More from a hobby perspective I would like to troubleshoot a HONGDAK RC-6 which is a really cheap Chinese knock-off of a Canon RC-6 infrared remote trigger. Out of the box it would trigger the shutter of my Canon T4i and thereafter was not used for about a year. Now it will not trigger the shutter at all.


I have tested the 3 volt battery (CR2025) with my multimeter and get a good reading of 3.17 volts. I have confirmed the LED on the remote is still emitting a signal by viewing light emissions when pointed at my cell phone camera and pressing the button. I have also tested it on both a Canon T4i and a T5i, but neither camera will trigger or respond in any way. I have ensured both cameras were in the proper mode to receive IR trigger input and tested the remote trigger from varying distances and in manual focus and auto on both cameras.


These remotes are very simple with a 2-mode switch (immediate or 2-second delay) and I’ve learned these two modes are accomplished by a time delay difference in the IR pulse.


With that, can anyone assist me in where to begin more advanced troubleshooting? Because it is a cheapo, can these things drift electronically and cause the pulse to become unreadable by the camera?


There are no screws, so once I tear it open it’s going to become ugly (sorry, no pics yet). As stated, this has become more of a project learning experience, so anyone with know-how that wishes to provide feedback would be appreciated.

 

If they are really cheap, buy another one which will tell you if it's the transmitter or receiver that isn't working.

 

Thanks for the input, but I was hoping to elicit a response from someone with experience on this type of electronics. Though inexpensive, there is no need to purchase another unit given, as stated above, that I've already established it to be a transmission problem within the remote after it failed tests against two fully functional Canons (T4i & T5i). In addition, I had already moved on to a higher-end radio controlled set of triggers, which is why I was looking at this from more of a fun learning project perspective. Again, thank you for your response.