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!
Great tip! Worked exactly as instructed. Strange oil residue, I wonder if it comes from the rubberized plastic because I pressed the volume button hard on dry paper towel and got some to come out. Maybe it absorbs from the fingers until it is saturated? Either way thanks for taking the time to write this up good human.
Just got the same problem. Google search, first hit. Excellent post. It will surely work.
I am also running into the same issue on my Onkyo remote. It may be some sort of lubricant or manufacturing residue. Back in the day, I took apart my N64 controller because the buttons were not responding well. It ended up having thick dark sticky-like lubricant or residue on the backs of the buttons. Cleaning it helped, but I don’t remember if it ever became bad again. I assume that, whatever residue it was, has become dirty due to oils and other liquids getting in over time and has stopped functioning as intended.
You are the man!!! Cheers from Holland
Half worked, +volume aok, but -volume has same issues, tried several cleans,oh well
Thank you so much for this. I had considered buying a new remote for my Onkyo TXNR609 because of this vexing issue with the volume up/down knob being unresponsive for more than a year. It worked just as you detailed it.
If you were running for President, I would vote for you:).
Thanks again.
Didn’t have rubbing alcohol so used wife’s fingernail polish remover on pad and back of rubber button, followed by dab of Windex then dry with a third Q-tip.
Voume button now works perfectly up and down.
Well, I can turn the volume down now! The oily residue I cleaned off was sticky. I may try and pop the remote apart again tomorrow and see if I can get the up button to work too.
Thanks!
OMG! Volume button has not worked for almost a year and stumbled on this! Followed the directions, used a butter knife to pry it open and cleaned it! Volume button now works. The plastic buttons that snaps the remote together did break but it still went together.
Genius post!
We were dealing with a volume “up” issue for the past month
Found a “greasy” slime on the circuit board under the volume section. Cleaned with eye glass cleaner and works like new!
Thank you!
Great post-saved the day! Same as others found a sticky substance on circuit board–cleaned with alcohol and dried with cool hair dryer. Works like a new remote. Yahoo!!!
Thanks! Just used dish soap and a paper towel. I wonder what is root cause of residue? Seems that it already under the keys.
The internet to the rescue!!! It was driving me nuts. Took 5 minutes to fix. Thank you so much for posting this!
Onkyo RC-764M Remote Control.
I followed the instructions and then cleaned the volume control contacts using methylated spirits and cotton buds with highly successful results.
Removing the case was not as easy as described…but I just kept working away at the sides with the back of a thin knife. It didn’t ‘pop free’- it hung on to the bitter end – but I was amazed to find it did clip solidly back together after cleaning.
A really useful post..thank you.
Had issues with the volume +/- and was about to buy a new remote when I stumbled across this post. I used nail polish remover to remove the black grease and now the remote works perfectly. Thanks for a great post!
Worked!!! Thanks
So here it is Feb, 2018, and my Onkyo remote has been exhibiting same symptoms for a little while now. Gotta say a big THANKS! I was already believing it was time to order a replacement, but I found things to be exactly as you described. I find it hard to believe the huge mess of oily substance I found could be from skin oil… i wonder if instead it is some kind of remaining release-agent from Onkyo’s production processing. Either way, use alcohol, nail-polish/acetone, or some kind of oil-destroying chemical and you should be good!
Thanks again!
Worked great! Thank you for posting!
Love it, this internet.
10 years and it keeps running.
Now with a working remote again.
KUDOS!
Yaaaa! Thank you internet! (and this page guy) haha. Same as the rest.. about to buy remote for this aging beast receiver. Fixed the mother board capacitors 2 years ago by internet surgery too! Now it’s remote time! This should be a breeze compared to that. I love you internet! haha. I’m so cheap! Maybe the remote gunk is plasma osmosising from my vintage plasma tv!