Any Electricians? Really easy question

[derekhonda]

We have a couple of warehouses that we rent out. Pulled the trailer and mower into work backed them into the 16 foot door got half of it mowed, came back later, mowed the other half, locked it all up. Just went out to the warehouses, the 16foot door wont open anymore (by hand or by motor).

So, I'm screwed, trailer is locked inside and thats the only drive in/out door. So I get real handy, pull the cover off the switch, and a little 1 inch jumper wire falls out. I see where it looks like it needs to go and stick a screwdriver in to bridge the connection (where the wire used to be) and then the door goes up and down.

OK, so now I know how to fix it, but the problem is, the door is on a 220v line. I'm not scared to work around 120s, I have been shocked a few times by household current, just not really looking to die via 220v garage door switch. So, if I kill the power from the main breaker, I should be good to go, right?

[sly400ex]

get your hands on a multimeter and test it before you work on it. Better safe than sorry.

[smr]

couple of things you need to realize.

First off.....220 is just two legs of 110. It will not jump or hit you any harder than 110. Instead of a hot and nutreal you just have two hots.

#2......most likely you have a stepdown transformer where the jumper goes. If you didn't then most likely you would have seen some arcing when you put the screw driver in there.

Now with that out of the way.......how do you know it's 220? Do you by any chance see the breaker? If you do then just turn that off, stick the screw driver back in there and see if the door goes up and down....(I really don't know if I would use the screw driver for this).

but to answer your question, if you throw the main breaker then yes that should kill all power.

[<DRS>GPF]

its likely by "code", the AC power for the door's control is on its own double-pole circuit breaker. check that..

also, there should be a "release" of some sort on the gear/chain(what ever drive type it may be), to allow a person manually raise the door.

Are you trying to confirm the AC power is getting to the motor? or have you already figured the problem out?

[derekhonda]

The problem is isolated to the switch. It has three buttons, up/down/stop. the down and the stop work. I had to manually raise it by hand (16x12 doors are heavier than hell too) and for some reason there was no chain hoist on it, so it was literally bending over and throwing it up.

The first thing i did, was pull the lever to kick its gears outside of the motor. Then i would lift it up, latch it back in place, and it would go down via when i pushed the down switch. However it still would not go up via the switch.

Then, I went out there today, and I could not get the latch to release to open it manually, so thats when I knew i had to figure something out to rescue my awesome 14' trailer and 1989 Toro.

When I bridged it with the screw driver, it did throw sparks. That is how I will test it when I cut the power to it and I think that I should be alright if it doesnt spark.

The only reason I (think) I know it is 220, is because a forklift driver told me it was, so it may or may not be but I know the buildings are wired for 220.

[nakomis0]

Kill the main and your definately safe. Might be a little dark, but hey gotta do what ya gotta do.

Could just kill that specific breaker but theres always a chance its labeled wrong.

[cosinostra]

Quit with the screwdriver already.....! It takes 1 micro amp to stop your heart. It doesn't matter what the voltage is.

[<DRS>GPF]

Originally posted by derekhonda
The problem is isolated to the switch. It has three buttons, up/down/stop. the down and the stop work. I had to manually raise it by hand (16x12 doors are heavier than hell too) and for some reason there was no chain hoist on it, so it was literally bending over and throwing it up.

The first thing i did, was pull the lever to kick its gears outside of the motor. Then i would lift it up, latch it back in place, and it would go down via when i pushed the down switch. However it still would not go up via the switch.

Then, I went out there today, and I could not get the latch to release to open it manually, so thats when I knew i had to figure something out to rescue my awesome 14' trailer and 1989 Toro.

When I bridged it with the screw driver, it did throw sparks. That is how I will test it when I cut the power to it and I think that I should be alright if it doesnt spark.

The only reason I (think) I know it is 220, is because a forklift driver told me it was, so it may or may not be but I know the buildings are wired for 220.


is it possible to switch the connections around, so the down button is up?

[derekhonda]

Originally posted by <DRS>GPF
is it possible to switch the connections around, so the down button is up?

Well it would be possible, but it doesnt make any sense. The up button will still work, once a new wire is installed. My worry is like the person up there type, is electricuting myself....so switching the up to the down doesnt do anything.

I'm probably just gonna end up calling an electrician, shouldnt take them more than 5 minutes hopefully cost 40 bucks or so.

[First Outlander]

The switch should be low voltage (even if 220v motor (check first), you should have 3 to 4 wires coming into the switch. The jumper is not used if you have two sets of up & down switches. First, that jumper that fell out should go between up & down so both are connected together on a 3-wire system. You will make sure its on the side of the switches that also connects to the stop button that means all three switches should be connected together. The other side of the up & down switches should only have one wire each going to the up/down relays in the control at the opener.
Your idea of switching the up and down wires will work if it’s a problem with the wiring at the switch but doesn’t solve the problem.
The problem could be at the control box located at the opener either the relay or wiring usually. Good luck!