why does sky remote control eat batteries?

I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised me twice
already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to last about 3
weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries last for
a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the remote
control?
Thanks for any advice.

Luis Ortega wrote:
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised
me twice already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to
last about 3 weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries
last for a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the
remote control?
Thanks for any advice.

It sounds like a fault with your remote control, I've had the same batteries
in mine for over five years.

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
...
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised me
twice already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to last about
3 weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries last
for a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the remote
control?
Thanks for any advice.


My remote batteries last for ages. A couple of thoughts.

Do you have any pets that might lie down on a controller, making it transmit
constantly and use power?
Ever put things down on top of just this remote?
Are you using new, good quality batteries? Not sure of the shelf life of
batteries, but they do have best before dates on them. Worth a check?

Otherwise not sure what you could try :-)

--
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Luis Ortega wrote:
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised
me twice already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to
last about 3 weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries
last for a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the
remote control?
Thanks for any advice.


I've only ever had to replace the batteries a few times and I've had
SkyD since 1 Oct 1998.

Just try some cheap Panasonic ones, maybe the dearer ones like Duracell
do their usual trick.

On Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:39:23 +0100, "Simon Finnigan"
wrote:

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
...
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised me
twice already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to last about
3 weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries last
for a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the remote
control?
Thanks for any advice.


My remote batteries last for ages. A couple of thoughts.

Do you have any pets that might lie down on a controller, making it transmit
constantly and use power?
Ever put things down on top of just this remote?
Are you using new, good quality batteries? Not sure of the shelf life of
batteries, but they do have best before dates on them. Worth a check?

Otherwise not sure what you could try :-)

Is the remote control being left on top of the DodgyBox (or anything
else warm) resulting in the battery being "cooked" ?

Luis Ortega wrote:
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised me twice
already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to last about 3
weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries last for
a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the remote
control?
Thanks for any advice.

One of the buttons might be stuck on. If you've got a digital camera, point
that at the remote and you'll be able to see any infa-red radiation from it in
the viewfinder.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

On 11-Apr-2007, "Adrian A" wrote:

It sounds like a fault with your remote control, I've had the same batteries
in mine for over five years.

Fresh alkalines should last a year or more. Use quality ones,
they are less likely to leak when dead, though even dead
Duracells leak eventually. I thought the claim was they won't.

On Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:30:27 GMT, Luis Ortega put finger to keyboard
and typed:

I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised me twice
already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to last about 3
weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries last for
a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the remote
control?
Thanks for any advice.

Mine is fine - I last changed the batteries, oh, so long ago that I
can't remember when it was. Are you sure you don't have a sticky key
or something that's causing the unit to be continuously transmitting?

Mark
--
Blog: http://mark.goodge.co.uk Photos: http://www.goodge.co.uk
"I scare myself to death, that's why I keep on running"

Thanks to all for their advice.
I called Sky and they reset my digibox in case it was acting up.
I suspect that it's not really the remote but a problem with the signal to
the digibox.
The batteries that I removed from the remote continued to work fine in a
flashlight, producing a very bright beam of light. I tried the idea of using
the camcorder to spot whether the remote was emitting an infrared beam from
a stuck button but I couldn't see anything.
The service people at Sky suggested just ignoring the low battery warning
and seeing whether the remote actually ran out of batteries.
I think that I'll try that, but I wonder what will happen to the remote if
it runs out of battery power since the warning says that you need to replace
the batteries within ten minutes of removing the old ones.
Does the remote have some memory information that will be lost if it doesn't
have battery power for more than ten minutes? If so, will it refuse to work
with the digibox even after the new batteries are put in?

"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
...
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised me
twice already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to last about
3 weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries last
for a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the remote
control?
Thanks for any advice.

Luis Ortega wrote:
"Luis Ortega" wrote in message
...
I have been with sky for 5 weeks and the remote control has advised
me twice already that it needs the batteries changed. They seem to
last about 3 weeks. I don't use cheap batteries.
With every other remote control that I have ever had the batteries
last for a year or more.
Is this typical of sky remote controls or is there a fault with the
remote control?
Thanks for any advice.


Thanks to all for their advice.
I called Sky and they reset my digibox in case it was acting up.
I suspect that it's not really the remote but a problem with the
signal to the digibox.
The batteries that I removed from the remote continued to work fine
in a flashlight, producing a very bright beam of light. I tried the
idea of using the camcorder to spot whether the remote was emitting
an infrared beam from a stuck button but I couldn't see anything.
The service people at Sky suggested just ignoring the low battery
warning and seeing whether the remote actually ran out of batteries.
I think that I'll try that, but I wonder what will happen to the
remote if it runs out of battery power since the warning says that
you need to replace the batteries within ten minutes of removing the
old ones. Does the remote have some memory information that will be
lost if it
doesn't have battery power for more than ten minutes? If so, will it
refuse to work with the digibox even after the new batteries are put
in?


The Sky Remote remembers the commands to control the TV set, if the
batteries have been out for a while it will forget these, but is simple
to set back up.

See: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/satellite/remote/