Curtain Motor Not Working?
Stops Halfway, Wrong End Positions & Fixes

Match the symptom to the likely cause

Motorised curtains fail in a handful of recognisable ways, and each one points somewhere different. Before touching any settings, watch the curtain through one full open and one full close, and note exactly where it stops and what it does just before. That one observation saves most of the guessing.

If your symptom sits in the first four rows, it is almost always fixable without new parts. The last row is the one that sometimes needs a replacement motor.

Lost or wrong end positions

Every curtain motor stores two end positions: fully open and fully closed. It counts its own turns between them, so it knows when to stop. Anything that interrupts that count can leave the motor confused about where the curtain actually is, and it will then stop short of one end or try to drive past the other.

• A TNB power cut, or a tripped supply, while the curtain was moving.
• A rechargeable motor that ran completely flat before it was charged.
• Taking the curtain down for washing and hooking it back on in a different order.
• Moving the motor to the other end of the track, or swapping its direction setting.
• Adding or removing runners, or changing from a single draw to a centre-opening pair.

Most motors have a re-learn routine: a button sequence on the motor head or the remote, or a calibration option in the app, that makes the motor run to each end and store the positions again. The exact sequence varies by maker and model, so use the manual for your motor rather than a video for a different one. Before re-learning, make sure the curtain hangs properly and every runner is in the track; otherwise the motor will faithfully learn the wrong positions.

Friction that the motor reads as an obstacle

Many motors stop when they feel resistance, which is a safety feature that stops fabric tearing or a child's hand being dragged. The side effect is that anything adding drag makes the motor give up partway, and because the drag varies, the stopping point varies too.

• A hem that drags on the floor or catches on a skirting tile, especially after the fabric has been washed.
• The two halves of a centre-opening pair catching on each other where they overlap.
• Sheer and blackout layers rubbing where two tracks run close together.
• Dust, sand and insect debris in the track, common near a balcony door that stays open.
• Furniture, a sofa back or a plant pot pushed against the curtain.
• A track that has dropped slightly between two brackets because a screw has loosened.

The test is simple: switch the motor off or put it in manual mode if your model has one, then draw the curtain by hand. If it is stiff at the same point, fix that point first. The smart curtain motorisation guide explains how weight and span decide which motor a window needs; this page assumes the motor was suitable and has started misbehaving.

The pull-to-start feature

Many curtain motors can start when you give the curtain a small tug, so the household can still open it by hand without finding the remote. It is useful, but in a breezy room, near an aircon outlet or with pets and children around, a light brush can be enough to set it off. The curtain then seems to move on its own, or to stop and restart.

Check the app or manual for this setting. Some motors let you switch it off; some let you make it less sensitive. If curtains near an open window keep moving, try turning it off for a week and see whether the problem disappears.

Belt, cord and master carrier problems

Inside a motorised track, a belt or cord runs from the motor to the far end and back. The master carrier, the arm at the leading edge of the curtain, is clamped to it. If that clamp loosens, the motor runs, the belt moves and the curtain stays where it is or moves only part of the way.

Signs include a humming motor with no movement, a curtain that moves in jerks, or a leading edge that lags behind where it should be. On an S-fold or wave track, a broken spacing cord can also bunch the fabric and create drag. Belt tension and carrier clamps are adjusted at the track, usually with the curtain off; if the track is high or the belt runs inside a recessed slot, this is a job for someone with the right ladder or platform.

Thermal cut-out after repeated runs

Small curtain motors are built for occasional use, not continuous running. When a motor is opened and closed over and over, for example while children play with the remote or while someone tests a new scene, its internal protection can stop it to let it cool. It then seems dead, and comes back by itself after a rest.

If that happens only during testing, it is normal. If it happens in daily use, the motor is working too hard on every run, which brings you back to friction, a heavy curtain on a light motor, or a schedule that runs the curtain far more often than you thought.

Automations and remotes that fight each other

A curtain that is controlled by a remote, an app, a voice assistant and a hub can receive commands from all of them. Two schedules that overlap, a sunrise scene and a separate morning routine, or a second remote paired long ago and left in a drawer can stop or reverse a curtain mid-travel.

1. Open every app and hub that can control the curtain and list the automations that include it.
2. Pause all of them, then test the curtain from its own remote only.
3. Turn the automations back on one at a time, a day apart, until the odd movement returns.
4. Remove remotes you no longer use from the motor's pairing list, following the manual.

If the curtain only misbehaves when commanded through the app, the link between the hub or router and the motor may be weak. A motor at the far end of a double-storey house can sit in a WiFi dead zone; the guide to WiFi dead zones in double-storey houses covers how to find and fix one.

Power problems: battery, plug and the house supply

A rechargeable motor that is low on charge often slows down and stops before the end of its travel, long before it stops completely. Charge it fully, then re-check the end positions, because the motor may have lost them as the charge ran out. If a fully charged battery motor still runs out quickly, the battery itself may be ageing.

A plug-in motor depends on the socket and its adaptor. Check the plug is fully in, try the adaptor with another device if possible, and look for a loose lead behind the curtain. After a power cut, the guide to keeping a smart home running in a power cut explains why hubs and routers sometimes come back before, or after, the devices that depend on them.

Whether a battery or a mains motor suits a particular window is a buying decision covered in the battery versus mains curtain motor comparison. For a mains-fed motor that has no power at all, the fault may be in the supply rather than the motor. Any mains electrical work, such as a new power point, a change at the distribution board or a hardwired switch that needs new wiring, must be done by an electrical contractor registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga.

What you can safely check yourself

Lubricants deserve a warning. Spraying oil into a curtain track feels helpful but collects dust and makes runners sticky within weeks. Most tracks are meant to run dry, so clean them instead.

When the motor itself has failed

A motor that makes no sound with good power reaching it, that stalls with the curtain removed, or that loses its end positions again soon after every re-learn has probably reached the end of its life. Before replacing it, find out whether the track can take a different motor or only the same brand; many tracks are designed around one maker's motor head. The guide to fitting a motor to an existing curtain track explains what to check.

Replacing a mains-fed motor that is connected to the house supply is not a plug-in job. Section 2 of the Electricity Supply Act 1990 defines electrical work to include "the replacing of any of its parts" of an installation. For smart switches and anything wired into the mains, we supply the devices and set up the app, and the switch or wiring work is done by an electrical contractor registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga that we coordinate.

How ClickBina helps

We look at motorised curtains that stop short, overshoot or move by themselves: the track, runners, belt and master carrier, the end positions, the pull-to-start setting, the paired remotes and the automations in your app. For battery and plug-in motors we reset and re-pair the motor and, where the motor is beyond repair, we install a replacement suited to the track. We do the smart device, app and low-voltage side of the job.

Before anyone visits, it helps to know the motor's brand, whether it is battery, plug-in or mains-fed, and which apps control it. If the curtain ran well for a long time and changed suddenly, also note what happened just before: a power cut, a wash, a new scene. For the broader picture of faults across a connected home, see the smart home troubleshooting guide.

Sources & references

• Electricity Supply Act 1990 (Act 447), Suruhanjaya Tenaga copy: section 2, the definition of electrical work, which includes replacing parts of an installation.
• Your curtain motor's own manual: the re-learn sequence, the pull-to-start setting and the factory reset differ by maker and model.
• ClickBina guides on smart curtain motorisation, curtain motors on existing tracks and smart homes in a power cut.

This page is general fault-finding guidance for motorised curtains, not a repair manual for any one model. Where your manufacturer's instructions differ, follow them. If curtains were recently taken down for washing, the curtain cleaning guide explains how panels should be rehung so the runners stay in order.