Repairing my Kenwood A/V receiver's remote-control sensor

Posted by Tom Moertel Fri, 25 May 2007 21:42:00 GMT

The Kenwood audio-video receiver that forms the core of my home theater system stopped responding to its remote control. As I discovered shortly thereafter, having to leave the couch to fiddle with knobs degrades the “home theater experience.” Clearly, something had to be done.

I knew the receiver was the culprit because the remote control worked fine with other components of my system. I figured the IR sensor had gone bad and did a little Googling for “Kenwood” and “IR sensor” and “problem”. The results revealed that many other Kenwood customers had the same problem.

The cause of the problem, I learned, was that the solder joints which connect the IR sensor’s leads to the display board eventually fail because of thermal expansion. That explanation seemed to account for what I was observing, so I cracked the case in search of visual confirmation.

First, I found the joints where the IR sensor was connected to the circuit board. The vertical red line shows where I found them:

The insides of my Kenwood receiver

Then I examined the joints closely. Sure enough, at least one had completely failed:

Failing solder joints

The problem confirmed, I moved to the solution phase of the project. With my soldering iron, I touched-up the joints:

The repair: re-solder the joints

It wasn’t my best work, but it did the job.

Now my receiver is back on speaking terms with its remote control, and I have returned to the modern world. Life is good

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  1. Steve said 19 days later:

    Neat fix! Reminds me of how I had to fix a circuit board in an old Nissan 1986 300zx, saved me >$350 at the time.

    Interesting site, stumbled upon you by googling for open-source statistics software. I use winxp and linux (ubuntu 7.04) guess I will give R a try… I do have some experience with SAS, not sure if that will help or hinder me though.

    Take care,

    -Steve

  2. Another Steve said 162 days later:

    Holy crap! Thank you! Same machine, same problem, same fix! I am back to my techno happiness…

  3. Chris said 181 days later:

    I have the same problem with my VR-209, tapping the unit on the top helps to temporarily fix the issue, but I will remove the cover and re-solder those joints for a more permanent fix.

  4. Vic said 298 days later:

    That reciever was it a KRF-V7050D? Because my remote is not acting right with my reciever and I was just about to buy a new remote until I came across your fix.

  5. Charles Woernle said 470 days later:

    Tom, Thank you for this posting, which I stumbled upon when I was researching the problem of my remote control no longer working for this receiver (VR-507). These pictures were invaluable to locate the faulty pins. (They sure are small.) Re-soldering them restored full functionality to the receiver and the original remote control. Good job! Charles

  6. Tom Moertel said 470 days later:

    Charles, I’m glad you found my posting helpful. May your VR-507 serve you for many more years. :-)

  7. DW.Schouten said 531 days later:

    Thanks Thanks Thanks a lot !!!

    This is probably the cause of my issues. Will try to fix it this afternoon.

  8. Ivan said 542 days later:

    THAAAAAAAANKS! I’ve got a KRF-V5030D, and the same problem. Removed the cover, and fixed the joints, and it all turned out well. Again, thank you for a nice fix.

  9. Glen said 599 days later:

    Thanks for the excellent article and advise, I just fixed my VR-507 after years of the IR sensor working 5% of the time.

    Cheers!

  10. jay said 603 days later:

    thank you…just fixed mine after years of annoyance. At least the remote works now.

    The subwoofer also is not working right. I get a green light on the subwoofer but no sound either doing the white noise test or playing DVDs. So the receiver is acknowledging the subwoofer…turning it on…but no signal. Anyone had similar problems?

  11. Dave said 610 days later:

    Tom, I’ve been living with no ermote for 7 years until now! Thanks so much! Works like a charm.

  12. Bill said 664 days later:

    Incredible! I’ve been struggling for a year with my remote intermittently working. Now, I apply this fix and it works!! Thank you very much!!

  13. pbouzan said 729 days later:

    Yay! Nice one. My 5030 has exactly the same problem and I’ve been searching for a solution for some time. I am now remote-enabled once more. Thanks again and for your time in posting the solution :)

  14. Filmore said 740 days later:

    This is the best thing I have found on the internet to date. I have had this problem with my receiver for about 7 years and this fix worked like a charm!! Thank you so much!!

  15. Jonelli said 748 days later:

    VR-305 I thought it was the remote batteries dying for awhile until I too noticed that sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t and I could not quite figure it out but something just didn’t seem right.

    After searching the web, found this and waited till next time I had to pull the receiver out of the system. Worked like a charm. KENWOOD > I hope you learned! Tom Moertel > Thanks for leaving this on the web for 2 years!

  16. Cas Smith said 752 days later:

    Tom,

    Thank you! My family has been experiencing this problem off and on for years. I’m going to make this my project for tomorrow afternoon. Your site is exactly why I love the internet.

  17. c mel said 798 days later:

    They should have gave a free soldering iron with these kenwoods.

  18. BackToWorking said 859 days later:

    nice thanks for the how to and where to make the mods …. worked liked a charm.

  19. Htech said 862 days later:

    Add another big thank you to your pile – just fixed my 15-year old VR-209 that started acting up a week ago. I was doing a little online shopping for a new receiver when I realized my old VR-209 did everything that a new $600 one would (at least for my setup). That is when I googled and found your excellent site. The pictures are awesome….

  20. AdrianT said 888 days later:

    Big thanks for this – a have a 3050 AV amp and the remote started to be unreliable and then stopped working altogether. We put up with it for agesa year before I looked up on the internet and found this. 1/2 an hour later and the amp is working like a dream (and now locked away from our 16 month old daughter who likes pressing all the buttons and turning the dials…). I can’t believe how bad Kenwoods are for this. My next AV amp will be some other make, that’s for sure.

    BTW anyone wanting to see if the remote control itself is dud/batteries gone – point it at a digital camera and press some of the buttons – you should see the light from the control on the LCD screen of the camera as the camera sensor picks up the infra red light.

    Thanks once again for the description and the pictures – was pretty obvious which pins were to blame once I’d got it open.

  21. george said 896 days later:

    Great fix – worked like a charm

  22. Kobraq said 907 days later:

    Oh my G_d. I have had this reciever since my college days. This stopped working 10years ago and we have been getting up to turn down the volume.

    No good info then…but now the Internet.

    Proud to sit and turn up the volume remotely as well as shut down the tv using the Tivo remote. Hint: code 1206

    Yeah!!!

  23. oldie said 911 days later:

    I can´t believe it! Same Reveiver, same problem since 5 years. After this fix everything works just fine! Thanks from Germany!!

  24. Dan said 922 days later:

    OMG. I have had a VR-209 for a good 10 years with this problem. I’m going home tonight to try this. Thank you!!!

  25. Sam said 960 days later:

    I had the same problem, thanks to your little guide I’m back in full lounge mode again.

    Thanks!

  26. Stefan said 983 days later:

    KRF-V7050D

    Seven years later without remote control… Thank you so much!!!

    Siegen/Germany

  27. Brian said 984 days later:

    VR-209

    I feel sorry for those who spent money to get this problem fixed. Especially those who bought new remotes trying to fix the problem. Thanks for the easy fix.

  28. David R said 988 days later:

    VR-209

    Another satisfied customer. I bought it at a garage sale and had to pay $5 more for them to go find the remote. Of course they didn’t mention it didn’t work. Now I’m getting my $5 worth. Much thanks for the advice.

  29. Ron from Can said 1028 days later:

    I picked up one of the Vr209 at a thrift store… No remote, but a universal seems to work fine… for now

    I wonder how long before I find the original remote at another store or garage sale.. The receiver works great.. but the volume control numbers seem a little retarded in minus DBs

  30. Ron from Can said 1032 days later:

    Hi All,

    If you want to check your IR remote control to see if it is working…

    just hold it a few inches away from an AM radio tuned to a weak station… and start pressing buttons… You will get a whole bunch of buzzing and other noises from the radio as you press each button.

  31. Hans from Canada said 1064 days later:

    Thank you. I bought a Kenwood receiver on eBay. The unit came without a remote. I got a new remote from Kenwood, but of course no response from the receiver. After following the steps on your page, I have a fully working remote!

  32. Klaus said 1079 days later:

    Thank you for the detailed description, I have repaired my Receiver succesfully

  33. Marty said 1079 days later:

    I finaly fixed it! I quess I lived 8 years with this problem… It just a shame it’s One after I bought a new “second hand”;) reciever I found this link:D But tnx anyway!

  34. Hans said 1080 days later:

    lool, a lot of years i don’t use my receiver, shit ir sensor. today i read your post and repaired it in about a half hour. thank you from germany!

  35. ilija o. said 1108 days later:

    MANNY THANKS from CROATIA!It works again!

  36. Miley Cyrus said 1151 days later:

    I had a similar issues with my Phillips home theater system. However, i had to pay close to $200 to fix it. it seems that this must be a common problem in home theaters.

  37. Gordon said 1157 days later:

    Hey mate, A random search for my remote control woes with my Kenwood KRF-V5550D turned up this!!...Wow. I’ll be giving this a shot! I can’t believe how many different models over the YEARS have this problem! – Planned obsolesence?... Kenwood go and F—K yourselves!

  38. Dan said 1162 days later:

    Hahahah…..I have had the problem for about two years. A more permanent fix will be to open er up and do the required soldering, however the short term fix was to do like someone suggested and tap on the IR sensor, works fine for now. Thanks very much. dan

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