IR receiver on unit not working?

It looks to be a "normal" problem with this model. I have two of them with the same problem. Solved ressondering IR receptor.

Remove battery on the remote and open the remote. clean the inside board of the remote , the battery terminals, the customer touch pads and contacts.
solder if you notice any poor joints, poor contacts. replace battery is voltage is low.
reset and check

Hello Daniel Busa with Dish Network customer service here. Vizio tv's almost always program to 505 so try this code first. To program this hold the clear tv button down for about 4 seconds the other mode buttons will light up. Once they are all lit hit 505 and pound. If that doesn't take care of it use this link:http://www.dishnetwork.com/SupportSection/remote-setup

I had the same issue on my VR-505 and here is how I fixed it. I found the fix on a different site and kudos to Plazman30 for posting it!

[Link: mysite.verizon.net]

J

Looks like you have several faults?
First try to fix the remote:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-your-remote-controls/

I have had this problem, and found this on FixYa during a google query. The only other solution caused me to stop and check it out, but there is not enough information to really repair the receiver.

I found another page through another forum that showed me how to fix my receiver, and I now have a functioning remote control after many years without.

The original page with all the info is : http://mysite.verizon.net/amp68/ . I reproduce it here as we all know web pages can easily disappear. I make no claim other than the fix worked for me, too.

I quote his page below:

How to fix the remote control problem with the Kenwood VR-507 Receiver The Kenwood VR-507 receiver has a very high remote control failure rate. The issue is not with the remote control itself, but with the IR receiver on circuit board inside the receiver.
Well, my friends, there is HOPE! A simple resolder of the three pins for the IR receiver will quite happily fix the problem quite premanently.
All you need to do, is remove all the screws that holds the cover on, and remove it.
The you can remove the front of the receiver from the frame and lay it down somewhere to work on. There are some wires you will need to disconnect. Make sure you mark them, so that you reconnect the to proper spot later.
Then, looking at the handy picture below, you should see exactly which pins need to be resoldered! I have sent this picture to 4 different people and resoldering has fixed the problem for ALL of them.
Here is the picture of part of the circuit board:
Once you're done resoldering, put it together, hook it up, grab a beer and the remote and resume proper couch potato stance!

no, you need the Original Remote

Sounds to me like the issue is the rx in the unit. It can be fixed with very little work if you can locate the part. Let me take a look and see if I can locate the part number for you. Although I have to say that Kenwwod can keep a tight lip on their parts lists.

The Kenwood VR-510 does indeed respond to IR remotes. I now use a Logitech Harmony H659 which is IR only.
Your issue is a problem with the VR-510, actualy the whole series had a problem with cold solder joints on an assembly behind the front panel. Fix that and fix the problem. It frustrated me for 5 yrs.
Go here for the fix:
This site has the fix well documented: http://resnet.uoregon.edu/~gurney_j/kenwoodrepair/.
All is working great now!

Try these simple trick to find out yor remote control working or not....
Point the remote control towards the Camera of a Mobile Camera phone,with the camera on. While pressing remote, we can see a light (Infra Red) coming from its IR LED through the Mobile Camera if the Remote is working.