pet porte catflap

loulou1971_3

Hi Jonesy - my green switch was a bit tempermental for a couple of days during the really cold, snowy weather in january and hadn't locked overnight but would then lock fine in the morning once I'd unplugged it and plugged back in - I emailed Petporte and got the reply below in case this helps - actually didn't need to do any of their measures as it was working again by the time I got the email back!

From Petporte:

From your description it sounds as though the green lock mechanism may have got jammed.
In order to fix this problem you could try placing a small screwdriver down the right hand side of the green lock and then pulling it across to the left hand position. It is magnetically held there so it may be a little stiff to move. Once you have moved it to the open position, leave it like that for approximately 12 hours as this will help to evaporate any water which may have gotten into the lock mechanism. By manually moving the lock it may also clear any dirt that is causing it to jam. You can test it out by toggling the "open" mode (press both buttons for 5 seconds) on and off as this will exercise the lock without the need for the co-operation of your cats.
You should find that the unit will then right itself, if however, this is not the case you could try popping the inner part off the door and try cleaning the locking mechanisms (solenoids) with a cotton bud and some alcohol based cleaning solution, (please do not use WD40 as this will leave the solenoids tacky and therefore they shall attract dust etc) this will allow you to see if there is anything obstructing it or if it is at all wet.
Good Luck and please let me know how you get on.
Kind regards

Jayne
Customer Services
Pet Porte Ltd,
Unit 2,
Homefield,
Rue de l'Epinel
Forest
Guernsey
GY8 0HL

clancy

Just wanted to say i have had mine fitted for a week now, im surprised how quick my cats took to using it, i had it unlocked for 3 days then set it up to only let them in.... Im very happy and would highly recommend to anyone

twinklefish

loulou1971 wrote: »

Hi Jonesy - my green switch was a bit tempermental for a couple of days during the really cold, snowy weather in january and hadn't locked overnight but would then lock fine in the morning once I'd unplugged it and plugged back in - I emailed Petporte and got the reply below in case this helps - actually didn't need to do any of their measures as it was working again by the time I got the email back!

From Petporte:

From your description it sounds as though the green lock mechanism may have got jammed.

I've been having a similar problem and when we took it apart, found rust inside the green mechanism. I think the door I have it installed in got the brunt of the bad weather this winter!

Cleaned it up and put it back together but, it's still not moving back into position all the time. I've just emailed them to find out if it's possible to get replacement parts. Will see what they say. The newer Smart Flap looks like it had a different mechanism, more like the idea of the magnetic flaps? It claims to be more weather proof but, I've only had the older one for just over a year and baulk at forking out another £100!

Tx

loulou1971_3

Twinklefish you should be covered by the 18 month guarantee and they'll prob offer you new parts free of charge to replace it.....when my coil started only scanning intermittently they sent me a new coil, new board and new power supply free of charge to try - after trial and error we worked out it was the coil. I'd had mine for just over a year too - hadn't bought it from them directly and just told them over the phone when I'd bought it so no proof was needed. They initially offered a repair service but that meant taking the flap out and sending it to them which would have meant being without it for a couple of weeks. Luckily my other half is very handy and was able to replace parts himself. Could just be that you need a new solenoid?

Hope you get sorted!

twinklefish

After a couple of emails of back and forward, PetPorte are now sending me a brand new Smart Flap because the original model is discontinued and they can't provide me with new parts!!

It's nice to know there is still good customer service out there :T

Tx

loulou1971_3

Wow - that's great!

Jaunty

clancy wrote: »

i was just wondering though if someone can tell me if the flap that sticks out on the inside which is where you find a coil of wire to contact is suppose to have a cover over it or not as mine doesnt??? Hope ive explained it ok as sorry but its early and ive had another late night
Forgot to say i purchased the new version

Hi. I just got one, the Porte part that sticks out does not have a cover for the underside; it looks like it should have, but there is no mention of one in the assembly guide though.

First cat has not registered on scanning at all, number 2 not tested yet. This is on battery only, maybe I need mains to do the first scanning and will try that in the morning.

morg_monster

Hi I have a question about the petporte as we are thinking of getting one for our two cats.
Does it have a timer mechanism? So you can set the time at which you want the flap to lock and unlock?
I know it has the night mode which keeps it "in only" during darkness hours; but at the moment that would mean the cats can go out from about 5am which i'm not sure i want.
I had assumed you could set specific times, but the petporte manual doesn't say anything in it about setting the time, and I would think with just a couple of buttons it must be a fairly complex procedure worthy of a mention?!

If anyone who has the flap can shed some light on this that would be great. Thanks!

tux900

There is no timer function.

However, I'm wondering if you could perhaps user a timer plug on the power supply to only activate the flap during 'daylight' hours. You would of course not be able to use the battery backup function but aside from this I don't see there being any problems. I can confirm that the flap does not forget scanned-microchips with the power off, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't forget the setting either (we haven't deviated from the defaults hence do not know for sure).

Mathew

morg_monster

Thanks, that's a good idea and should work.
Argh it seems a pain though that it isn't included - seems a bit of an omission; although i can see how it would make it that much more complex from an electronics point of view and so i guess expensive too. The only one I can find with a timer setting is the Elite super selective flap from Petmate but you have to use a collar tag with that. decisions decisions.