Problem with motorised curtain track

[mike]

An elderly relative has an electric curtain closer that's stopped working. A visitor didn't realise it was automated and tried to drag the curtains back manually.

Now, the motor still turns but the curtains only draw back halfway.

When the same thing happened a couple of years ago, she ended up sending the motor off to be reconditioned (It's a Silent Gliss system but these particular motors are discontinued).

Can anyone suggest what's gone wrong and how easy these things are to fix? It seems to me the motor doesn't need reconditioning if it still half works.

Thanks in advance.

[Andrew Gabriel]

These are popular for home automation, so might be worth asking in a home-automation group too.

[CJ]

Hi Not being familiar with curtains but working in automation of door/screens/gates etc it is most likely the forcing of the curtains has upset the run parameters of the drive system.(B*&&(*ed up the timing) . Check the drive system, if the curtains are drawn by a cord or cable look for a limit stop on the line,or if driven through a gearbox look for a rotation counter of some kind .(Probably mechanical). If the curtains are closed by a rod ie a sliding rail or pole check it has not been forced along it drive line causing the limit to be reached. I would assume the system is of basic mechanical design and not electronic with torque sensors,load monitors and tachometer motor control but if as so often I am wrong find the control card for the motor and look for a reset switch (most have them for this scenario usually a small clixon switch on the pcb.) A photo would help good luck . HTH CJ

An elderly relative has an electric curtain closer that's stopped working. A visitor didn't realise it was automated and tried to drag the curtains back manually.

Now, the motor still turns but the curtains only draw back halfway.

When the same thing happened a couple of years ago, she ended up sending the motor off to be reconditioned (It's a Silent Gliss system but these particular motors are discontinued).

Can anyone suggest what's gone wrong and how easy these things are to fix? It seems to me the motor doesn't need reconditioning if it still half works.

Thanks in advance.

[newshound]

I don't know either, but that would be my guess too. Something may be broken and it might not be easy to fix.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are these self contained units - or a basic corded system with an add on motor? I have a couple of sets of the latter, and they are pretty simple. Basically, the motor is on a hinge, and when the curtains get to the end of their travel, the motor 'pulls itself' up the cord and trips the limit switch, which stops the motor and resets for the opposite direction next time the switch is operated.

Apart from the rubber grommet which grips the cord, very little to go wrong. Mine are both some 40 years old and still working fine. The motors appear to be Garrard turntable ones. ;-)

[Brian Gaff]

Usually teeth off the nylon gears from what I've found. Hate the ruddy things, a nice rod to pull them manually seems fine unless they are in an inaccessible place of course. One would think the designers would make provision for manual closing but often this is not the case. You might be lucky and find something like the cord is slipping but...

Brian

[T i m]

When our Silent / Gliss stopped working it was because it had 'lost power' (strength?). Seeing the price of a replacement I stripped the control / power unit down and replaced the largish cap in there (all easy) and all was well again. ;-)

YMMV etc.

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Actually ours is a 'Swish' unit but I believe became / went to Gliss?

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Just poor engineering if the gears strip. But not reflected in the price. The systems I have with separate motors can be closed by hand. If you have a power failure.

[mike]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

I got a call this morning saying the motor was still whirring but the curtains now wouldn't open at all.

Will have to get over there and see if I can get inside it armed with the info provided here.

IIRC the motor hangs down behind the curtain on a sort-of plastic stem. I think the system must be about 10 years old, came from John Lewis and wasn't particularly cheap. The fitters they sent hacked it in to a circuit in the loft - I forget what particular mess they made but it was something ridiculous like the curtains not working if the wall lights were turned off at the main switch rather than the pull cords.

Never been particularly impressed with it. When it works, it works and it fulfils a need for an arthritic person with poor grip but the design and robustness seem to be needlessly lacking.

[Alan Deane]

I have a Silent Gliss motorised curtain track. It needs the endstop position to be programmed, otherwise it parks in the wrong place, much as you describe. It may be the same model as yours, or at least have the same programming method.

I have a scan of the instructions, the first page covers programming. I have uploaded it here for you:

word wrap!)

Alan.

[mike]

Great stuff. Thank you very much for that. If it's not the same model, hopefully it will work the same way.

[Andrew]

if it is the ex-swish system that uses a fibre glass belt with holes punched into it that the motor engages with, then magenta electronics does repairs and spares. This system has no end-detection, it seems to rely on measuring the stall current as the curtains hit the fully open or closed position. The problem is that the holes in the fibre glass belt eventually wear to an oval shape and then when the curtain hits fully open or closed the drive cog spins and fails to generate a stall situation.

[zwgearbox]

? 2012?6?8???? UTC+

8??1:57:45?mike???

Sell: China Shenzhen ZHAOWEI Machinery & Electronics Co. Ltd engages in designing , manufacturing and marketing all kinds of electric motors. They are mainly suitable for the following applications: smart home application used in sm art kitchen and laundry, medical instrument for personal care, smart E-tran smission applied in automobile, industry automation applied in telecommunic ation and a great variety of plastic/metal planetary gearbox in different s izes. In order to develop the oversea market, we are current seeking new partne rs around the world to create a bright future together. ZhaoWei is a right choice and excellent partnership with sincere services.

Company: Shenzhen ZHAOWEI Machinery & Electronics Co., Ltd URL:

Contact: Anny Liu Tel?[phone] Fax?[phone] E-mail: [e-mail] Add: Blk. 18, Longwangmiao Industry Park, Fuyong Tn., Bao?an Dist., Shenzhen 518103, Guangdong, China