Had to choose between a full motor rebuild or a swap on a 1998 Otis Gen2 last month

The motor bearings were shot and making a real bad noise in a 12-story office building. I could rebuild it on-site for about $1,500 in parts and two days of my time, or swap in a whole new unit for double the cost but only one day of downtime. I went with the rebuild to save the client money. Big mistake. A seal I missed failed after three days, and we had to go back in. Lost a whole extra day and ate the cost of the second seal kit myself. Anyone else had a rebuild bite them and now just pushes for the swap on older units?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardfox4d ago

Oh man, I feel that in my bones. Did almost the same thing on a '95 Dover a few years back. Tried to save the building manager a few bucks with a rebuild, and a week later the armature decided to call it quits. Ended up costing me more in a second service call and a whole new motor anyway. Now if it's past a certain age, I just show them the swap quote first. Learned that lesson the hard way.

elliotc103d ago

Read a forum post a while back where a guy had the exact same thing happen with a 2001 Montgomery. He rebuilt the motor, saved the customer maybe eight hundred bucks, and then the whole winding went out two weeks later. The customer was mad about the second shutdown and he ended up doing the swap for free just to keep the account. Stories like that are why I just don't trust rebuilds on anything that's seen twenty years of daily use. The hidden wear gets you every time.