I have got an electric sliding door on my workshop that doesn't like the cold. It started playing up last year but sorted itself out when the weather warmed up. Well its cold today and it doesn't like it. The motor seems to struggle to start and then operates normally. If last year is anything to go by it will stop working altogether when it gets colder. Just hums. Could it be the starting capacitors or have you any other suggestions?
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MoreWellie
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There must be something changing the load as I don't think the capacitors would change much with the temperature variations you are talking about although a humming motor is one of the symptoms of capacitor failure. If it is that a helping hand would usually get it started and then it would probably do the rest of the way by itself
our garage door is pulled up by a long greased screw thread and when it gets cold the grease thickens and it has a tendency to trip the safety overload. A quick spray with wd40 gets it working for a while until it evaporates and the grease thickens.
if the door slides freely as you say then another possibility is that the safety cutout has been set just slightly too sensitive
our garage door is pulled up by a long greased screw thread and when it gets cold the grease thickens and it has a tendency to trip the safety overload. A quick spray with wd40 gets it working for a while until it evaporates and the grease thickens.
if the door slides freely as you say then another possibility is that the safety cutout has been set just slightly too sensitive
MoreWellie
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) if they get cold.
WorkshopChris
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Cold grease and lubricants working like treacle now it colder.
Also is it battery backed up? the lead acid backups sometimes supply additional current for the opener that the psu inside can't supply because they're made down to a price and cold weather is hard on them.
My gate openers didn't work on very cold mornings occasionally and it was down to this reason.
My gate openers didn't work on very cold mornings occasionally and it was down to this reason.
Hmm Interesting, my little 60ltr 2.5hp compressor always struggled to start the first time each day especially when it was cold, I just put it down to the oil being cold and thicker. I never did try swopping the capacitor but it was always like that even from brand new, I might try a new cap on it sometime, but I found if I gave it a blast with the space heater for a couple of minutes before trying to start it in winter it was fine.
I hardly use it these days as I have a much bigger one with a centrifugal switch that works the start cap that is a 8" square lump, proper old school kit complete with an unloader valve which massively helps it to start up.
