ADOR1 Automatic Coop Door?

[TheGeekySheep]

Yes to be fair to the door, I posted that from day one I had some stuttering when it shut but it has yet to affect the opening and closing of the door at the right times for well over a month now. (Which is why I have yet to go out there and tinker with it to address the stuttering.)

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Just to add to some of the recent posts, I had some issues a few weeks ago with my door whereby the door was stuttering upon opening and closing as well as there seemed to be some "play" in the motor whereby when the door would fully open it would fall back down an inch or so. I quickly emailed Rod about this and also spoke with him over the phone. When I explained my issues he did not hesitate to send me another new motor and when he asked that I send him the old one first I explained to him that I work away from home sometimes and rely on the door and therefore I wanted to keep the existing motor until the replacement came in. He had no issues with sending me the new motor and trusted my word, having never even met me before, that I would send him the faulty motor once the new one was installed. I'm happy to report that I installed the new motor and the door has been working great. I am now going to be boxing up the faulty motor to send back to Rod. He's been excellent about all of my issues and dealing with them head-on, something you would NEVER get from most other companies out there who are looking to make a buck and after they have your money they don't give two hoots about customer service or satisfaction. Folks, don't be quick to judge Rod just because he hasn't been around this forum lately... Give him a call, flip him an email and I'm sure you'll be satisfied with his help once you do so

 

[aart]

He stopped stopping by this thread long before the complaints started....he was busy, busy making more doors.

 

[sab]

We found rain, particularly hard rain, effects our issues. We've replaced batteries due to chickens "doing the limbo" to get out - we've put roofing over the opening section of the coop to protect against rain.... And now we've installed a light 5 inches from it on a timer. Every thing I read above has happened. I'd likely be less dissatisfied if Rod offered to send a new circuit board instead of having to return the board. So we're just trying to see if there's a solution we can come up with. My husband is an engineer and thinks he has a good design but thinks the sensor is set to far back in the unit. We'll be playing with it more over the next week or so.

 

[RedneckGurl]

Moonshadows,

Thank you for the links to the documents. I did download them and was able to successfully reset our door for two days. <sigh> We had our first really cold night on that second night and the door did not open on its own the third day and seemed to really struggle just to get the door up with me manually opening it. In fact, the chickens forcing their way out the door was moving it more than the motor was. We figured we just had a bad battery so went and purchased a new one two nights ago and installed it. The door did its thing and seemed to reset just fine, and was very quick to open and close itself with no stuttering. I thought we were in the clear. Nope. Yesterday morning I had to manually open the door AGAIN, and it struggled and stuttered all the way up. We did have another really cold night (in the 30's) but this is a BRAND NEW battery. Cold should not affect it to that extent or this door will never work for anyone where the temps get below 40 degrees. I have one more thing I'm going to try. I noticed that one of the documents you sent contain instructions on cleaning the door and putting silicone lubricant on the door slides. My husband seems to think this might help so we're going to be trying this as soon as I can get the silicone. If that doesn't work, I'm at my wits end. It's now slightly more than a week before we go out of town and I'm VERY nervous!

 

[bumpercarr]

I've had my door in since July and haven't had a single problem with it. I've also ordered a second door for another coop, but it has only been in a few weeks (but they are problem free weeks

). If you are having problems, I'd contact Rod. I haven't done anything to either of my doors other than to install them and put the batteries in.

 

[MoonShadows]

One thought I have been having is that metal contracts more as the temperature goes down. I am wondering if your door (and others) have some piece of the door, cover, etc. that may be contracting just enough to cause the stuttering and partial opening. I don't know, but it would be a good question to ask Rod.

 

[aart]

Is the doors weight only supported by the sprocket in the holes on the one edge of the door?
If so, the door would be slightly skewed within the tracks, opposing corners of the door the contact points with the track sides. When the door goes up this scenario could cause a jam.
Design might work better if the sprocket holes were in the center of the door.

Ah, I am speculating.....Wish I had one so I could look at it.

 

[seminolewind]

aart, I've thought the same thing. So I think it's important to keep those rails oiled or wd-40.

 

[RedneckGurl]

aart, I've thought the same thing. So I think it's important to keep those rails oiled or wd-40.

The reason they recommend Silicone is because it's considered a dry oil. In the dusty environment that a coop and run is by nature, all that dust and grit would stick to regular oil or WD-40 and really cause problems. Silicone isn't an attractant and does not get sticky.