All About Batteries in Harmony Remotes

[vidfreak]

I am having a problem with the batteries in my Harmony 659.

Depending on how I hold the remote the batteries move and the remote reboots. I feel that I have to be gentle with it when I am watching TV or it will happen.

Anyone else have this problem?

[kickstart]

Anything rattling around in there?

If not, clean the battery and compartment contacts with an alchohol and a q-tip. Put the batteries back in snugly. If the contact springs are too compressed gently stretch them by pulling them with some needlenose pliers.If that doesn't work, stuff some conductive material inbetween the batteries and the terminals to make a snug fit.

Nothing Harmony specific. Just years of fiddling with abused remotes.

[canuck22]

I haven't had that specific problem, but I have noticed that the battery compartment doesn't seem to hold the batteries snuggly in place. Perhaps adding more material to create a tighter fit would solve the problem.

[Mole]

Mine came with a foam insert to make everything nice and tight. you may want to add another layer to yours.

[kickstart]

Just ran across this problem myself. The remote kept rebooting.

Looks like the flat coils in the remote don't always contact the terminal of the batteries. In my case I had switched from Energizers to Duracells, which may have had a slightly shorter terminal on top.

Easy fix though, just folded a small piece of aluminum foil and put it between the batteries and the contact. Everything is AOK again.

[JesseJ]

I'm using the Harmony 688, and I'm going throught batteries like a mother. I have the backlight set to 5 sec, and it turns on on any button press. It's just easier to see in the dark.
I'm going through AAA's like mad. The Replace Batteries picture is on the remote again, and it's only been a month since I changed them the last time.
So should I turn off the backlight completely? Is this what's draining my remote so badly?

[Mole]

I upgraded the firmware on my 659 and the battery use is about 12 weeks now. This is the Achilles heel of these bad boys. I think I want an 880 with the charger stand.

[metroman]

Invest in a set of rechargeables. Mine last at least two months with daily use and recharge in a few hours when needed .

[JesseJ]

I've got some NiMH AAA's sitting around..but they're only 750mah, so they don't hold the charge like I want them to. I use them as I wait to replace the alkalines.

[Skippy31]

I've got the 659 and I have mine set to only light up when I press the light button which has a dimple on it. It's get's used pretty much every day, and my batteries last about 6 months.

Based on that I would guess having the light come on all the time really makes a big difference.

Skippy31

[Robobob]

Get some GOOD NMH rechargables. I use Energizer 2300 Mah in my Philips Pronto and they last way longer than my cheapo Radio Shacks. They pay for themselves pretty quickly

[Proteosome]

I recall there was a bug that has been fixed with firmware upgrades that causes severe battery depletion. Upgrade the firmware and see if it has any effect.

[vader_slri]

Originally Posted by Robobob

Get some GOOD NMH rechargables. I use Energizer 2300 Mah in my Philips Pronto and they last way longer than my cheapo Radio Shacks. They pay for themselves pretty quickly

Unfortunately, Harmony remotes (outside of the 880) use AAA's. As far as I know, the best NiMH AAA's are Energizers and even those are only 850mAh.

[jlet]

On my H659, I get about 52 days with rechargeable Duracell 750 mAh NiMH batteries. This is with my backlight set to "Interactive Display Buttons" and for 5 sec.

[JesseJ]

No firmware updates. I just changed it to Interactive Display. It was always on 5 seconds.