Been fighting a stuck brake coil for 3 days now

Last Tuesday at a 12-stop in downtown Austin I can't get the coil to release even after swapping the resistor pack. Anyone run into old Otis coils that just hang on like this?

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1 Comment

alicec861mo ago

I remember reading a service bulletin from Otis back in '04 about those older coils getting sticky from a bad batch of insulating varnish they used. Three days is brutal though, I spent a whole weekend once fighting a similar issue on a DC car at the Hill Country Galleria. What finally got mine to break free was a light tap with a rubber mallet while someone held the start button down, but of course that's a two-person job (and a little sketchy if you're not careful). Also double-check your resistor values with a meter even if they're new, I've seen new packs out of spec by 10-15% which is enough to keep the coil energized when it shouldn't be.