The remote control issue has magically resolved itself after a couple of months. The BM6500 IR transmitter still turns on the LC2 now and then.

Do you by any chance has a plasma screen in the same room? There was a period when plasma screens blocked/interfered with ir signals.

Opman

Thank you for the advice. There is no plasma screen in the room.

Some updates to the above and a new question: since the original post my BM6500 has had all electrolytic capacitors and the backup battery replaced. The latter cleared the RAM and thereby also the light timer which solved the issue with unintentional turning on the LC2. The IR reception issue, however, has not been resolved. Furthermore, the BM6500 periodically cannot turn on from standby or locks during operation with one or more of the front panel LEDs lit up (this issue was present before the recapping). Typically, it is very bad over a few days requiring multiple restarts. Subsequently, it can work fine for say a couple of weeks. I am thinking if these symtoms could be due to failure of the CPU processor. If this is the case, is it possible to find the spare part?