Blew a motor controller on a 1984 Dover, learned a hard lesson

Last week I had a service call in a 12-story building in downtown Cleveland. The car was running rough, and I swapped out the limit switch without checking the brake release first. That mistake cooked the motor controller board, cost the building $1,800 for a reman unit and me a full Saturday. Anyone else ever fry a board by skipping the basics? How do you keep yourself from rushing on simple callbacks?

1 comments

1 Comment

the_sean17d ago

Hold on, let me play the other side here. Rushing is part of the job when you got ten other calls waiting, and some of us learn that the hard way. Swapping that limit switch was the logical first step, and honestly, checking the brake release every single time would add ten minutes to every callback. That adds up fast when you're billing by the job, not the hour. Maybe the real lesson is that these old Dover boards are too fragile and touchy, not that you skipped a step. The manufacturer built a system where one small mistake costs $1,800, and that's on them, not you. So yeah, you paid for that Saturday, but now you know exactly what that board can't handle, and that knowledge is worth something too.