ADOR1 Automatic Coop Door?

[RedneckGurl]

Does anyone one here have a digital copy of the instructions for how to re-set the door? I have had problems over the past week with the door not opening in the morning on it's own. I manually opened it earlier in the week and then had to manually close it that night. I thought I remembered that once you manually closed the door, it would reset itself to open the following morning with enough daylight but that did not happen and the chickens were stuck in there until I went out and opened the door manually again. I had to go out and manually close it last night after we got home from dinner around 8pm (sun is setting now by 6:45pm) so something is definitely wrong as it was pitch dark out.

Also, the door stutters a bit as it opens, almost like it's struggling to keep going up. I didn't have a single issue when we first installed the door several months ago but we are about to go on vacation in two weeks and NOW it decides to act up. I'm SO worried that it won't work while we're gone and I know the pet sitter we have coming cannot always get to our house at the same time. I have nightmares of my birds being stuck in the coop for hours before she gets there to let them out.

I was wondering if it was the battery but it's only been installed for four months so the battery should not be dead already. Has anyone else had an experience like this that has been fixed? If so, please tell me what you did. I only have two weeks to work this out or remove the door completely before we go on vacation.

 

[MoonShadows]

Rod sent me a bunch of docs a while back. I posted some here. To make it easier, I have uploaded them to my server. I'm sure Rod won't mind if I make them available. It will save him time.

Here they are...Left click on doc to open...right click on doc and choose "save as" to save to your computer.

www.farm-fresh-eggs.com/ador1/ador_instructions_2a.pdf

www.farm-fresh-eggs.com/ador1/last_call_timing.doc

www.farm-fresh-eggs.com/ador1/testing_photosensor_in_the_dark.doc

www.farm-fresh-eggs.com/ador1/trouble_shooting_01.pdf

www.farm-fresh-eggs.com/ador1/trouble_shooting_02.doc


Hope these help.

 

[sab]

Has anyone figured out a way to put the door on a timer ?? We too have had issues since we installed it this summer. Rod wants us to send him the board and then he'll send a replacement or a repaired board. Either way I'm without a door for an undetermined amount of time.

Issues:
1 the door opens and closes unpredictably. Ex - Closing - Fri the door didn't close. I had to close it at 8PM and it was pitch dark out. Yesterday i came home at 6:30 and the door had closed with the chickens outside. It was still light, i didn't need a flashlight and the chickens hadn't gone in to roost.
2 Opening - this week the door has opened inconsistently almost everyday. It opens so late in the AM the girls are lined up to get out. So we thought we would solve this issue by installing a light (literally the girls have an outdoor jar light from Lowes by their ramp) and putting it on a timer. Rod always said house lights would effect the door. Not! Light comes on bright RIGHT BESIDE the door at 6:30. But the door doesn't open until its good and ready which has been anytime from 7 to 8AM with 17 chickens &2 ducks picking at each other in close quarters.

We really hoped by installing a light with a regular old fashion 40w bulb not more than 5 inches from the door and on a timer, that we would solve the open and closing issues. But this has had NO effect on the door. With all the "are you sure there are no lights" talk, one would think a light on a timer would control opening and closing.

We are just over the top discouraged because we have over $400 in doors for this coup in the 3 yrs we've had it. First we had the pullit door for 2 yrs. it stopped working early on and the pullit folks were just great to send a new motor right out. Apparently thats a 1 time deal. Cause after 2 yrs it quit again and then the kind folks wanted $100 to send a replacement. Our thinking was "golly gee, will we be pumping $100 into this door every 1-2 yrs?" . So we looked for a door that we thought/hoped would be more reliable with only the initial $ outlay. This 1 was advertised as industrial. So you see.... We are spoiled by these doors.... And its been a constant source of stress all summer. Sorry - i know I'm venting.

At this point in my auto-door experience, I would recommend building 1 yourself then you will know how to fix it.

 

[seminolewind]

Has anyone figured out a way to put the door on a timer ?? We too have had issues since we installed it this summer. Rod wants us to send him the board and then he'll send a replacement or a repaired board. Either way I'm without a door for an undetermined amount of time.

Issues:
1 the door opens and closes unpredictably. Ex - Closing - Fri the door didn't close. I had to close it at 8PM and it was pitch dark out. Yesterday i came home at 6:30 and the door had closed with the chickens outside. It was still light, i didn't need a flashlight and the chickens hadn't gone in to roost.
2 Opening - this week the door has opened inconsistently almost everyday. It opens so late in the AM the girls are lined up to get out. So we thought we would solve this issue by installing a light (literally the girls have an outdoor jar light from Lowes by their ramp) and putting it on a timer. Rod always said house lights would effect the door. Not! Light comes on bright RIGHT BESIDE the door at 6:30. But the door doesn't open until its good and ready which has been anytime from 7 to 8AM with 17 chickens &2 ducks picking at each other in close quarters.

We really hoped by installing a light with a regular old fashion 40w bulb not more than 5 inches from the door and on a timer, that we would solve the open and closing issues. But this has had NO effect on the door. With all the "are you sure there are no lights" talk, one would think a light on a timer would control opening and closing.

We are just over the top discouraged because we have over $400 in doors for this coup in the 3 yrs we've had it. First we had the pullit door for 2 yrs. it stopped working early on and the pullit folks were just great to send a new motor right out. Apparently thats a 1 time deal. Cause after 2 yrs it quit again and then the kind folks wanted $100 to send a replacement. Our thinking was "golly gee, will we be pumping $100 into this door every 1-2 yrs?" . So we looked for a door that we thought/hoped would be more reliable with only the initial $ outlay. This 1 was advertised as industrial. So you see.... We are spoiled by these doors.... And its been a constant source of stress all summer. Sorry - i know I'm venting.

At this point in my auto-door experience, I would recommend building 1 yourself then you will know how to fix it.

Same with my door. It may have worked without problem for a whole month. I got to mail Rod this thing and get it fixed. I thought it would be industrial as well-and not cheap!

 

[aart]

MoonShadows.....did you get yours working again?

 

[jones08]

This is depressing...we just got our door and I was looking forward to not worrying about it. You folks should all be contacting the maker, if you haven't already. Too many complaints are suddenly coming about in this one thread. If there were thousands and thousands of these doors out there, then a few faulty ones wouldn't seem a problem. But I get the feeling that there are a lot less out there and they are all starting to break. Rod was in this thread awhile back, but now he is absent. I feel stupid calling him while my door is operating, but I may do so, just to see what he has to say about the potential reliability of these doors.

 

[sn0wwhite]

I hope it's a case of happy people just being content with nothing to say. I will be installing mine later this week.

 

[McKinneyMike]

I too have wondered how Rod was here pushing his product in the beginning, but has been noticeably absent since a number of issues have began to pop up. I would hope that he would drop in a for even a few minutes to address the issues and to ease people's minds a little bit. I mean people are going to wonder what is going on all of a sudden. Start ups often experience hiccups, but they have to be able to address them and move forward.
Maybe it is the fact that people are not contacting Rod and just want to blast him and his product without giving him a chance to do right. I don't know, but Rod could drop in and say something. I also understand that someone stated they would be without a door opener until they returned their defective unit and got a new/repaired unit returned from Rod. If I were Rod I would have some form of replacement program in place that a customer was not down during the extended wait. They would be sent a new unit but, be charged for a new unit, but would get a full credit as soon as the non working unit was returned. At least the option of that would be very nice and increase owner confidence greatly and future customers too. Customers choice. Just a thought.

 

[MoonShadows]

Mine has been working fine again for the past week or so. I planned to work on it last Saturday, but on that Friday and Saturday it opened and closed normally and has been doing so ever since.

Added after reading some of the above posts:

Folks, whether Rod comes here or not, he is readily available by email and phone, unlike many manufacturers that I buy products from...even well-known, established name brands...and still have problems with. Instead of wishing he was here in the forum, contact him. I would rather have him busy fixing problems and perfecting this door rather than hanging out in the forum.

I have also posted links to the documents he sends to folks when they report a problem and ask for advice. See this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/740659/ador1-automatic-coop-door/470#post_12174910
Feel free to down load them from my server and save them to your computer or print them out.

I'm not wild about the problem I had (may still have) with my door, but it is a rather new "invention"; we knew that when we bought it; there will be kinks; and it probably still the best automatic chicken door on the market at this time. And, think, it has to operate in all climates, under all conditions, in a dirty and dusty environment. My vacuum cleaner can't even do that!

 

[petrel]

Mine has been operating more or less flawlessly for over seven weeks. Each time there has been a closing time discrepancy it has been traceable to a light source. Each time I've had a question or concern, Rob has promptly responded to my e-mails or even taken cell phone calls while he was away from his office.

I have been very pleased with the appearance, function, and support of this product.