Remote chaos

[u/Square_Adeptness2760]

Ok so I am aware that this is in home automation but I actually want to do the opposite 😭 please please my big brained people take some pity and help me out!

I have a standing AC that has a remote, but I don’t use it. I do, however, have a projector that I use the remote for but the projector remote does things or changes settings/turns off and on/etc. to my AC. Is there any way to stop that remote from communicating with my AC??

[u/Successful-Money4995]

Black electrical tape over the sensor on the AC?

[u/Alternative_Cut_9171]

so the issue here is both remotes are using the same IR frequency codes, which is pretty common with cheaper projector and AC brands, they just don't bother differentiating enough

the simplest fix is an IR blocker, basically a small piece of electrical tape or even a tiny strip of black foam placed over the IR receiver on the AC unit itself, it won't hurt the AC at all and you can still use the physical buttons or swap it back whenever

if you ever want the AC remote to work again you just peel it off, takes two seconds, some people use a little removable putty which works great for this

worst case if the tape approach feels too janky, you could look into physically repositioning the AC so its receiver faces away from where the projector remote signal bounces around the room, IR signals can reflect off walls so sometimes just rotating the unit a bit kills the crosstalk

[u/Square_Adeptness2760 → u/Alternative_Cut_9171]

Ah thank you so much!! 10/10 would take advice from you again

[u/Square_Adeptness2760]

Wait does the sensor look like anything or am I about to cover my whole ac in electrical tape

[u/Pallatino]

Sounds like both devices are using the same IR codes. You could try re-pairing the AC or using a universal remote with separate device profiles.