Door operator opening slow when cold

[Rudy]

I have a Wyndstar door with a 208v 3 phase operator. When it is very cold outside....it opens after a protracted delay....maybe 2 minutes or so.

I don't think it's electrical. There is good 3 phase power going to the unit. When the unit receives an "UP" signal, you can hear the relays click...and a small hum from the motor.

I'm wondering if (either) it's bad bearings in the motor...or else something in the gearbox???

It seems likes the motor "warms up" after 2 minutes...and the door opens. Once the door has gone up and down a time or two....it works fine.

One time...I found the overload tripped on the main contactor. I reset it, exercised the door a time or two...and things were fine.

It has to be something with the cold temps. What????

 

[Sparkleclean]

I have a Wyndstar door with a 208v 3 phase operator. When it is very cold outside....it opens after a protracted delay....maybe 2 minutes or so.

I don't think it's electrical. There is good 3 phase power going to the unit. When the unit receives an "UP" signal, you can hear the relays click...and a small hum from the motor.

I'm wondering if (either) it's bad bearings in the motor...or else something in the gearbox???

It seems likes the motor "warms up" after 2 minutes...and the door opens. Once the door has gone up and down a time or two....it works fine.

One time...I found the overload tripped on the main contactor. I reset it, exercised the door a time or two...and things were fine.

It has to be something with the cold temps. What????

We have an old wynstar door too. We had nothing but problems with the ovitor motor that runs it. Turns out there is a circuit board inside the black cover that "flexes" from the torque of the motor. That board would eventually get little cracks in the circuitry which would cause the door to act erract. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldnt, and sometimes it would stop midway. We eventually switched the motor to an airlift motor retro fit kit designed to switch the ovitor motor out and in its place is a low voltage motor run by a vfd drive from airlift. We havent had any problems since.

 

[Sparkleclean]

View attachment 1291

I also noticed a lot of oil leaking out of the bottom of the motors (ovitor) all the time. Since it is supposed to be sealed thats trouble. Maybe you are low on oil and in the cold weather it runs slow? Here is a pic of the invoice for switching to the airlift motor kit. We did it last january/february.

 

[Rudy]

I've measured, and replaced the seals. It wasn't rocket science to do.

Regarding the circuit board....I have a VERY early set of doors. The controls were completely external to the motor/gearbox. What few relays (etc) that have needed to be changed....were socketed, and easily replaced.

These doors have been the most trouble free thing I've ever added to my car wash. I put them in in 2005....and this is the first real issue that's requiring a bit of troubleshooting.

I'm actually considering wrapping the motor assembly with a heat tape, and plugging it in whenever it's going to get bitter cold. Maybe that'll get me to spring...and I can fix it properly in the moderate weather.

 

[Randy]

I'm actually considering wrapping the motor assembly with a heat tape, and plugging it in whenever it's going to get bitter cold. Maybe that'll get me to spring...and I can fix it properly in the moderate weather.

Rudy, that's what I was thinking, why not give it a try.
Aux air doors are open

 

[Waxman]

Rudy, that's what I was thinking, why not give it a try.
Aux air doors are open

Here's a neat thing that might work:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0076DUV2Q/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It's for engines, but if it would magnetize to the motor that might work well.