Original Remote Replacement

[sgmlaw]

Back when P&G bought Duracell, and immediately cut their quality, I lost three remotes to leakage after just a couple years service, two of which were touch remotes.

The lesson learned is to spend the little bit extra, and just use a lithium battery in a remote, whenever available.

These remotes will sip on any battery for years. With a lithium, it becomes a near lifetime battery. And they never leak.

[phred]

Back when P&G bought Duracell, and immediately cut their quality, I lost three remotes to leakage after just a couple years service, two of which were touch remotes.
These remotes will sip on any battery for years. With a lithium, it becomes a near lifetime battery. And they never leak.

Great information. Thank you.

I have a lithium battery in an outdoor temperature sensor here in the northeast part of the US where it gets cold in the winter. This is the third winter for it and it shows no sign of letting up.

[sgmlaw]

You’re most welcome.

The other tip if you’re looking for replacement remotes (besides the fact that all SB remotes, even the tiny Radio one, operate all the models) is to go with the SB3/Classic remote over the Touch one. The former is 99% functionally equivalent on the Touch, uses more durable AA cells, and is not plagued with the flypaper-sticky plastic face disease that eventually ruins all the Touch remotes. And if you stumble on a TP version of that remote, it even has illuminated buttons.

Another tip learned over the years with these Touch remotes: If you don’t mind a slightly more awkward look and feel to it, sealing one in a plastic ziplock snack bag seems to delay the onset of sticky plastic disease, and also protects the remote from liquid spills, dust, and dirty hands, etc. The bag does not impair button or IR operation. We have one or two I do that with, taping the loose bag flap down to the back for a neat fit. Especially in the garage, it makes things more trouble free. Every couple years I’ll change the bag, a box of 100 nice-fitting snack bags is $2, and the remotes are never sticky and look like new when I open them up.

Not that a SB remote is as essential nowadays. With iPeng or Orangesqueeze, the entire ecosystem can be more thoroughly run off a mobile device. If you have an out of service/ retired smartphone on hand, you can probably repurpose it into an SB remote. And with the increasing scarcity and prices of the old SB remotes still left and in decent shape, it might even be cheaper.

[phred]

Not that a SB remote is as essential nowadays. With iPeng or Orangesqueeze, the entire ecosystem can be more thoroughly run off a mobile device. If you have an out of service/ retired smartphone on hand, you can probably repurpose it into an SB remote. And with the increasing scarcity and prices of the old SB remotes still left and in decent shape, it might even be cheaper.

This makes me bang my head against the wall. I already have Squeezer on my smart phone and never really paid much attention to it. So the AH-HAH moment just hit me that I can use it as a remote. <sigh> In addition I have an old LG V20 smart phone that I got for about $50 to use as a portable player. No SIM card so it only works on WiFi, but with a 1tb card in it, I can carry my entire music collection with me. And I just installed Squezer on it.

Thanks again for helping me see the light.

[sgmlaw]

And besides the above tips, if you can get your hand to a Touch … all you have to do is touch it to operate it. It really does have a touchscreen interface.

I’ve often done that when in a hurry and nothing to control one is in my hand. As long as it’s not buried out of easy reach, it doesn’t need any remote … as long as you don’t mind the fingerprints.

With all the remotes and smartphone options, that obvious fact sometimes still gets forgotten.

[phred]

And besides the above tips, if you can get your hand to a Touch … all you have to do is touch it to operate it. It really does have a touchscreen interface.

Yes, but when I'm sitting on the couch, or in another room, it's a challenge to touch the Touch.

I've used the touchscreen many times while searching for a replacement remote as touching was more reliable than the dying remote.

[kidstypike]

You’re most welcome.

The other tip if you’re looking for replacement remotes (besides the fact that all SB remotes, even the tiny Radio one, operate all the models) is to go with the SB3/Classic remote over the Touch one. The former is 99% functionally equivalent on the Touch, uses more durable AA cells, and is not plagued with the flypaper-sticky plastic face disease that eventually ruins all the Touch remotes. And if you stumble on a TP version of that remote, it even has illuminated buttons.

Another tip learned over the years with these Touch remotes: If you don’t mind a slightly more awkward look and feel to it, sealing one in a plastic ziplock snack bag seems to delay the onset of sticky plastic disease, and also protects the remote from liquid spills, dust, and dirty hands, etc. The bag does not impair button or IR operation. We have one or two I do that with, taping the loose bag flap down to the back for a neat fit. Especially in the garage, it makes things more trouble free. Every couple years I’ll change the bag, a box of 100 nice-fitting snack bags is $2, and the remotes are never sticky and look like new when I open them up.

Not that a SB remote is as essential nowadays. With iPeng or Orangesqueeze, the entire ecosystem can be more thoroughly run off a mobile device. If you have an out of service/ retired smartphone on hand, you can probably repurpose it into an SB remote. And with the increasing scarcity and prices of the old SB remotes still left and in decent shape, it might even be cheaper.

I've just now had to input my new SSID and password on a SB Classic, needs an IR remote to do that.

Also, I have an illuminated SB IR remote, not from a Transporter, I think I purchased it from a company called Ripcaster many years ago, anyone remember them?

Conundrum with an IR remote that lights up - which button do you press to get it to light up to see which button you're pressing?

[sgmlaw]

I've just now had to input my new SSID and password on a SB Classic, needs an IR remote to do that.

Also, I have an illuminated SB IR remote, not from a Transporter, I think I purchased it from a company called Ripcaster many years ago, anyone remember them?

Conundrum with an IR remote that lights up - which button do you press to get it to light up to see which button you're pressing?

Except this is the Touch sub-forum, and that’s what the OP was talking about. Yes, a remote is needed on a Classic to set one up.

For an illuminated SB remote, you can press any button to light it up. Tapping the bottom left button in the dark (now playing) wakes the illumination, and also a sleeping VFD display if so setup.

[Redrum]

Since we are brainstorming remotes...

sgmlaw , real clever idea with the zip locks. I wonder how one of those vacuum sealers might work, and trim the excess?

Here is what I do, I buy cheap, refurbished, Amazon Fire tablets from woot!, and do this (below). I have many of them laying around, and find that I reach for them first. Much easier to navigate via material on a tablet for me.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/forum/user-forums/general-discussion/113176-cheap-fire-hd-tablets#post1538061

phred since you are in the US they are available to you. I really like the 8" ($20USD) for the size. I convert them from and Fire to android like, load the material apk and have one laying around in every room where I might be listening. I also bought sb Player and have it loaded, so if I. say, want to listen to music or a podcast when the house is sleeping. Buy it once, load it on all your devices. I take it step farther and add a few apps, browser, weather, maybe my email, etc.

Most of the time the "refurbished" come in at least looking like brand new. I have never seen any wear. A couple times they came from amazon in amazon packaging, so I suspected they were just liquidating amazon inventory through woot!

In fact, they are available again, but it looks like the 8" is sold out, but the 7" for $15USD: https://www.woot.com/offers/amazon-f...f=w_cnt_wp_0_7

If you decide, read the thread. The key is to get an older one (older OS) and when you start to set it up, do not turn on network access (otherwise it might update). Then run through the fire toolbox process. They are very helpful over there (XDA developers) too.

One last little note, the older gen tablets use micro usb, not USB-C to charge. A minor issue, I just have USB-C to micro adaptors laying around too.

Jim

[phred]

Lots of great tips from Redrum and sqmlaw. Thanks.

I have already neatly encased in a ziplock bag, the remote Redrum was kind enough to sent me.

Now to go look at Fire tablets.

[kidstypike]

For an illuminated SB remote, you can press any button to light it up. Tapping the bottom left button in the dark (now playing) wakes the illumination, and also a sleeping VFD display if so setup.

You didn't think my question was serious?

Anyway, picture below of the 2 SB remotes, the one on the left is the original from my Slim Devices SB3, the one on the right is the lighty-uppy one. Both 16 years old and near perfect still. Not like those SB Touch remotes, that rubber coating should be banned, not fit for purpose.

[sgmlaw]

Lots of great tips from Redrum and sqmlaw. Thanks.

I have already neatly encased in a ziplock bag, the remote Redrum was kind enough to sent me.

Now to go look at Fire tablets.

With the knowledge and tech improvements of the intervening years, one can get very creative about keeping this venerable old platform up and running well today, and having it do things it may not have even been intended for.

We still have 10 SB clients in operation here, from Radios to Transporters. And I may have mentioned here in the past that we even run a Touch in an outbuilding over 75 feet away from the main structure. Connected by long-range wireless to a Wi-Fi 6 network via an N wireless media bridge, we run it with a little Radio remote (yes, in a little plastic bag). And that little remote, being magnetic, sits on an electrical nail plate conveniently tacked to a nearby stud. And every 3-4 years, I replace the little lithium button cell in it. It does just about everything the full size remotes can do.

But most of the time, I’ll just run it from my cell phone as I move around outside, as it projects nice quality 96/24 music through a powered event speaker way out into the nearby woods, hundreds of feet away from the LMS machine feeding it.

These are product applications that the original designers probably could only fantasize about in 2004 or 2005. But it does it, and does it well.

[agbagb]

Just seen for sale from a company called Emerx (unknown to me....) of a new design for a universal SB kit remote:

https://www.emerx.eu/logitech-squeezebox-touch-replacement-remote-control-of-a-different-appearance/#explanationAlien

12.5 euros, from Czech Republic.


BTW, I've got a lot of SB kit, including original and replacement remotes for SB2, Radio, Touch - I've now lost track of which remote originally went with which device. Anyone know of a guide / chart?

[peje]

Just thought I'd add a bit to the thread, some of the buttons on my old 'sticky' remote for the touch don't work and have tried all the patented remedies, washing and cleaning etc without success. What I did find useful was that with the top casing and rubber button mat removed (batteries back in) I could use an al-foil wrapped cotton bud to test the pcb contacts one by one in front of the phone camera, this method showed that the pcb was faulty not the contact mat. Some of the traces on the other side of the pcb appear to be rotted out in very small sections, enough to open some of the circuits. Hope this is useful.

[Redrum]

Some of the traces on the other side of the pcb appear to be rotted out in very small sections, enough to open some of the circuits. Hope this is useful.

Thanks for sharing. Interesting. If you have it still open and haven't tossed it, can you share a picture? If it's not to many, and as you say on the non contact side, traces can sometimes be repaired.

Jim