The UHF remote should not eat batteries!

[wasii]

Here's an FYI for everyone:

Your UHF remote control should NOT be eating batteries!
If it does, return it to DishNetwork.

2 days after installing my 522, my UHF remote went dead - no response, no lights, nothing - and I though maybe there was a problem with the remote's address number or something. I verified the remote's address, then I tried replacing the batteries - voila! The remote worked again.

I wrote it off to cheap batteries.

2 days later, the same thing happened. I replaced the batteries again and voila! Problem solved.

After the 3rd replacement of batteries, I invested in 2 sets of rechargables so I could keep a set in the charging unit at all times. Every two days I had to swap the batteries.

I asked around and the only other person I knew with DishNetwork had the same problem, so I attributed the battery life to the more powerful transmitter in the UHF remote.

Finally, I read a post somewhere on this site about battery life and began questioning mine.... so I called the 1-800 support number.

Here's the kicker - the lady at tech support had never heard of this problem in her 3 years on the job (despite the fact that I have since talked to 5 other people with the same problem).

She eventually shipped me a new remote, and I haven't had a problem since. In fact, the batteries I now have in the unit have been up and running for almost 3 weeks.

So, to make a long story short. if you're swapping your batteries out 3 times a week, you shouldn't be.

 

[StevenD]

All I have are UHF remotes and the batteries usually last a year or more.

 

[Stargazer]

I have had some batteries in the UHF remotes last for as long as a year but some do not last nearly that long, but still last a while at two or three months but get used an aweful lot. I had a UHF remote that wouldn't work right after it seemed to have use batteries every couple of days as you have described and they replaced it.

That reminds me of a wireless optical mouse that I have in which I now use rechargable NiMH batteries in (they recharge up to 1000 times) in which the batteries go dead every two or three days but I am on the computer several hours each day and it gets left on. It does have a switch to turn it off when its not in use and I turn it off when I turn my computer off at night. It actually lasts longer on the rechargable batteries than it did on the alkeline batteries that I had in it. I believe that would be considered a high drain device though.

 

[SimpleSimon]

All I have are UHF remotes and the batteries usually last a year or more.

I'm still on my original E* supplied set of no-name alkalines after over 11 months of heavy use on my 921. Just started getting the "low battery" warning.

 

[AllieVi]

Check to see if you have a "stuck button." Maybe one of the buttons is constantly depressed (and I'm not aware of any medical solutions...).

 

[Stargazer]

If a button is depressed then one of the mode lights should be lit up.

 

[maximum]

If a button is depressed then one of the mode lights should be lit up.

Not necessarily. If the remote is in TV, VCR or AUX mode and a button not used in these modes (PIP for example) is pressed, the mode light won't light up.

 

[gixxer]

I'm in the same boat, i.e. every few days or so the Remote Battery Low sign shows up

Your UHF remote control should NOT be eating batteries!
If it does, return it to DishNetwork.

She eventually shipped me a new remote, and I haven't had a problem since. In fact, the batteries I now have in the unit have been up and running for almost 3 weeks.

So, to make a long story short. if you're swapping your batteries out 3 times a week, you shouldn't be.

So i'm experiencing the same symptom with my UHF remote that came with my DVR 522 unit. Your problem profile fits exactly to what i'm seeing.

I got tired of replacing batteries (swapping out once per week approximately) so started to do some research on this forum and first found this thread,

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=2339&highlight=remote+battery+low - SatelliteGuys.US - 301 New Feature?

There it talked about some number of button depresses and after exceeding that high water mark the Remote Battery Low indication shows up yellow then red eventually. That didn't sound right.

Then did more looking in this forum and found this article, with someone that actually root caused to a bad remote, which i think i maybe running into for my UHF remote.

So looks like i'll need to call the DISH tech and see if they can send me a replacement remote. Stay tuned.

 

[Stargazer]

I have heard of Dish Network remotes getting very hot and other people having issues from the threats I read on here. This was before the 522 was released though.

 

[jtravel]

I had the same exact problem with the UHF remote that came with my 522 in Jan.
I just called Dish and they sent me a new replacement.
The New one has been working fine so far.

They didn't want the old one back so I played around with it.
I switched it to IR mode to see if it was a UHF mode only related problem but that didn't help.
None of the buttons were stuck and I even took it apart to check for a obvious problems but could find nothing.
It still eats batteries.

 

[Mark_AR]

Hmmm... Haven't changed batteries in 921 or either 522 remotes in 15 months. Works fine, but its about time. The SAT button is starting to flicker a bit when sending commands to the DVR.

YMMV

 

[TuxCoder]

It would be funny if the high drain was from a bad amplifier circuit causing overamplification of the RF signal. You guys with the battery-eating remotes, any of you happen to get calls from people the next town over telling you to stop changing their channels?

My 522's RF remote control still has the batteries it came with back in June. It and my 921's RF remote (original batteries from December) are both still going strong from opposite end & opposite floor to where the receivers are located.

 

[markdl]

I've been asked to pass along the following information from the Dish Engineering team:

The problem that was causing the UHF Pro remotes to eat batteries was identified and fixed at the factory level early this year. All new remotes coming off the line from about mid-January are specifically tested now for this issue. If you end up getting a remote that came off the line prior to the beginning of the year that eats batteries, you should get it replaced by calling Dish. The way you'll know if you got an older one or not is if it does eat the batteries. There's no other indication.

 

[ilee]

My defective remote is being replaced, but I am being charged for shipping and handling. Is this the usual practice? We had upgraded from the 501 to the 510 and are curently using the 501 remote.

 

[jpezz]

It would be funny if the high drain was from a bad amplifier circuit causing overamplification of the RF signal. You guys with the battery-eating remotes, any of you happen to get calls from people the next town over telling you to stop changing their channels?

No but I found that the channel up button opens a garage on the other side of town and the info button once fired off a nuclear missile from North Dakota (they have since fixed their receiver).

John

 

[SimpleSimon]

My defective remote is being replaced, but I am being charged for shipping and handling. Is this the usual practice? We had upgraded from the 501 to the 510 and are curently using the 501 remote.

Yes, of course, you SHOULD pay the tunaboy for HIS defects.