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Chatting with a retired inspector at the supply house made me rethink how I check my door locks
He said 'I never trust a door lock until I've seen it fail three ways.' He meant you should check it with the car moving up, moving down, and with the car parked but the motor running. I've always just done a static check with power off. Tried his method on a Dover job yesterday and found a worn roller I would have missed. Anyone got other 'three test' routines for common parts?
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skyler_white1mo ago
abby_king22 that "didn't watch it close under power" bit hit home. I had the exact same thing happen with a Genie screw drive last month, spring looked fine static but failed hard on the last test.
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abby_king223mo ago
That "three ways" thing is spot on. My buddy had a service call for a door that kept reversing. He checked it stopped, checked it opening, but didn't watch it close under power with the car empty. Turned out a weak spring only showed up on that last test. He would have swapped the motor for nothing.
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gavinperez3mo ago
I mean, is that extra testing always needed? It sounds good in theory, but on a simple residential door, checking it stopped and once in each direction usually catches 99% of problems. Feels like overkill for every single service call.
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