I have a building that single phased from the power company. The generator was having transfer issues and the elevators both shutdown(17 story bldg). When normal power was restored I got both cars running after some fuse changes and a blown rectifier replacement. Car 2 started losing the door close signal every few runs and would stall out. The head maintenance man for the building tells me that every time there is a storm or power dip or spike, he goes to the operator and hits the reset button on the 105 board(unbeknownst to me)in order to avoid a billable call.The building is a beach side condo with lots of power problems. The previous route mechanic installed ups units in each controller about 3 years ago and used the surge protection receptacles(not battery back up) to power the 105 boards. I left one car down to order the new board. The following morning the other 105 board gave it up and back to having no elevators. I replaced it with a 104 board and unplugged the encoder. Back to one running car. I talked to a friend at KONE who tells me the 105 board is junk and they have had a lot of problems with them. He suggested using 104 boards on both cars and doing away with encoder. My boss says that when the car was modded and the mac operators were installed with 105 boards, the idea was that the 105 gave it the closed loop feature which helps with the high winds they get at the building(which prevent the doors from closing sometimes). I should mention that these 105 boards have no user interface and the Kone hand held is required for all adjustments. My company owns one tool which is shared between myself and and another mechanic (whose route is about 75 miles from mine). My question is should I order 104's or 105's. One car is running with a 104 right now and I don't see why I need a 105 that requires the tool (which I only have sometimes). Any thoughts or info, please share.

I would go with 104s if the cars can run with no issues.

104 board. I don't like MAC operators or their shitty door locks but the 104 is easy to replace and dial in. We're doing away with the 105s as they crap out.

Sounds like the 104 is most bulletproof. You have a ton of options to help doors close in high winds that dont involve a harder to troubleshoot board, spirator, roller gibs, etc.

Thanks for the input. 104's ordered. In fact, I ordered the ECI 104's with the LCD interface. I hear they are much more reliable than the KONE spares boards.

One thing about the ECI PCBs, make sure and use nylon washers under the 4 nuts. I don't know if they come with them, I didn't see or look for them but I ended up having to make some.