Hi guys, I have heard from a few of you, that you have had some random problems with your remotes and specifically the volume control either latching up or down - i.e. running all the way up or all the way down, but not being able to control properly.
Well, I discovered something while doing final Q/C on a LS 36.5 that explains this and I can tell you that it is not the remote or the PIC. Please post here or contact me directly and I will share the fix and/or implement the fix in your preamp as necessary.
In short, depending on the grounding scheme, if the chassis ground and signal ground are not tied together, then there can be some RF or other noise building up on the chassis that can confuse the IR receiver. The fix is to simply connect a .1uf ceramic cap between signal ground and chassis ground, if they are not tied together. If your chassis ground and signal ground are tied together already, then it is likely that you have never encountered this issue.
I am posting this here as there have been a few instances and at least a couple of you that have commented are also pretty savvy about how IR remotes work. I thought this would be helpful information.
The LS 36.5 has a switch that allows you to 'float' or connect the signal/power grounds from the chassis ground. We now have made sure that there is alwasy a .1uf ceramic cap between signal and chassis ground, even if disconnected. This keeps any noise from earth ground out of the signal path, but allows any static charge to bleed to the chassis.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Dan W.