I’ve got an ONKYO 7.1 surround sound home theater system, and in the past 6 months the volume buttons stopped working, well not stopped… they would periodically work if you mashed/held the buttons (up or down) but generally they stopped being responsive.
After searching online, I almost bought a new remote on ebay just to make the problem go away, there just didn’t seem to be reliable information on the remote itself, let alone how to fix the issue.
Luckily, I searched a bit longer, and found an obscure reference to someone taking the remote apart and cleaning the connectors under the volume buttons.
What I did to open the remote:
- Remove the remote batteries (open cover)
- Unscrew the single screw in the battery tray
- Use a guitar pick or plastic thin device to open the remote (it has plastic clips that hold it together that will ‘pop’ free, just apply the right amount of pressure and work your way around.
- Cleaned the ‘gunk’ that was very visible in the area of the volume buttons (oil from fingers? maybe glue? not sure)
- Isopropyl alcohol with a q-tip worked well, and dried the area with a paper towel after.
- Closed everything back up.
That quick process got my remote working back to 100%
So if you have a problem with your volume on the ONKYO RC-710m Remote, don’t panic, just clean it!
I’ve not had volume control for over a year, now it works thanks to this tip! Quick clean and it’s fine. Thank you so much!
What kind of screwdriver did you use? It appears to be a round hole screw.
Works great – I was looking for a replacement remote when I found this article. Thanks for posting
Well, it worked! There really was some oil only on these two buttons. Unfortunately I destroyed most of the clips when opening my ONKYO RC-737M. Why wouldn’t they think of this when designing the remote? Anyone who designs any device like this should be punished – painfully.
Thanks for your post. Surprising how much oil/grease was on the contacts. Cleaning it fixed the problem.
On getting the case open, I found the key was to get a thin wedge (~1mm) and work it back and fourth until the seam separates. At some point you should hear one of the clips pop. Don’t try to “pry” it apart, sliding the wedge should be enough.
RC762M
I have a similar model remote. The Onkyo RC762M. My remote volume mysteriously just stop working one day. After troubleshooting all the other buttons I realized that there has to be a fix. I used your info and took apart my remote with a small electronic tool kit that is sold at Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot. There are plastic handles to take apart so that you won’t mar up the remote control seams. It is very inexpensive and will come in handy for smaller projects. Once taken apart, I followed your cleaning instructions and reassembled. The volume button was responsive as it was new out the box. Thanks for the lead on the fix.
Thank you very much for the step-by-step guide. My volume button has not been working for well over a year. Your instructions helped a lot. Thank you!!
I appreciate you posting this fix, I have been looking for a fix for my ONKYO RC-765M. My remote works like new again.
Took all of fifteen minutes to fix, thanks very much.
Dave
I have the same problem but the cleaning process,as described here, lasted a couple of days. Shy of sanding the contacts with fine sand paper i’m out of ideas and volume..
Thank you! This fix did the trick!
Thank you so much! Works like a charm
thanks! it worked!
I used one of the little screwdrivers for eye glasses to open the remote. Start from the bottom first to pry it open. When I finally opened it, there was a thick yellow oil beneath the volume button, just like everyone said. I cleaned it off with white vinegar and closed it back up. Works like new! My volume button has not been working for years and today was the day I finally decided to fix it. Thanks for the great advice!
Thank you for sharing! Great advice!
Worked exactly as you described on my RC- 762M. Thanks!
Worked a treat for the remote for my Onkyo CR-515DAB. Thanks!
Thanks so much. I had the same issue with the vlume button. This guide fixed the problem immediately! 762M
DA Man!
Many thanks, I’ve been frustrated with this for months and was going to buy a new remote. 15 minutes and all is good. Need to eat less calories now.
Thanks,I had the same issue with the vlume button. This the fixed the problem immediately.
Worked fine, thanks. But I am confused re the composition of the deposit. The Volume button is white, and perhaps that plastic degrades differently to that in the others. Or is it particularly permeable to sweat & fat deposits etc.
Sorry – re my previous comment. Most others are white too. I guess the Volume button is much more frequently used than others, and for longer periods – so “something” penetrates the plastic/rubber barriers to a higher extent there
Exactly as described. 5 minute fix! Thanks!
Exact same thing with mine.. weird oily stuff on the volume contacts under the button. Thanks for this.
I was able to fix the volume issue on my RC 803M Onkyo remote control. I had to use two guitar picks. I used the first one to make some space and slides the second one along the remote control line.Thanks for the tip
I opened it up using u knife, and wedge it.
I cleaned the junk with alcohol and paper twice, but now my volume buttons are not working at all. Every other button works just fine…
This fix works perfectly. Thank you
Life saver thanks for the post
Thank you! Worked like a charm!
Great tip. Worked just fine. Saved me buying a new remote
This was a great tip! Worked perfectly. For getting the remote open using a plastic scraper and just running it along the sides opened it up without any damage.
Worked great! Fixed in 10 minutes!
Same as everyone else!. It worked just fine, and your unclipping gave me the confidence to get in there with the spudger. Thank you very much.
One thing worth mentioning is that the first cursory wipe over and dry with Isopropanol left the Vol- key still not working. Opened it again and really went at it, using an maginifier to make sure I wasn’t destroying the carbon layer. After that it was fine. I found you can test it without reassembling it. Carefully put the batteries in and touch lightly across the gold fingers of a key on the PCB with a small metal object – I used the round end of a 6″ metal ruler.
Sorry to go on, but another thing to note – if it is assembled and you’re not near the receiver, you can see if the Vol+, Vol- and several other keys are working as the Receiver light flashes quickly on each keypress.
Peter
By the way, mine was a RC-771M remote control for an Onkyo receiver type TX-NR1008
Peter
What a great tip! It took only 5 minutes.
I just used a screwdriver and a guitarpick to open the remote control, a simple piece of clean, soft cloth to remove the grease on the print element and volume button carefully. Put everything together and PRESTO, the volume worked again! Thanx a lot, greetings from Holland!