LED lights are one of the best ways to add a dash of subtlety and personalization to your room. They usually come in large rolls and can be easily controlled by a remote.
The problem is, in some cases, you may find the LED light strip remote not working, which can be quite frustrating!
To help you with the process of diagnosing and fixing the problem, I’ll walk you through some of the tried-and-true ways to tackle the problem to regain control of your LED light strip. Let’s dive right in!
Top 5 Reasons Why LED Light Remotes May Stop Working
The first thing you need to do is to make sure that your LED strip itself isn’t faulty.
Simply unplug and replug the whole system and make sure that it lights up with all colors or try it out with a replacement remote.
If they’re working alright, here are some of the reasons why your remote isn’t working and possible solutions to the problem:
1. The Battery Is Dead
LED strip remotes can be left in storage for a long time before you buy it, so the battery may start draining if it’s not totally sealed with the tiny plastic sheet (designed to keep electrons from flowing out of the battery during idle time).
If your remote has an indicator light on it, you’ll notice that it’s not lighting up when you press the buttons.
How to Fix It
The solution here is to simply replace the old battery with a fresh one.
The vast majority of these batteries use CR2025 batteries, which are affordable and widely available.
2. The Remote Has Unpaired Itself
Just like with remotes for ceiling fan lights and other devices, making sure everyone is friends is important.
Most LED strip remotes have a relatively unstable pairing system, where it unpairs itself from the LED strip receiver whenever the battery level is low or the connection is loose.
In this case, the remote lights would be working fine but the LED strip isn’t responding at all.
How to Fix It
- Disconnect the power from the LED strip
- Remove the remote battery
- Unplug the dimming wire (LED controller) from both ends
- Replug the LED controller and reinstall the batteries
- Press and hold down both “SPEED-” “SPEED +” for a few seconds until the indicator blinks once (this step might change depending on the pairing instructions in your manual)
3. The LED Controller Needs Reprogramming
If you’re using a 44 or 24 key LED strip remote, the LED might be responding to the remote control but some or all the colors are incorrect.
In that case, the remote should be okay and paired with your LED light strip. However, the LED controller itself needs reprogramming.
How to Fix It
- Start by unplugging and replugging the LED controller back (this is not essential for the reprogramming process but you might want to do that, just in case the loose connection is causing the problem)
- Press the “RED” color on the remote. (the LED lights should light up in a different color than red, but it should be fixed by the end of this guide)
- Press the “OFF” button
- Whether you’re using a 24 or a 44 key LED strip remote, you should press the button in the bottom right corner, which is usually the “FADE7” button.
- Turn the lights back on using the “ON” button, then press the “RED” color again.
- Repeat the process until the red lights are lit when you press “RED” on the remote”
4. The Signal from the Remote is Suffering from Interference
Most remote controls use radio frequency (RF) waves to operate. Unlike infrared (IR) remotes, these waves are usually prone to signal interference from other devices that emit the same types of waves.
How to Fix It
Readjust the LED controller receiver or replacing the battery with a fresh one should solve the problem
5. The Remote Chip is Broken
If all else fails, the remote is simply faulty or the chip has irreversibly malfunctioned.
How to Fix It
You need to buy a new remote and pair it like in “section 2”.
Luckily, these remotes are extremely affordable and available, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find a compatible one.
Our favorite replacement remote is this one from Amazon:
Replaceable Remote
It works with just about any LED strip light system. All you have to do is plug and pair, and you’ll be as good as new!
FAQs
How long do LED strip remote batteries last?
This depends on the type of batteries used in your remote.
Ideally, CR2025 batteries (coin cell batteries) are expected to last anywhere between 4 to 6 months from a full charge.
AAA batteries usually last for only 2 to 3 months.
How do you open the LED strip remote?
In most cases, you need to squeeze the black tab on the bottom corner of the back of the remote and push it outwards to slide out.
Wrap Up
There you have it! A brief guide that walks you through all the possible reasons why you may find your LED light strip remote not working.
While such a problem can be frustrating, you should get the job done just by going through each of the possible reasons mentioned above.
Regardless, LED strip remotes are easy to replace, so you don’t have to worry much about it anyway!
Shermin
Tuesday 16th of May 2023
Thank you for this!! The fade7 method works!!
John
Friday 22nd of April 2022
Wow thank you!!!!!