I've had the same problem with 2 remotes I have. Both would work off and on for a period, and now neither of them work at all. From your camera trick, It sounds like my remotes could have been getting stuck and ran the battery out. I have yet to get a new battery. I'll do the camera trick on mine and see whats up. So what is the concesus on this. Are the remotes bad and need replacing or just the battery or some lead bending?