YES! How To Use a MOBILE PHONE to Troubleshoot a Remote Control!

Electronics - 

YES! How To Use a MOBILE PHONE to Troubleshoot a Remote Control!

These days, I am having nothing but trouble with BATTERIES.  

First off, the battery in EZ-RIDER was totally dead, and I must have spent a week's worth of days fiddling with it before resigning myself to having to buy another one due to its being sulphated to the point where it was beyond saving.

Then, I bought a MOSTA cordless drill with a bad Lithium Ion battery, and had to order another one (along with an impact driver, yaay!) from China.  Of course, the upside of that is that I get to do an entire series on the 18650 battery family, which I am really looking forward to.

Then, the battery in my SPY HAT looked like it had gone flat (but it DIDN'T...look for a video on what really happened soon!).  

Finally, the battery in my keyless car entry system went flat.  

It was like everywhere I turned, batteries were going dead.  Even some of my watches have stopped running!  I know it sounds incredible, but it's true!

The latest battery to go dead is the one in my SANYO XACTI VPC-HD1010 camcorder remote control.  It uses a coin type cell, but not the classic coin battery that everyone knows (CR2032 - the SWATCH battery!).  Instead, the HD1010 uses a thinner CR2025 battery.  

Aside from being thinner, the CR2025 has the same form factor and voltage as the CR2032.

Now, I had a spare CR2032 in my pile of replacement batteries because I had already swapped the battery in my keyless car entry system out, and I had bought TWO replacement batteries.  So, I had the old CR2032 just in case I wanted to do something with it (like now), and a new one for whatever, whenever. 

So, considering I had so many dead batteries laying around, figured I'd put together a little tutorial on battery troubleshooting!  But - people don't troubleshoot batteries - they troubleshoot the things that batteries go into that aren't working right any more!

Now, when a watch battery runs out, it's pretty obvious to everyone what exactly has happened.  The hands stop moving.  The same goes for Cordless Drills and Keyless Car Entry systems.  They just stop working, no matter how much you push the button.  When it came to EZ-RIDER, it just wouldn't start.

But when it comes to remote controls - things are a bit more subtle.  Some have little red LED's on them that blink when you send a signal, but many do not.  

The one that controlled my camcorder didn't have any indication whether or not the battery was good.  So, you can be there, stupidly pushing a button a bunch of times with NO CLUE as to whether or not the batteries are working...that is, unless you have a MOBILE PHONE!  

This video shows how to troubleshoot remote controls using a cell phone....and watch out for surprise ending!

HELP A MAKER OUT?

Did you see anything in this video you wanted for yourself?  If yes, please use one of the the amazon links listed below to buy it directly from amazon.com.  

If you buy, I get an encouraging note and a small commission!  Thanks!

VIDEO BILL OF MATERIALS

Duracell - 2032 3V Lithium Coin Battery - Long Lasting Battery - 2 Count (CR2032)
https://amzn.to/35VNCYN

4-Pack Energizer 3 Volt Lithium Button Battery for Directed Electronics 598t Remote Control Transmitters and Other Uses (CR2025)
https://amzn.to/399FPII

UNI-T UT33A+ UT33B+ UT33C+ UT33D+ Digital Multimeter AC DC Voltage Current Resistance +2mF Capacitance NCV Tester with LCD Backlight (UT33C+)
https://amzn.to/2MunVGO