Compartment Lock Issue

[cbeierl]

Originally Posted by Morich

...
Is there a common button which controls all and might have stuck at some point to leave them powered for a long enough period to heat and fail?...

On the 36RD all compartment locks are activated at the same time, either by the remote keyfob, the keypad at the door, or the lock/unlock switch on the column inside the entry door.

[billyrabbit]

Since the company that made the original actuators went out of business some time ago, one might also suspect that the quality of their product led to their demise.

Bill K.

[Morich]

Originally Posted by cbeierl

On the 36RD all compartment locks are activated at the same time, either by the remote keyfob, the keypad at the door, or the lock/unlock switch on the column inside the entry door.

I was assuming that to be true.
So would it make sense that an item designed to operate for a very short time but actually winds up operating for a long time, like several hours, would overheat and either the windings melt down or some other part swell and stick?

I have only seen this in my fishkeeping hobby but it is a very frequent problem there as we use small solenoids to turn on CO2 to the tanks. This becomes a problem because the solenoids are designed for other uses where they are only turned on for a short time and then off which allows them to cool. In feeding the CO2 to tanks, it is turned on long periods (8-10 hours?) and the solenoid windings overheat and parts of the movement swell or deform enough to stick.

My first thought was the fuse or breakers should have shut things down but if the current flow is not too high, that doesn't happen, but the heat may still collect in the devise and that could lead to failure in a large number of the locks at the same time.

Just a theory that seems like it might lead to a situation where the mechanical parts stick on such a large number or them while the electrical parts may still be operating?

Do any of you guys who have hands on and more experience with the auto locks think this sounds logical?

A search for "CO2 solenoid sticking" will likely get lots of examples.

[billyrabbit]

This may be a duplicate reply. Previous reply disappeared.
I pulled a power door lock actuator apart. It consists of a geared plastic shaft engaging a gear on a motor. There was a strong burnt smell and when I opened the motor the windings were black and the melted varnish from the windings cemented the whole thing together. One of the winding leads had also fused (burnt off).

Bill K.

[billyrabbit]

The replacement power lock actuators from Amazon were a direct replacement. Wiring connectors and wire color were the same as the originals and the mounting holes were the same as the original ones. Took about 5 minutes for each one to be replaced and they actuate very quickly and with a satisfying 'thunk'.

Thanks to all those who helped me on this journey.

Bill K.

[Morich]

Good deal! Nice to get a report when things go right!!

[cbeierl]

Glad to be of help!

[Wyatt]

So they all fried at once due to a power surge? Hmm…

[Morich]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

So they all fried at once due to a power surge? Hmm…

I'm not in on that idea as a surge should have blown a fuse.
I lean more toward a stuck button, etc that put power on them for an extended amount of time to allow the heat to build without drawing a large amount of power.
But that idea also has a problem as when the first one melted, that would seem to allow more and more power flow as each of the others melted??

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Morich

I'm not in on that idea as a surge should have blown a fuse.
I lean more toward a stuck button, etc that put power on them for an extended amount of time to allow the heat to build without drawing a large amount of power.
But that idea also has a problem as when the first one melted, that would seem to allow more and more power flow as each of the others melted??

It’s puzzling. What would cause all of them to concurrently fail? What do they all have in common? The same power source comes to the top of mind, but anything else? What if they weren’t fused?

[Morich]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

It’s puzzling. What would cause all of them to concurrently fail? What do they all have in common? The same power source comes to the top of mind, but anything else? What if they weren’t fused?

That's part of the mystery.
The idea I have is that if one switch feeds power to all the locks at the same time, the circuit amp draw would be fairly low dues to all the coils, each adding a bit of resitance but as one coil melted and becomes just a large "wire" lump, that resistance would seem to get lower and lower as each one failed in it's turn. As the resistance dropped the current should have gone higher and that makes it sound like a fuse or breaker should have tripped.

Surely they are not designed to run so close that thing melt down before the fuse works??

But then we had a favorite excuse at work for when we could not explain how something happened.

" We know what it does when it works, but when it doesn't, it can do anything it wants! "