About Us...
Torque Master, is a subsidery of Shutter Motor Service, a family owned, and family run business. Offering the very best in tubular motors, for all applications, large, and small.
Introduction.....
My name is Dane D. Horstead.....
I own, and founded the Torque Master Tubular Motors & Drives motor brand, and I run the company, with my family members. The company is legally registered as StormEasy Shutters Inc. / DBA: Shutter Motor Service (a legal Florida business registration). Shutter Motor Service, and StormEasy Shutters Inc. are one, and the same company, owning the Torque Master Tubular Motor brand.
The company was founded, to repair tubular motors, as not even the manufacturers of the motors, wanted to repair their own products.
But, where there is a need, there is opportunity!
I now repair tubular motors, and I have my own brand of tubular motors, built to my very stringent specifications.
In fact, we now offer the quietest tubular, shade motor, in the world!
Almost 4 full times quieter than the Somfy Sonesse 30 motor. Further information on those motors can be found elsewhere, in this website.
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The Motor Repair Years
Form 1991, having already spent 17 prior years, in the Florida hurricane shutter industry (installing roll shutters), I approached Somfy, to purchase several replacement capacitors, for Somfy motors.
I recieved a rather nasty reply, from Somfy, to my request.......
Somfy refused to sell the replacement parts, telling me "they only sell new motors, and they do not repair motors, that are out of warranty". I said I wanted to buy the parts, so I could fix them, not that I wanted Somfy to fix them.
They replied that they do not want old motors, to be fixed! Because, they sell new motors only.
I told Somfy, that if they wouldn't sell replacement capacitors, I would!
They replied that the parts are patented, and I can't legally repair their motors.
First off, they sold those motors, and consequently, they do not own them, anymore!
Yet their attitude, is defiant, to the point that they seem to regard those specific motors, as Somfy's own property!
I was well aware of the capacitor problem, long before contacting Somfy, but I was surprised to hear they refused to even repair their own (out of warranty) products.
Obviously, they didn't believe me, but I set about exactly, what I said I would do.
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Note:
A year previous to the invention of the tubular motor (1961) the US Supreme Court, told the Edsel Corp. (division of Ford) that they could not declare a bankruptsy, because by law, they had to avail replacement parts for the Edsels, already sold. They had to hold the companies parts department open, for ten full years, before they could legally close the company. They did not have to continue production of the car, but they did need to continue selling parts, for a decade after production stopped.
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How is it, this French company comes here, and dictates to us, what it will, and will not do, when our own companies legally can't get away, without selling parts?
Having an electrical engineer, assist me in the design of the capacitors, we found we needed to purchase a minimum of 1,000 capacitors of each requested size, in order to procure them. So that lead to the wholesale offerings of tubular motor repairs, to companies that I knew, to have huge stockpiles of spent Somfy motors.
Within five months of my contact with Somfy, I was picking up motors, by the hundreds, from local shutter companies, and repairing them, usually by the high 90% ratio (successful repairs), of the total number of motors.
Somfy claimed a "patent infringement" having their lawyer contact me, but we engineered our capacitors to alter, values to "between sizes"........ As an example, where Somfy had used 24 uF, and 26 uF capacitor sizes (each marked plus or minus 10%. Which is in truth, a full 20% leeway ( up to 10% over, or 10% under the given value)....
Thus, there is no patent infringement (especially with expired patents)!
Using a 25 uF capacitor, we could repair motors built with either of the 24 uF, or 26 uF capacitor sizes, and still fall well within the specification limits, the motors were engineered for.
We engineered other capacitor sizes, that fell near, but not exactly on Somfy patents, which truthfully, were beyond the 17 year patent limitations. Note the capacitor has not changed design in close to 40 years, at that point in time.
Over the years, I have successfully repaired many thousands, of tubular motors, and I now have my own brand of motor (built to my specifications.
See official independant certification, on Whisper Line page (left. index).
Our motors are UL Listed, and FCC Approved (where remote control devices are used).
Again, certifications can be supplied, for all above claims.