What is the best garage door motor in the industry?

Aladdin Red

Do you still manufacture the Pro-Alpha 2000?

No, this loved operator was discontinued in 2009. We do however keep some parts, like the PCB and Traveler. Best to give us a call on availability.

What springs should I use on my doors?

Springs, extension or torsion types, come in 5kg intervals. It is extremely important to match the correct spring to the weight of your specific door.

My motor does not close the door fully, and then re-opens?

Most operators today have overload sensitivity as a built in feature. This allows the door to stop moving downwards, and reverse direction by opening, once the operator senses an obstruction in the path of the moving door. This safety feature is very useful and important. It will however confuse the change of balance between the door weight and spring system, caused by a broken or unbalanced spring, with an obstruction. This overload setting can be reset or increased, but we recommend you get a door installer to come pay you a visit first!

My garage door does not close fully

Your operator limits are most likely set electronically, and has lost it’s settings. Reset your limits.

How often do I need to oil my timber garage door?

Wooden Garage Doors should be oiled a minimum of once a year. See our Timber Door Care for details.

How often do I change the springs on my sectional overhead door?

We use springs with a 10 000 cycle lifetime. This roughly translates to about 5 years if you open and close your garage door about 5 times a day. We supply springs on 5kg intervals, and if the door weight and the springs used to balance your sectional overhead door match, you will get the maximum life out of your springs. It is good practice to exchange both springs at the same time if your sectional door has more than one spring.

I have an Aladdin motor, what maintenance do I need to do?

The Aladdin Red motor requires minimum maintenance. The chain drive system requires some oiling from time to time and more importantly you need to tension the chain at the front of the shaft when you notice some slack on the chain. Do not over tension though, only tension the chain to the point where the chain does not shafe the c-track anymore.

Garage Door Hardware Systems

That wheel thing on the top right hand side that holds the wire… Manufacturer lingo, installer slang and client descriptions can vary so vastly; let’s get on the same page.

Double Sectional Torsion Garage Door

Single Sectional Torsion Garage Door

 

Single Sectional Tension Garage Door

Single Roll-Up Garage Door

Monthly Maintenance Checks

Professionally servicing and maintaining the integrity of your Garage Door is the best way to avoid accidents caused by the failure of parts that have become unreliable due to wear and tear, however there are some checks you can do yourself at home to monitor the condition of your garage door.

Catching a risk before it becomes a problem will save money in the long run and can play a fundamental role in the prevention of serious injury.

SAFETY NOTE: To avoid any accidents, it’s a good idea to let everyone in your household know that you are checking the garage door and that it is not to be opened or closed by anyone until you tell them you are finished.

The following tests and related maintenance should be performed in the following order:

Monthly visual inspection:

• Stand inside the garage with the garage door closed.

Look over the garage door hardware

*springs

*cables, look for wear or fraying.

*rollers

*pulleys

*mounting hardware, such as hinges, for signs of wear or damage. Is the mounting hardware becoming loose?

• If something doesn’t look quite right – or doesn’t sound quite right – it could be the symptom of a more serious issue. Have the garage door system inspected and serviced by a trained service technician.

Monthly door balance test:

• If your door is equipped with a garage door operator – close the door and disconnect the automatic opener.

• Once you are able to lift the door manually – Lift the door.

It should lift smoothly with little resistance and should remain fully open. If it is difficult to open or does not remain open, the door may be out of balance. The balance of the door depends on the springs, which are notoriously dangerous to work with and should be serviced by a trained service technician.

Monthly reversing mechanism test (if your door is equipped with an automatic opener system)

Note: garage door openers manufactured after 1993, are required by SANS – IEC Standard No. 60335 – 2 – 95  to be equipped with a reversing mechanism as an added measure of safety to prevent entrapment. If your system does not have this feature, replacement of your automatic operating system is recommended.

• With the door fully open, lay a piece of wood such as a section of a 2 x 4 on the floor in the centre of the garage door opening where the door would touch the floor.

• Push your garage door openers transmitter or wall button to close the door.

• When the door strikes the wood, the door should automatically reverse. If the door does not automatically reverse, the door should be serviced by a trained service technician.

Monthly photo eye test (if your door is equipped with an automatic opener system)

• With the door fully open, push your garage door openers transmitter or wall button to close the door.

• Wave a long object, such as a broomstick, in front of one of the door’s photo eyes so it “breaks the beam.”

• The door should reverse. If it does not reverse and reopen, pull the broomstick out of the path of the closing door.

• Close the door.

• With the door in the closed position, clean the photo eyes with a soft, dry cloth.

• Gently adjust the photo eyes by hand if they appear to be out of alignment.

• Open the door and repeat the photo eye test.

If the door does not reverse and reopen, the door should be serviced by a trained service technician.

Monthly force settings test (if your door is equipped with an automatic opener system)

• With the door fully open, push your garage door openers transmitter or wall button to close the

door.

• As the door is closing, hold up the bottom of the door with your hands outstretched and stiff.

If the door does not easily reverse and continues to close, pull your hands away immediately. The closing force is excessive and the door should be serviced by a trained service technician.

Semi-annual lubrication:

• Apply a small amount of spray lubricant to the door’s hinges, rollers and tracks.

Don’t forget to have your door professionally serviced once a year…

Get to know your Garage Door

How complicated can it be? It’s a garage door; it opens and it closes…Right?

Your perfectly-functioning garage door has been deceiving you all this time. That reliable structure appears to be a simple and standard system which has been working just fine since you can remember and should continue to do so for as far as you care to look into the future.

In reality, your garage door is an intricate system made up of multiple parts which were specifically designed to – not only perform their own distinctive functions- but also support the functions of the corresponding parts.

We would like to encourage you to get to know a little bit more about your door so that you know how to help it, should the need ever arise.

What is the size of your daylight opening?

This refers to the opening of your garage itself, or simply put: the hole in the wall that you want to cover with a door.

The standard opening size for a Single garage opening is w2440 x h2135mm and a standard Double garage opening is w4880 x h2135mm.

These standards are not strictly adhered to by the building industry, custom-sized and caravan-height doors are often built to specific requirements by developers or homeowners and, in some cases, look similar to the standard sizes.

Be sure of the size of your door by measuring it, if you have more than one door; measure them all individually as varying sizes are not as uncommon as you might think.

What size is your Garage Door?

The size of your door is usually determined by the daylight opening size of the garage. Manufacturers prefer and recommend that your garage door overlaps the opening with at least 20mm on each side.

A deficit in overlap is often remedied by using timber jambs to reduce the size of the daylight opening and ensure a flush fit with the door; however this is not ideal and affects the aesthetics of the installation.

What does your door weigh?

The significance of the door’s weight is often underestimated, but is one of the most crucial pieces of information regarding the operation of your door.

Domestic garage door weights vary from 45kg all the way to over 260kg – and that is only referring to the more standard door-types.

Did you know that your garage door motor does not carry your garage door? It is actually the springs’ job to counter the weight of your door.

Spring capabilities are available in 5kg increments; this is a good indicator of how important the specific weight is when considering the proper functionality of your door.

Please note that the hardware on the door should be calculated as part of the weight you document.

The internet offers many websites which explain how to weigh your door in the case where you need to replace the springs, but this can be a tricky process for somebody who does not have experience with garage doors and all their workings.

If you don’t know the weight of your door or can’t find the information, ask your garage door technician to weigh the door next time you book your annual service. Remember to let them know before they go to your property so that they can make sure they have the correct equipment with them on site.

What type of door is it?

The significance of the door’s weight is often underestimated, but is one of the most crucial pieces of information regarding the operation of your door.

Domestic garage door weights vary from 45kg all the way to over 260kg – and that is only referring to the more standard door-types.

Did you know that your garage door motor does not carry your garage door? It is actually the springs’ job to counter the weight of your door.

This is where it gets a little more complicated… the type of door is determined by 3 factors:

• The construction of the door

• The material used to manufacture the door

• The counter-balancing system (sometimes called the spring system) which allows the door to open and close

What door system is installed?

The significance of the door’s weight is often underestimated, but is one of the most crucial pieces of information regarding the operation of your door.

This refers to the type of system used to counter the weight of your door for operation.

Sectional: A sectional door is made up of panels which are joined together with hinges to create the full door.  Sectional doors or installed with either a tension- or a torsion- spring system.

– Tension: Only available on single doors, the tension spring system can be identified by its 2 springs running along the top sides of your garage. The springs work by stretching and contracting as the door is closed and opened. This system is used on sectional garage doors.

– Torsion: This is the most common system used on sectional doors. If your spring or springs are secured onto a tube above the daylight opening inside your garage, then you have a torsion system.

Tip-Up System: Tip-Up doors are made up of a solid garage door which, as the name suggests, tips up to open. The weight of the door is countered with either weights or springs.

Roll-Up System: This is made up of a corrugated steel curtain which rolls up vertically into the opening around a circular drum wheel. When open, the majority of the roll usually sits above the door.

Do you have a garage door operator installed?

There are many Garage Door Operators available, each with their own components. If you don’t have an owner’s manual or the name is not printed on the motor, just take note of the colour, shape and any printed information you can find on the motor.

Automating a garage door is an option, not all doors have a motor and, for the most-part, a motor can be added anytime after installation of the door itself.

Take the time to gather all of this information and keep it in a place where you will be able to access it in case of any emergency. If you can’t find any of the owner’s manuals, try contacting the manufacturers and see if they can provide you with any of the information you might need. There are few things more frustrating than trying to sort out a broken spring or malfunctioning motor when information needs to be sourced before the problem can be solved.

Ask a question

It can be hard to wrap your head around how many elements there are to the construction and functioning of a garage door… If you can’t find the answer you need here, please feel free to send us an email (info@garagedoorinstaller.co.za) or give us a call on 012 349 1494.