Feedback fm new owner

[Tony]

Hi,
I've had my petporte fitted for a month or so now, thought I'd let you know how our two Tonkinese cats are getting on.

Initially they struggled getting in through the cat flap, mainly because there is quite a big step going up to the flap For the first few days/week or so there was much mad scrabbling to let themselves into a cat flap that seemed determined to stop them entering! However, they both quickly seemed to learn the best position they needed to be in in order for the pet porte to open! Both now have no problem at all getting in - just goes to show what clever creatures cats really are!!

This is a brilliant product, one that I would happily recommend to all cat owners! It has completely stopped the problem we had with neighbours cats entering our house late at night!

Had fun fitting it though. It was only after I'd removed our old cat flap (fitted by double glazing firm into pvc door panel) & started drilling into the panel that I realised there was a metal plate running thru the panel, anyway, with much cursing & snapping of jigsaw blades I eventually managed to cut the correct sized hole!

One minor suggestion though - would it not be possible if there was a loss of power to the cat flap for it to remain unlocked for the duration of the power cut? Don't know how easy this would be, but surely it makes more sense than the cat flap remaining locked for the duration of any power cut?

Anyway, thanks for a brilliant product - highly recommended

Tony

[James]

To overcome the power cut issue you could purchase an inexpensive UPS (uninterruptable power supply) from a shop such as Maplins. That would keep the cat flap powered for hours on end as it uses very little power.

Also I'm pleased to hear that it works in a metal door. Other types of microchip cat flaps will not work in a metal door. The original Pet Porte is the best!

[loulou1971]

Hi James - just wondering if you have any links to a UPS on the internet so I could see what type of thing you mean. I asked in Maplins and they said they presumed you would be talking about using a 12V rechargeable battery. They said I would need to snip the Petporte power supply lead and connect one end to the plus and one end to the minus part of the battery then plug it back in. In essence then the flap would be running off the battery itself not the plug and the plug is simply constantly recharging the battery.

Does this sound right??? Seems a bit messy and complicated to me especially as they then said if the rechargeable 12V battery runs down the flap wouldn't be powered and they said they couldn't really give an indication of when that may happen if at all!

I agree with Tony about the fact that I'd rather have the flap in open mode in case of a power cut and risk other cats being able to get in as long as mine was still able but from what I understand about the flap this would prob be difficult as if the power goes off it simply stays in the position it was in at the point of cut but the scanner wouldn't be powered to read the chip. In the same way I suppose if it had been in open mode at point of power cut it would simply stay that way - it wouldn't automatically then lock as there's no power coming through....as you say though hopefully power cuts are unlikely and even if they did happen would be short-lived.

If you do have any links to a UPS that would be great though.

I know I've said it before but it's really been a total godsend in solving the problem of all our rogue visitors - just a great product!

[James]

No definately DO NOT do that!!!

What I am talking about is an uninterruptable power supply such as the one available from Buy APC Back UPS ES 400VA 230V United Kingdom BE400-UK £48.99 - Oyyy.co.uk

Seeing as Maplins gave you such bad advice I may stop recommending them.

[loulou1971]

Aha I see what you mean! Yes it did sound rather odd and complicated when they were explaining it to me - I was pretty clear and explained how the flap worked and the power supply details and that's what they came up with...

Thanks for the link!

Louise

[James]

Cutting any wires would invalidate the warranty so that is definately not a good idea.

[Des]

I finally had my Pet Porte fitted at the weekend ! It took a while to find someone willing to fit into a UPVC fully glazed back door.
If it has been a round or square cat flap, I could have had it fitted into the glass of my door, however, as the Pet Porte is more of an oblong shape, it would make the cutting process a tad more difficult and therefore more expensive !
I finally found someone willing to remove the glass and refit with a 1/4 UPVC and the rest glass, allowing me to keep as much light coming in. I seemed to come across a lot of glaziers saying "oh, can' do that love, the profiles would be different", still not sure what they mean though......anyway, my problem solved.
I have two cats who have never seen a cat flap before and we are slowly working on the basics of using one - it has already dumfounded the local ginger tom who regularly came through the open back door, such a pleasure to see him looking forlornly through the cat flap but unable to get through!
It makes more noise than I thought it would, not the bleep, as I know how to turn that off, but the plastic door hitting the locks, but the girls don't seem to mind too much!
here's to graduating from the basic training camp of "the cat flap"

[James]

To reduce the vibration noise you can put two small rubber washers on the "lugs" of the plastic door. That makes it nearly silent. Just be careful about taking the door out - if you do wish to then you need to pull the door open then pull it out to the side and it comes out, then do the same in reverse to put it back in again.

I'm please to hear that the invading cats are now locked out!

[Des]

I came home last nite and one of my girls had chewed through the wire....

Have managed to tape it together with electricians tape, but can I get a replacement at all?

So much for basic training.......

Des

[James]

Yes just let us know and we will send you a replacement under the 18 month warranty.