Same as all of you folks. It was working fine (minor the firmware v80 update which removed my Apple homekey 2 months ago), and like joaochungferreira, I started hearing the weird noise and message error, so I recalibrated which failed. (Not sure to which extend the issue can be linked to not having open my door for like a month btw.)
However I managed to recalibrate it a bit like jimmy did: I helped the lock unlock/ lock when the motor was struggling (at the very beginning usually, it didn’t need my help after that). It failed once, but on second try worked for calibration.
Aqara please advise, I don’t want to get locked out
I purchased two U200 locks. They both had this problem. Aqara support sent me 1 replacement. It had the same problem. I returned all but one of the 3 locks, so far. This remaining one, while initially showing some of the problems the others exhibited, continues to work well. But I still plan to return it. I just don’t have faith that they’ve solved the issue. I need these locks to ‘just work’. So I think I’m going to go with a more established brand. I’m basically just waiting for the Kwikset Halo Select Plus to be released and then I’ll return this final Aqara U200 lock. It has Matter + Home Key. It will cost more, but if it ‘just works’, I think I’m willing to pay for it. I considered mixing/matching smart locks across my different exterior doors, but I would really prefer to use a single vendor for all of my smart locks. It makes the app and battery management much simpler for the less technical people in my family that don’t want to think about managing locks.
I don’t know the version I was on before upgrading to v77. I upgraded before I had a chance to check the original version it shipped with. But it initially worked fine with the original version. v77, and newer, had problems for me. It is not possible to downgrade the firmware once you upgrade.
I have been having this issue for 3 months with all 6 U200 locks. Finally I just pulled the batteries out and gave up because I was concerned about all of them making that grinding sound. This is so frustrating and unfortunate because from what I read here, Aqara is going to make me jump through all kinds of homework and diagnostics and I just don’t have time for any of that as a burned out caregiver for an elderly autistic man and a bunch of rescue dogs. I honestly am glad I found the forum to know it’s not just me, but so discouraged that this issue will ever get fixed unless I donate many unpaid hours of my time to this.
Add me to the list of people with the issue. My wife was skeptical at first but now she LOVES this lock.
Except it doesn’t work now. I tried the recalibration 7 or 8 times last night and it kept failing until I finally helped it along a little. Now the door will lock, sort of, some of the time. Others it will say jammed when it isn’t or say locked when it is. The gears keep grinding away, but we never know if it is going to work or not.
I just submitted a request for help to support. Praying that Aqara can actually get this fixed.
I’ve bought two brand new U200’s both aren’t working, I’ve noticed though both of mine have a manufacturer date of 05/2024. And strangely one doesn’t have the NFC writing on the keypad don’t know why because they were bought together. Neither will calibrate, one sounds absolutely terrible the other sounds not great but not awful. Something I’ve noticed is both arrived in the up position, after the calibration failed I tried turning the knob myself and noticed both felt almost locked up, the first I gave up with trying to turn for a bit because I was sure I was going to break it, I gave it a little wiggle and freed up but it doesn’t calibrate still the second also felt locked up but turned without too much effort but still sounds grindy. Tried updating them, they fail so I’ve reached out to Aqara.
I sent the lock for a complaint even though it was partially functional.
According to the service center (hascon s.r.o. - Slovakia) no anomalies were found, the gears were lubricated.
It worked - the lock works as before, the calibration was fine on the first try, the sound is normal again.
So it looks like it’s just a repeatedly written missing lubrication.
I think you’re absolutely correct here, much as many won’t want to hear that this is more likely a lubrication problem and less likely a firmware issue.
At around the six month mark, my lock started doing what has been well covered here - the strange grinding sound, having to calibrate it (manual) near daily. I also made the mistake of having it auto calibrate, and after dozens of misfires, playing with the lock adjustment, changing from Euro to Deadbolt, etc., I managed to trick it, but that was only the start of the nonsense.
It all started a few days after the V80 upgrade (but not the moment I updated), so I blamed that for the past two months of faffing around with this lock. I have taken my mortice apart twice, tweaked various adjustments on the U200 to the door, and countless other things. I would convince myself that it was working for a day or two, and then it would fail again.
After watching a couple of YT videos (Tom Robak & Andrew Scheme) and not feeling like wasting more time chasing down a warranty return (I’m in Canada, so expect that Aqara won’t be that helpful), I opened the thing up, as per the two YT videos. The ‘grease’ in the servo was hmm… Sticky at best? Beyond useless. After cleaning it up similar to the way described by Andrew in the YT video, I lubed all the parts with a road bike PTFE/wax chain lube and put it back together. It auto calibrated first try, and I can’t even begin to describe how well it locks and unlocks now - smooth, faster than when I first got it, and quieter too.
I would suggest that it shouldn’t have to be this way though (it’s not hard, but it’s not far off watch-making in the fiddlyness), so those above that are struggling with it, just return it, if you’re still under warranty. Until Aqara figures out how to lubricate the servo gears so that it lasts more than six months, this is going to just generate a lot of complaints on this Forum, and get lower and lower star ratings on Amazon (where I bought mine).
