casing, and then worked it down each side popping the tabs free. You are now looking at the keyboard membrane side of the circuit board. · Remove 2 small Phillips screws holding the circuit board securely in the base. Gently lift the circuit board from the base, and carefully unplug the battery contact connector from the top of the circuit board. · Turn the circuit board over and you will now be able to see the 2 infrared LEDs located on either side of the USB mini connector at the top/front of the circuit board. · Caution: Infrared LEDs have 1 positive (anode) and 1 negative (cathode) lead and you MUST make sure you solder the leads to the correct contacts on the circuit board. The cathode is the short lead and there may be a slight flat on the body of round LEDs. If you can see inside the LED, the cathode is the larger electrode (but this is not an official identification method). The packaging of the Radio Shack Infrared LED describes how to identify the cathode lead. · Unsolder one LED at a time, noting which side is anode, and which is cathode. You will notice that these LEDs are 'surface mounted' as opposed to through the board mounted. This means you will need to trim and bend (form) your leads on the replacement LEDs before soldering them onto the circuit board. Use the suspected bad LED as an example. Now replace the other LED as well.That's it! Now reverse the disassembly instructions, to re-assemble your remote, and go try it out! I hope you have as much success as I did. http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/swervepf/logitech%20harmony%20repair/CIMG0001.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/swervepf/logitech%20harmony%20repair/CIMG0003.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/swervepf/logitech%20harmony%20repair/CIMG0004.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 Maybe its because I have not faith in my ability to solder something but I'd jump on the chance to upgrade to the Harmony One for 50% off. Best Buy has them at $199, Crutchfield at $179 (quick google search). I'm not sure if you'd have to buy directly from Logitech at MSRP or not but I'd be happy to get a Harmony One for around $90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 25, 2009 Author Share Posted December 25, 2009 Yeah, I've thought of that. But the deal is 50% off MSRP from Logitech. I'm going to try and fix it first, tomorrow. Then of that doesn't work, I'll be forced to buy another. I wish there were another vendor, as I am now a bit soured on Logitech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 All Fixed!! Cost of repair. $2.39 for a new roll of solder. Which I needed maybe 1/38ths of an inch. I followed the directions just like the directions above. I raped and pillaged two old remotes for new LEDs. Took apart the Harmony carefully, removing the top and bottom screws on the case. Taking out the battery. Prying the shell apart using a swiss army knife screw driver, unscrew the two side screws holding the integrated circuit board in place, unplug the little plastic plug from the circuit board to the front panel board. Unsolder the two old LCDs. They are surfaced mounted so just heat both connections at once and hold the glass of the LED and pull gently and the old one comes out. Shape the leads of the new ones and make sure you're doing the same polarity. Polarity matters and you can look at the Cathode and Plate and easily see how to do the proper polarity. It's not hard at all. Just a tiny bit of solder on each lead. I used the swiss army knife to just gently cut/clean a bit between Gently put it all back together. Keep your fingers crossed and point at your HT set-up and press watch DVD.... and Viola!!! It works. Happy, Happy JOY JOY!! Saved $200 at least!!! I did the view of the LEDs looking through the LCD screen of my Canon point and shoot camera afterwards to see if I could see both emitters when I pressed volume, and yep, they both work! Let me know if you have the same problem and need any help... it's well worth doing and wasn't brain surgery at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Glad it worked, gottta keep this in mind. Right now I need to do some surgery on the 880 charger. The contact springs are weak and the rremote needs weight on it to make contact. My last one was replaced for this after I had put in strips of rolled paper inside the springs for more tension. This charging thing is the only complaint so far after 3-4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 I've used an elastic around the remote overnight to get the best connection. However, I wonder of that might not have caused the LED emitters to burn out due to the elastics pressing down on some button and causing it to "emit" and hence burn out. ...but I know nothing about these LEDs so I have no idea if that is happening. I think I'm going to avoid the elastics in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 The good is I only need to charge mine every couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 People are funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 People are funny. You lost me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InVeNtOr Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 good smart job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_L Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 Thnaks, it was a piece of cake fix, and finally motivated me to throw away two old useless remotes I never use anyway after I stole their LEDs. I love spending money on my home theater and will be ordering a new Oppo-BD83 shortly, or maybe the new one their supposed to announce this week at some electronics show. We'll see. I didn't really feel like spending a couple of Benjamins on a new remote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.