It's Kat's Life * DoorKing

April 9, 2013 by Kat

So, remember that nice DoorKing gate opener? It died, as I reported. However, it was much more painful than I initially thought. On first glance I assumed the motherboard had overheated and shorted out. Ugh no, that was not the case at all. DoorKing came out with a fresh motherboard in hand, they opened the box, to find the charred remains, of what was once our gate opener. There were char marks on the entire box, inside and out, and apparently the fire was so hot it melted all the wires and all else inside the box. None of the internal parts were black prior to the fire. Yikes! Glad my fence and house didn’t burn down as well.

What the gate opener inside should look like


What the gate opener looked like after catching on fire

After two weeks without a gate opener – a new one will be installed on Thursday – I know it sounds terribly dumb to be excited to get a new opener, but its no fun opening your own gate. Do you still manually open your garage door? I didn’t think so. That’s like saying you prefer to get up and change channels rather than use a remote control – give me a break, no one does that. I will be one happy lady in just a few days. Note to all, I will not invest in another of this brand or model. I am going with a new brand, which I will be happy to share when its in place and a effectively opening my gate.

Manic Monday, I Wish It were Sunday…

April 1, 2013 by Kat

Normally, Monday’s are my catch up days from busy weekends and this weekend was no exception to the “busy” rule. It was an all out blast, between my son’s birthday, our family in town and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday – it was amazing, but I am now T-I-R-E-D! With all that said, my house looks like a disaster and I have no get-up-and-go to get it cleaned up. I cleaned like a crazy woman before they arrived, tried my best to contain disaster while they were here, but with 5 kids under the age of 7, letting them play, enjoying the moment and worrying about the mess later, was a much better philosophy. But…. then later comes and I am now out of energy, out of gas and cannot breathe, in the mess around me.

We had a fantastic weekend filled with activities, kids and family. Of course, a slight overflow of the shower caused a slight panic when the water came running through the downstairs ceiling – oops. Thankfully, it wasn’t a complete plumbing nightmare and just a minor scare, that just meant the toilet upstairs needed to be sealed a little better.

This morning, the hubby and I woke to an unwelcome surprise (besides the chaos of our messy home of course), our back gate was wide open. It needs a remote to do that and it weighs nearly 1/2 a ton. Why it was open, was a mystery for this exhausted, puffy-eyed momma. After my DH was off to take Blondie to school and himself to work, I investigated further – the said “gate opener” had an odor. It was a smell unlike any other and once you know it, you never forget – electrical fire. It seems at some point between 10 pm last night and 7 am this morning, the motherboard of our vehicular gate shorted out and combusted. Thank the Lord, it didn’t set our fence on fire, like a pack of matchsticks. We are thankful that little damage was done, but it is a still an inconvenience nonetheless. Now, a phone call has been made to the company who manufactured the motor and also their competitor. Just like many great inventions in this world – I feel like there are many “conveniences” that are still a blessing and a curse. Just ask my hubby’s car to tell you what it thought when the same fence smashed into his car, not once, but twice. And when we had a serious ice storm and the bearings froze shut, or the many times I have had to prove my agility by jumping the fence, when the remote only worked by touching it to the antenna on the other side of the fence. If you can’t imagine, I have had my share of fun with this DoorKing product, so I happily entertain the comments and suggestions from those of you who have experience with other brands.

Signed,
Frustrated Home Owner