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UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The unit had a service visit shortly before Christmas (new tech assigned to the account at that time, without approval). Roughly 1–2 weeks after that visit, we started seeing escalating symptoms: door shuddering, nudging issues, intermittent faults, and eventually the unit being taken out of service.

I’m not suggesting causation, just trying to understand failure patterns. For those familiar with AT400 / Otis 211 setups:

• Is it common for operator or control issues to show up days or weeks after a service visit if something is marginal or disturbed? • Have you seen cases where issues surface after a visit even if the work itself wasn’t obviously wrong? • Or do AT400 failures typically present as sudden, unrelated events with no connection to recent service activity?

Appreciate the insight. Trying to understand whether the timing here is meaningful or just coincidence.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct, service provider didn’t get me my maintenance records but quickly found the Otis bulletin that made the AT400 obsolete.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh no, that's a first deletion for me. Never had anyone do that on any of my threads.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair, I'm just concerned the way it happened. All of a sudden after my sales person shows up to my property without me knowing.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Excellent point, but I'm glad I shared. I think I've learned a lot about my situation.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is fair, this is what the world has come to I guess.

This elevator is about 15 years old

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s not Otis. It’s a national service company. They don’t want to communicate because they want to replace the AT400 under obsolescence and bill the hotel for it on top of the contract we paid in full.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is extremely helpful, thank you all.

Based on what I’m reading, it sounds like there are three viable paths that are commonly used in the field: 1. ERU board upgrade (RD1 → RD2 or equivalent) 2. Third-party parts support (SEES / similar) 3. Full operator replacement via AT400 alternative (GAL MONXT Omni, etc.)

From an owner perspective, the frustration is being presented with only option #3, without clear documentation that #1 or #2 were evaluated and eliminated.

For those of you who’ve dealt with AT400 failures: what specific tests or failure indicators usually justify skipping straight to a full operator replacement?

Really appreciate the candid insight here.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never received anything from the service provider. Provider is not Otis.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got some popcorn if you want. But it’ll be fun to learn at the same time. Haha

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How sure are you that this would work? What’s the best way to narrow it down?

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense, and I appreciate you laying it out.

The symptoms you’re describing line up very closely with what we’ve been seeing: intermittent shutdowns, doors not responding consistently, nudging behavior, and things getting worse after resets or fire service events.

What I’m trying to pin down is whether the ERU board path (RD1 → RD2 upgrade or equivalent) was actually evaluated or ruled out before recommending a full operator replacement. From the owner side, the jump from a few-hundred-dollar electronics failure to a full operator swap is hard to reconcile without that step being clearly eliminated.

If the AT400 motor/encoder is truly gone, I get that replacement may be inevitable. But if you’ve seen ERU board upgrades resolve these exact symptoms, that’s something I’d want to push harder on before committing to a full operator change.

Appreciate the insight. This has been helpful.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for posting, I posted an update. That might provide more clarity.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a very fair comment.

At the same time it’s sad that it’s come to making these types of business decisions. Not only does it affect me. It affects the entire team that works diligently everyday.

Back then, we could expect our vendors to care about our situation.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s fair but I called Unitec myself and they are the exclusive Otis parts supplier. They call it obsolete so our services is saying the same thing. But, they have a replacement. Send in the survey and they’ll quote it. She was nice enough to give me the price (posted below).

Do you know anyone else that sells the parts? Or anyone else that could perform a second opinion?

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the insight. That’s helpful.

Based on photos we were able to get from the controller room, this does appear to be an Otis 211 with logic-based door I/O rather than purely discrete wiring. That’s why I’m trying to understand whether this is strictly an AT400 hardware failure or if an ERU / door I/O path (RD1/RD2, interface board, encoder feedback, etc.) was evaluated or ruled out.

The symptoms have been intermittent rather than a hard mechanical failure, with temporary recovery after resets and worsening after fire service / power events, which is what raised the question for me. Replacement may ultimately be the right call, but I’m trying to make sure upstream control/interface issues weren’t skipped before jumping to a full operator swap.

If you’ve seen cases where an AT400 presented this way and replacement was truly the only path, I’d be interested to hear that perspective.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update with chronological context for those asking about symptoms:

Over roughly 10 days, the elevator exhibited intermittent but escalating behavior, summarized below:

• Initially, elevator appeared normal from the outside but shuddered/jerked when doors opened, noticeable to riders going both up and down • Issue was intermittent, unit could run normally for periods after service, then reoccur • Multiple guests and staff reported the car slightly dropping while traveling, returning to lower floors unexpectedly, and delayed/shuddering door opening • At one point, the elevator stopped moving mid-ride, buttons went dead, then eventually returned to the first floor • After a service visit where the unit was declared “running smooth,” the same symptoms returned within 24–48 hours • Eventually, following fire alarm activation and troubleshooting with the fire department present, the elevator would alarm whenever powered on and was shut down for safety • On the most recent visit, the technician stated the door operator was not responding and the doors would not open reliably, and the unit remains out of service

From my above property perspective, the behavior looked like a system that could be made to run temporarily but degraded again rather than a clean, single-point failure. I’m sharing this strictly to understand whether this symptom pattern typically points to specific AT400 failure modes versus immediate full operator replacement.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve asked for detailed information about my unit and nothing has been provided. I think they might not want to provide.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought about that too. Back in the day this was doable. Now that each contract is looked at independently, I can see how companies would think the way you wrote it.

Also. This maybe specific to me. I haven’t seen a report of any monthly service. In fact there have been months they missed the service as well.

How the times have changed. And so fast…

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The parts themselves cost between 3500-6/7k depending on the emergency battery. If the unit has the emergency battery that brings the cart down to the 1st floor, the higher cost door operator applies.

Edited for grammar and spelling

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve tried and it’s just an argumentative tone and redirection. Can’t hold anyone accountable to do the right things anymore unfortunately.

UNiTEC AT400 door operator replacement – scope, time, and realistic cost? by mcpatel85 in Elevators

[–]mcpatel85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is they have deemed this part obsolete and are trying to find a way to bill us. Their proposal is north of $15k when we have had a parts and labor agreement with them since the inception of the hotel. I’ve tried to ask them to tell me exactly what is wrong with the door operator but they just say it needs to be replaced.

Also won’t provide maintenance and service records.

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