The motor of one of my z-wave roller shades died, and Bali Blinds is sending me a whole new shade. However, it’s going to take a month to get here.
I also had a spare motor from another warranty replacement (where the issue was the shade material itself) and wondered… could I swap the motors and have a working shade now?
The working motor I had was for a smaller shade, so it had a smaller “crown” (the part that locks and spins near the button) and drive adapter (the part at the far end of the motor). However, the motors themselves were identical.
There’s several videos online for replacing the crown and drive adapter for older models, including Z-Wave: How do I replace a Solar or Roller Shade motor? : Support Center. But, I couldn’t find anything for an RSZ2.
Here’s the working motor before I did anything, from the top and the bottom.
The crown is the spinning plastic bit on the right, and the drive adapter is the plastic on the left end.
There’s two torx screws on the right side, top and bottom. They were T6 in one unit and T7 in another. Remove them and then carefully pull out the right side with the button and latch.
Note the two sets of cables with plugs. They’re different shapes so you don’t have to worry about putting them in wrong later. Detach them carefully, slide off the crown, and replace. Plug the end back in and install the screws.
The drive adapter appeared to simply be pushed on with plastic clips on the metal. Using a flathead screwdriver, work around the edges underneath and push it up. You may also need to work a bit at the little pin coming out the end. But after a bit, it will pop off and you can place the other drive adapter on.
Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the finished unit, but imagine one with much bigger wings on the crown and a drive adapter about 2x the size.
Since the unit was originally programmed for a different shade, the upper and lower limits were way off. Be careful when reprogramming them so you don’t over-roll the blind.
Note, I did this knowing I had a full replacement unit on the way. Do this at your own risk, ideally with parts out of warranty! Aside, I’ll also say that I’ve had excellent RMA service from Bali Blinds through Costco Canada. Over 4 years I’ve had three RMAs for blinds (out of 11 ordered) and one remote die, in every case they sent out replacements with a minimum of hassle.