Harmony 880 Charger Problem - fixed yet?

The cradle that came with my new remote, old one died. has smaller contacts, another user also noticed this I think they have fixed the problem by resizing the contacts so the remote sits with more ease.

This issue is NOT resolved! I've been continually frustrated by Logitech support and the cradle issue. I got my remote over the summer and it worked fine for maybe 3 or 4 months. Then in September it quit charging despite my cleaning it and wiggling it, etc. They sent me a replacement base (which was on backorder for a month) a few weeks ago and that one was a dud also. Now they are supposed to send me my third base (including my original) but have no idea when I'll get it.

I also had a similiar problem so Logitech replaced the remote and cradle and it has worked flawlessly. What you guys need to do is this clean the cradle once a month with a CD or LCD cleaner wipe it down this will gets rid of all the oils and stuff that get on the contacts it has worked great for me.

Rob

Maybe the replacement you got previously wasn't a redesign. I have them side by side and there is an obvious redesign of the contacts one on the right is the new one.

These pictures REALLY help. My first charger looks like the one on the left. My replacement base looks like your picture on the right. When I called Logitech, they told me that some of the newer chargers occasionally have a depressed middle prong so I'm supposed to get another one, hopefully it won't take a month this time.

Is it possible to buy a new charging cradle?

I think that I must have spilled some liquid or other on mine. Even after cleaning the contacts, the top of the right one is still black.

Since I believe that this is my fault, I want to buy a new one.

No reply yet to the e-mail request I sent to logitech Monday of last week.

Anybody have any suggestions?

Spare chargers can be found easily. I'd suggest looking at eBay but someone here might make you an offer to sell theirs. I'm starting to think that my remote is the problem, if it is then I could send you a spare but I'm not sure just yet.

Since I had still received no reply to my e-mail, I called the Logitech support number.

It took a while, but I finally ordered a new charging cradle today.

Of course the first person I reached at support gave me the wrong number to call. In all I had to call at least five different numbers before I finally reached someone who would take the order.

We will see whether it shows up within the promised time. When I placed the order, they said I should receive it within 5 business days.

My replacement charger came at least a month after I called them... and IT was broken too. That's why I've abandoned the 880 and am awaiting my 720. Best of luck to you though.

you shouldn't have to. It's bad design. I have several other charging cradles for phones and a laser mouse and they work flawlessly whether I dust them or not. The 880 cradle will work for me 80% of the time without cleaning as well.

The difference is that Logitech designed a cradle that lies flat and doesn't have a tight form factor to hold the remote in place. It should have been an angular cradle as most others do to make sure the contacts drop into position every time by the weight of the remote alone.

I agree 100%. It's a design flaw that continues. I couldn't find a single report of a 720 remote owner that reported charger issues on AVS, Cnet, or anywhere else.

Logitech try to justify the bad design choice by saying the horizontal cradle means "you can operate the remote while it's charging!"

a) How many people try and use it for any length of time while it's charging?

b) How many people have tried and found that pushing any button knocks the remote off the contacts and stops the charging process?

Thank you, I was seconds away from calling for a RMA for my 5 month old 880 that was stone cold dead and would not recharge. Did your LCD cleaner trick of the cradle and remote contacts and I was back in business.
Funny the contacts did not look oily

Boy you don't know how lucky you are. Logitechs customer service for the Harmony remotes is flat out awful!

I purchased an 880 two weeks ago, brought it home set it all up and placed the unit on the charger. The next day after coming home I went to set it up and noticed that only the first segment of the battery indicator was lit. I put it back in the charger, the backlight comes on the battery indicator animates like it is charging yet after several more hours it still showed only the first segment lit. I checked online and learned about the contact issues. I cleaned the contacts on both the remote and the base. After several hours still the same results.

I placed a call to customer support and chose the warranty option, after being on hold for 15-20 minutes I'm informed by the person that answers the phone that I can not call them directly. I must go through technical support and he hangs up. I call back wait another 15-20 minutes for customer support. Go through about 45 minutes of troubleshooting with the guy who then informs me I must wait for a return call from teir 2 support. They will call within 24 hours here is your ticket number if they don't call call us back. Of course they never call back.

I call back 2 days later, wait 15 minutes for tech support give them my ticket number they transfer me. I wait 30 minutes on hold for teir 2, the gal walks me through everything the first guy did. Finally she agrees the battery is the problem takes all the info from the battery and... get this...

Informs me that in 10 to 14 BUSINESS days someone from warranty replacement will contact me. If I havent received a call after 14 business days to call them back, but she cannot ship me a replacement battery only warranty replacement can and only after they have verified that it is really the battery that is the problem. Needless to say I thanked her for completely wasting my time and told her not to bother having warranty repair call. I boxed it all back up returned it and will not even consider buying another Harmony remote. All of that for a battery?! I'd hate to see the hoops I'd have to jump through if the remote itself were defective.

I can't say enough about Harmony's support on this remote.

I had the charging problem since I got this remote when it first came out.

I finally saw that it was a common problem so I e-mailed Harmony.

They sent me a small survey and asked for me to explain the problem, so I did.

I got an e-mail back that stating that they were sending me a whole new remote.

I received the remote yesterday. So from start of e-mail chain to getting my new remote was about 5 days.

Very happy so far. The remote charges as it is supposed to now.

John

The new cradles have a magnet for the middle contact. If yours doesn't have the magnet (obviously different from the outer contacts) and you have a charging problem then by all means contact Logitech and they will send you a new one.

Yes, I did this a couple of months ago. It took me a while to explain to the tier 1 tech what my problem was as he said that he had never heard of it before (I found that hard to believe unless he was new), but eventually I got him to send me the new charger base for free. Even though my remote was about 1 year out of warranty.

I plan on calling in 2 more times for my parents and my sister who both still have the old charging bases, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Logitech will send you a new cradle.. All you have to do is ask! At least, that's all I had to do. I informed them that my old cradle was not charging properly and was constantly beeping. They e-mailed me a form to fill in and I did so. After that they said "Ok" and sent me a brand new 880 and cradle! The Harmony 880 has three 'metal things' that line up with three 'metal things' that are supposed to meet in order to charge. The new cradle also has three 'metal things' but the middle one is a magnet that holds the 880 in place. It works great. "Metal Things", don't you love that technical talk?" Oh btw I didn't have to send the old 880 or cradle back to Logitech. So the old one still works but you can't upgrade it any more. Customer service doesn't get any better than that, imo.

I just got one, bought it from my friend who never used it, and I found this to be a really good solution.
http://dan.langille.org/2005/11/27/h...tery-problems/

Though, I was thinking, can't you charge it via usb?

It doesn't charge via USB. Also, that link is from 2005 so the new magnetic cradle didn't exist. Just call Logitech and get a new cradle for free if yours has problems.

For me, I dont think it has anything to do with the cradle. I put a piece of paper under and behind the battery itself, which made it more compact in the battery compartment. I then put it on the charger and it worked great. Now I just need to go home and configure it.

the design of the cradle and weight on the remote plus the bad contacts makes it a bad design on the 880, 890 and 720. I went to ebay and got an external charger and replacement battery for $30 well worth it. search for logitech battery

So far I haven't had any issues with the newer cradle that has the magnet for the center contact.

Just to let people know Logitech is still sending free replacement cradles. The support team did not indicate this but when I called the sales number they agreed to ship one to me for free.

The support number is offering 50% off and 35% off coupons for out of warranty products like this that have known issues. I may buy a new Harmony One for $100 using the code I was given.

Sorry for bumping an old thread but I think this will be helpful for 880 and 890 customers like myself that are frustrated with this issue.

I can confirm that Logitech can offer 50% off on purchase of a remote on their website if your 880 is broken and out of warranty like me (mine is out of warranty since 2009).

Also I did some work on my remote since Logitech wouldn't repair it. I disassembled it to test connectivity and all...

What I've figured is that is that I was affected by multiple problems.
1-The battery (only after 3-4 years) started to show contact issues with the remote internal contacts. The remote internal contacts in the battery compartment appeared to have tired a little and therefore loose their spring.

2-The remote cradle would simply not charge (no matter what) even though the Logitech logo was all lit up blue.

My fix:
1-I've cut into a rubber band (the kind that you find on lobsters and broccolis) to match the bottom of the battery. Now the battery doesn't fall anymore even if there's no cover to hold it. Which in return creates a better contact with the remote internal contacts. I suspect that it's only a temporary solution as the remote contact will most likely eventually tire up. At that point I guess I'll have to use some pliers to bend the contacts out a little bit to make better contact with the battery.



2-All contacts are made of copper. Cleaning with alcohol only works for so long before it simply doesn't work anymore. My solution? Use VINEGAR instead and Q-TIPS to clean and scrub clean ALL possible contacts on the cradle, remote and battery. Vinegar will dissolve the oxidized layer that may start to appear which will create enough resistance to prevent electricity from passing and charging your remote.

I have used q-tips and vinegar many times to clean my 880, it works okay. I also took the cradle apart and bent the contacts before.

I received a replacement cradle from Logitech and it seems to work better.

I had similar issues with not being able to charge.
I discovered that if you take two small pieces of tin foil and put them over the left and right contacts on the charger(make sure they don't touch each other) and then place the remote in the charger, then the charger works fine.

I discovered this was after a variety of things like that partially worked like angling the charger a certain way or sliding a small piece of paper under the remote in the cradle to try to make better contact between charger and remote. I have even cleaned the contacts and that hasn't really worked for any amount of time, but the tin foil worked perfect from the first try.

I have constant problems but I have tried corrosion stop and it worked at least for now.
I have broken the battery door so for now need to glue it in place. I see a battery charger on ebay that one puts the battery in after removing from the remote. Maybe, I will try this method and buy a new battery cover. I love this remote otherwise as it has programable buttons and when working does everything I want.

I had problems with my 880 charger a year or so ago. Cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser has worked so far until now. Now my charger seems to be completely dead and the blue light on it won't even light up. I am going to try to start the email process to get a replacement. Wish me luck.