Got a dab stereo in my living room , the volume is variable. I can be sitting listening to it and it just starts to get quieter – turning it up has no effect. – sometimes it goes loud again sometimes it doesnt.

It never used to do this , i assume somethings broken.

We are planning to get a new one for xmas for the house but im just curious as to what would be causing this ?

Any ideas – electronics are my achillies heel – complete voodoo. If i cant hit it with a spanner im not interested 🙂

Perhaps a faulty control. Does the volume knob turn around and around or less than one rotation?

Either way I guess a can of contact cleaner will help

Turns only from appro 8 toll 1 on the clock face. – the dial turns in sink with the remote but the volume doesnt actually change when its decided to go quiet.

Seems ot have solid stops.

Seems to progressively be gettign worse.

You’ve not got a dynamic volume thing switched on have you?

I used to have a universal remote when i was a kid and would walk around my paper round changing chanels volume and turning off tv’s.

Any paper boy thats near my house took a wrong turning and cycled a long way with a paper bag.

I dont think so rusty but ill investigate.

So it’s a remote controlled stereo with a motor-driven volume knob on the unit?

If so, presumably either the remote is telling it to turn down erroneously or the machine is turning itself down.

When you use the remote to turn it down does the display show “VOL -” or something? And when it turns itself down does it display that or not? What about when you use the knob on the device itself?

EDIT:
Also, if it’s got “hard stops” do you mean the volume switch is a 3 way rocker/rotary rocker. Meaning it rests on a zero position and when you push it it moves over to a +/- position and that changes the volume? When you let go it springs back?

I’m guessing he’s describing a ‘notched’ dial, like the wheel on some mice?

No i mean it starts at 8am and finishes at 1 it wont go past either of those stops.
When it goes quiet i can walk up to the stereo and turn the dial – it has no effect . But does display vol up /vol dowm on the display. I can do the same with the remote.

First i thought it was a dab signal thing but it does it on fm , with cds and ipod input as well so its something internal.

Funny volume control!

OK – sounds like it could be the control malfunctioning or the knob. To eliminate the first, just take the batteries out of the remote for a bit and see what happens.

If it’s not that:

Sounds to me like it’s microswitch based. Try contact cleaner. If you have to isopropanol alcohol you could just squirt that in it, but it’s not quite as good. Either way, treat is as a stiff link in a chain – cleaner/lube and wiggle/activate the control man many times, re-squirt and repeat. If it’s dirty that should clean the contacts up a bit.

So it’s a normal knob (like you’d find on, say, a guitar), only motor driven?

Yep motordriven knob.

How ever the knob doesnt move nor does it register on the screen the volume is goig down it just slowely gets quieter and then returns to what ever it was set at.