Help for Gliderol Garage Door (panel door)

[apple0604]

Hope someone might be able to help. We have this Gliderol Panel Garage door for nearly 3 years. One day it just stopped working. The remote control still works. But when pressing it, the door has no reaction and light on the overhead unit doesn't come on. We tried to reset the code by pressing the "Learn" button on the circuit board by following the mannual, but the LED light doesn't come on. The fuse is good and battery in the remote control is also good. However, the manufacturer doesn't think anything is wrong with the circuit board. They charge a callout fee for $100.

Just hope it is not some silly fault with the door before we ask for service call. Can anyone point out what could be wrong?

[BEKKY]

I know it might sound silly, but have you checked that the door is plugged in to the power point securely, and the fuse in the circuit is sound.
I hate these type of electrical problems.
Keith.

[dabbler]

Sure the remote is working ? Presumably there is a switch somewhere to operate the door independant of the remote. What's it doing ?

[apple0604]

Thanks, guys. Yes, it is plugged in and no problem with the power supply. Also we went to the local electrical shop to buy a new fuse. The guy was helpful and he offered to check if the old one is gone. He tested it and it was good.

As for the remote, I think nothing is wrong with them. We have three and tried them all, even changed the batteries and tried again. No reaction.

It seems the overhead unit doesn't receive the signals when I press the remote control. Talked to the Gliderol guy and he was admant that nothing wrong with the circuit board and the motor. He thought it might be something silly. He offered for service calls, min $100, of course he couldn't guarantee the cost will stop there.

Well, we didn't touch anything. The door worked perfect 2 hours ago and then stopped working.

We also called a few local guys specialise in garage doors. They didn't check much and had a quick look then went on to tell us it was best to install a Merlin unit or some other brand ($650 + GST) instead of organising service calls, which will very likely turn out to be a few hundreds in the end.

I also hate these electrical problems. Very frustrating.

[apple0604]

dabbler: yes, the manual mechanism works fine. We don't use the door very much, which is why I am quite upset. The door looks so nice and literally brand new although installed more than 2 years old.

Still hoping for more help and input.

[dabbler]

If it stills operates electrically and your remotes function (well you hardly expect all 3 to die), it sounds like a receiver unit. Not familar with gliderol but many things controlled remotely have a seperate board for the receiver function. A connection between receiver unit/board and the rest of the electronics may be loose. Intermittent operations point to this as a possibility too. I've certainly seen remote door motors wobble on their mounts, often at the end of the run. That must shake the innards too.

If you are inclined, you could consider unplugging power (make it safe), remove any panels and push a few connections. My 5yo Merlin has a thin trailing antennae. If yours has some similar you might spot a receiver board. Watch out for static and maybe discharge yourself on some metal prior to going near circuit boards.

If you're just not sure then maybe just look, don't touch and report back with pics. It might look familiar to someone.

A word about changing door motors. You might (will) need to change the entire mechanism. My merlin connects to my b&d panel door in a slightly different way to the original system (different connection points and angle on one arm - hard to explain). I had to fit extra washers and lock nuts to keep it secured. It was done when I was in hospital, and it was months before I discovered the issue.

Good luck.

[apple0604]

Hi dabbler,


Thanks again. When we tried to reset the remote controls, we removed the cover, it seemed that there were 2 boards. Like you said one of them must be the receiver board. We followed the instruction book to reset the code for remotes. We press the button (learn key) the LED light next to it suppose to light up. But it didn't. So it means that board doesn't work. So we might have to try to push all the connections like you suggested. Don't have much hope though.


Our previous Merlin units worked for more than 20 years and it was installed for the car port. We are reluctent to replace the current Gliderol with another brand because it means more holes on the wall and existing mechanism needs to be replaced completely. Hate the mess on the walls and ceilings. You know what I mean since you did something similar before. Shall we decide to change to another brand we won't do it ourself. We will doubt very much the installer will be reponsible to fix up the walls and ceilings.

[Handyjack]

Where I work we have four panel doors. None bigger than a domestic double garage door. The building is just on four years old. One door never gets opened. Another door gets opened and closed once or twice a day, so far no problems. The biggest door and mechanism has just been replaced. The original had two rollers fall apart, would open a little bit in the middle of the night and eventually stopped working altogether. We had reps from the company out, one had trouble replacing the roller even though he had the part but it was a long time before we had a fix to the opening in the middle of the night. Then the motor was unable to drive the carriage without the door connected. The whole lot has been replaced although it seems to still want to operate without warning. The last door rarely gets used. It would not go up all the way without assistance, and then started partly opening without anyone using the key switch or remote. Like the big door the motor is now unable to drive the carriage with the door disconnected.

With this experience I would not recommend a panel lift door.

[apple0604]

Guys, thought you might be interested in finding out if we have fixed our Gliderol Garage Door Unit. Yes, we had after 3 trips to their service and spare parts centre.

1) 1st trip: we broght the circuit board and they tested it and it didn't work as we expected. They couldn't find out why. Took a while to clean the back of the circuit board. We pointed out to them there was a big screw cap on the back of the board (we believed it shouldn't be there). They used a screw driver to try to remove it. It dropped. Not a screw, it was a big screw cap about 1cm. After removing it, there was a burn mark on the spot. Tested the board again and it worked.

When we got home and put it on, the unit still not working. It didn't seem there was power get to the circuit board.


2) 2nd trip: we broght both the transformer and the circuit board. They tested the board and still working. Tested the transformer 3 times, not woking. Conclusion: we need to pay for a new transformer, about $87. They thought the only reason the transformer was gone was because of the screw cap sticked to the back of the circuit board.

Got home, put them all on. Yes, the light on the circuit back went on and press the manual "start", the door worked. We set the limits again. Then try to reprograme 3 remotes. No reactions again. It seemed to us the receiver board didn't work.


3) 3rd trip: we broght the circuit board for testing. Yes, the receiver board was gone. Conclusion: we need to pay about $76 to get a new receiver board. They thought the only reason the receiver board was gone was also due to that big screw cap.

Got home, put the board on again and all sweet.


We were upset, the big screw cap wasn't supposed to be there in the first place and apparently it blew the transformer and short circuit the receiver board. How it got there we couldn't understand since we had never opened the cover ourself after the installation. The screw cap couldn't fly into the box since the whole unit was enclosed. This only reasonable guess was either the screw cap was iinside the box from the factory or it was there when the unit was installed in our house. How can we prove either of it? No way and they didn't admit it. Costing us money is one thing, it was the time wasted for something should not even be there in the first place. Of course, they agreed that it wouldn't be us who put the screw cap there, but they refused that it could be their fault. So, if we wanted to have it fixed then we had to pay. Young man there who helped us had some sympathy for us, but not the older man who was impatient and not polite. We didn't fuse when we paid for the transformer, but when we had to pay for the receiver board we did question them. Not quite pleasant and we didn't wan to argue more as it was only about money and it didn't look like we would get anywhere. They did give us some discount on the board.


We were upset and said we would never consider Gliderol again in the future. The young man said he wouldn't blame us considering what have happend. The whole unit is made up of 3 components: transformer, circuit boards and motor. Motor is the only thing that is still on warranty. Funny enough the motor is the only thing that still works. The other two components all gone thanks to that mysterious screw cap.

Anyone has some knowledge would know that transformer should last at least 10 years. Electonic parts are tricky, but not fragile.

[malb]

Many transformers are "protected" by single use thermal fuse embedded in the windings near the core of the unit. If the transformer is overloaded and overheats, these units open circuit and stop the transformer from working, before it overheats enough to burn the insulation on the winding wire in the transformer and start an electrical fire. The fuses can't be reset, and generally cannot be accessed for replacement, so if they operate as intended, the transformer at least is junk, but that is better than a fire in your garage, taking out the garage ad car(s) and part or all of your home. Pity they mucked you arround so much though.

[Foo]

To me, it shows incompetence on their behalf, for not testing the whole circuit as in every component!

Foo

[gliderol_aust]

Apple0604 I have sat down with our National Technical Manager to discuss the issues you have experienced.
As the unit did operate for 3 years before any issues arose it is most likely that the transformer or circuit board overheated, possibly due to overloading or water penetration, which has caused the transformer thermal to blow as 'malb' suggested above. Whilst this is inconvenient when this does happen, it is for your safety and does help to prevent against fire hazards.
Regarding the screw cap, we are at a loss to explain how it came to be in the operator but as it did operate for 3 years without incident it's unlikely this contributed to the issue.
We are sorry that you had a negative experience in trying to fix your garage door operator. Your feedback has been provided to the Victorian local office as we are always looking for new ways to improve the experience of our customers.
We do hope that this does not deter you from dealing with us in the future and appreciate your persistence in getting to the bottom of the problem.

[apple0604]

Hi Gliderol,

We are surprised to see your comments on the issues that we had. Just to clarify a few things:

1) the door operated for 2 years, not 3 years. During the 2 years period this particular door was hardly used as we have a 3 doors garage. We used the single door most of the time.

2) the screw cap was definitely not on the circuit board from day 1, it must be somewhere within the unit. As the door being opened and closed every now and then, the screw cap dropped on the back of the circuit board and it was at that point the circuit board being damaged. There was a burn mark. The whole unit was enclosed and we never opened it ourself. The Gliderol guy checked the board and screw cap and they figured the same. In the mean time, they pointed it out to us that we couldn't prove that it was Gliderol's fault although they admitted that it was the screw cap caused the damages. Yes, we couldn't because we trusted Gliderol in the first place, otherwise we could have checked upon completion of the installation. We also don't think someone intentionally left the screw top within the unit. We thought it was an accident. The scew cap itself can't fly into the unit.

3) as for the reason for the transformer stopped working, if it wasn't due to the screw cap we would have to say that the quality of the transformer wasn't good. When we went to the local Gliderol office they told us the transformer shall last a long time and they didn't think it was damaged as a result of the power surge or overheating. They knew the condition of our garage so it ruled out of the water penetration too. The house fuse was never blown and by checking the spot where the screw cap was found, they actually thought it was the screw cap caused the problem.

Conclusion, we were told we had to pay for the repair (the old chap wasn't polite) and they wouldn't blame us if we decided not to deal with Gliderol in the future.

Also we would like to point out that we also had some electrician and garage door repairers in to check the the unworking unit, they just thought that the unit was a crap for one simple reason: there are only 3 things made of the unit and the only thing that was working was the motor. Also they conclued that the screw cap caused the problem. We took some pictures too. They recommended we install a new Merlin unit. We almost did as we did have a Merlin unit on our house which has been working for more than 20 years.

As much as we appreciate your comment, we can't accept it as a logic explaination and not happy with Gliderol's products and services. We decided to take it further.

[gliderol_aust]

Hi Apple0604,

Thanks for coming back to us with your comments. Perhaps if you could email through the images you have I could investigate this further? Whilst overheating would typically be the most logical explanation, as mentioned in your reply every situation is different and I'd like to get a greater understanding of what has taken place.

The experience our customers have in dealing with us is genuinely important to us and I have passed on your comments to the local office and will follow up with them to discuss your feedback.

I will send you my email address in the hopes of reviewing the images and getting to the bottom of the issue.

Thanks for your cooperation and we hope to hear from you soon!