Garage doors are large, spring-supported doors. Garage door openers control the opening and closing of garage doors, either through a wall-mounted switch or a radio transmitter. Due to the strain that garage door components and openers regularly endure, they may become defective over time and need to be fixed or replaced. Defective components may create safety hazards as well as functional deficiencies to the garage door assembly. The following facts demonstrate the dangers posed by garage doors: Injuries caused by garage doors account for approximately 20,000 emergency room visits annually, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The majority of the injuries caused by garage doors are the result of pinched fingers, although severe injuries and deaths due to entrapment occur as well. Sixty children have been killed since 1982 as a result of garage doors that did not automatically reverse upon contact.Inspectors should not attempt to fix any garage door defects they may encounter.
They should call out defects in their reports and recommend that the door be examined by a trained garage door technician. The following components should be present during inspections and devoid of defects:Both sides of the door should be examined for the following:The following four warning labels should be present on or around garage door assemblies: brackets and roller shafts.The garage door opener is connected to the garage door by a bracket that is essential to the function of the door opener system. Placement of the bracket where it attaches to the door is crucial to the operation of its safety features. It should attach 3 to 6 inches from the top of the door. This bracket, as well as all other brackets, should be securely attached to their surfaces.Roller shafts should be longer on the top and bottom rollers. The top rollers are the most important. Without longer shafts, if one side of the door hangs up, the door may fall out of the opening.The door’s operation can be tested by raising the door manually, grasping the door’s handles if it has them.
Inspectors can make sure that the door: does not open or close too quickly; opens and closes without difficulty. extension spring containment cables. Older garage doors may use extension springs to counter-balance the weight of the door. These require a containment cable inside the spring to prevent broken parts from being propelled around the garage if the spring snaps. Most new garages use shaft-mounted torsion springs that do not require containment cables.This device must be present and positioned as high as is practical above the standing surface (at least five feet as measured from the bottom of the switch) so that children do not gain access. In addition, the button must… Important Note - InterNACHI inspectors should always make sure to disable the manual lock on the garage door before activating the switch.As of 1991, garage doors are required to be equipped with a mechanism that automatically reverses the door if it comes in contact with an object. It is important that the door reverses direction and opens completely, rather than merely halting.
If a garage door fails this test, inspectors should note it in their reports. A dial on the garage door opener controls the amount of pressure required to trigger the door to reverse. This dial can be adjusted by a qualified garage door technician if necessary. This safety feature can be tested by grasping the base of the garage door as it closes and applying upward resistance. Inspectors should use caution while performing this test because they may accidentally damage its components if the door does not reverse course. Some sources recommend placing a 2x4 piece of wood on the ground beneath the door, although there have been instances where this testing method has damaged the door or door opener components. supplemental automatic reverse system. Garage doors manufactured in the U.S. after 1992 must be equipped with photoelectric sensors or a doorThese eyes (also known as photoelectric sensors) are located at the base of each side of the garage door and emit and detect beams of light.
If this beam is broken, it will cause the door to immediately reverse direction and open. For safety reasons, photo sensors must be installed a maximum of 6 inches above the standing surface.This device is a pressure-sensitive strip installed at the base of the garage door. If it senses pressure from an object while the door is closing, it will cause the door to reverse. Door edge sensors are not as common in garage door systems as photoelectric eyes. Homeowners should not attempt to adjust or repair springs themselves. The springs are held under extremely high tension and can snap suddenly and forcefully, causing serious or fatal injury. No one should stand or walk beneath a garage door while it is in motion. Adults should set an example for children and teach them about garage door safety. Children should not be permitted to operate the garage door opener push button and should be warned against touching any of the door’s moving parts. Fingers and hands should be kept away from pulleys, hinges, springs, and the intersection points between door panels.
Closing doors can very easily crush body parts that get between them. The automatic reversal system may need to be adjusted for cold temperatures, since the flexibility of the springs are affected by temperature. This adjustment can be made from a dial on the garage door opener, which should only be changed only by a trained garage door technician. More inspection articles like thisHow do I check and adjust the belt tension? To achieve proper belt tension, you must release the door from the garage door opener before making any adjustments. If the belt is either too loose or too tight, sprocket noise may result. Visually check the belt to see is it is properly adjusted. The spring should be approximately 1-1/4 inches in length. If it is, it is properly adjusted. Below are the steps for adjusting the belt tension, if needed. Close the door, using the wall mounted door control or remote control. Disconnect the garage door from the garage door opener.
If you have a square rail opener, pull the red manual release rope straight down. If you have a T-rail opener, pull the red manual release rope straight down and then back toward the motor unit. This will allow you to open and close the door by hand. Belt tension is adjusted using the square end nut located on the inner trolley. If you are inside of the garage looking out, you will find the adjustment nut on the left-hand side of the rail. To add tension to the belt, tighten the square end nut. With every turn of the square end nut, the belt will rise slightly. When the spring is approximately 1-1/4" wide, the belt is properly adjusted. If your spring nut needs to be released, refer to "Set the Tension" in your manual to release the spring. After ANY adjustments are made, the safety reversal system MUST be tested. The door MUST reverse on contact with 1-1/2" high (3.8 cm) object (or 2X4 laid flat) on the floor. Answers others found helpful GDO Belt Drive - How to set the tension on the spring trolley nut