Garage door operator – what you should know?

A motorized garage door is an incredibly convenient, even luxurious solution for any driver. In winter, a shudder passes at the thought of having to leave the warm interior of your car and run out into the snow to drive into the garage. The drive allows you to control the gate at will with a remote control, you just need to have it always at hand. With the current development of technology, the automation used in garage doors and entry gates has advanced so much that we really rarely have to worry about the risk of failure.

Nevertheless, it is worth knowing the rules for selecting a gate drive and what to follow when buying one.

What the gate drive mechanism consists of?

The gate rises and falls primarily thanks to the actuator. It is he who sets in motion the arm attached to the wing, which either pushes it away or attracts it. The arm also adheres to the carriage that moves along the running rail.

The actuator is directed thanks to the control module, which necessarily needs to be in a separate location. In case garage door drive malfunctioned, the mechanism is also equipped with a cable, allowing you to open or close the gate even when there is no electricity.

The entire system is, of course, operated via a remote control, or transmitter. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the type of signal coding. Nowadays, the latest models have a variable code and individual recognition system, which significantly increases protection.

What else is important in a garage door operator?

For the sake of safety issues and our convenience, it is good to equip a garage door operator Also in additional elements, ie:

– photocell – if any obstacle is detected, the movement of the gate will be blocked. In addition, we can program the mechanism so that the gate closes by itself after a set time has passed. Failure to install a photocell can have deplorable consequences. For example, we may not be able to stop the closing gate in time, and it could seriously damage our car;

– signal lamp – it will light up when the gate is set in motion, thus ensuring the safety not only of ourselves, but also of third parties. People passing by our garage will know that after the light is on, a car may come out into the street in a moment, so they will be more cautious;

– control panel – we can consider installing it, especially when we are not sure that the chosen set of actuators will do its job. The control panel will connect all the devices, moreover, with a light signal it will indicate that something in the gate mechanism has been damaged.

Garage door drive – what parameters are important?

There are several properties of the garage door drive that we must pay attention to even before we choose a specific model and proceed to install it. They are:

• Pulling and pushing force – must be adjusted to the weight of the gate. The drive may have a force of as little as 400 N (in the case of small, lightweight garage doors), but in the case of particularly heavy structures it can reach up to 1200 N;
• the speed of movement of the drive – this one is given in centimeters per second. Mostly it takes 15 to 30 seconds to open the entire gate. The average speed is about 12 cm/sec;
• frequency – if our gate is radio-controlled, then we should have the appropriate frequency established. We can choose either 868.35 Mhz or 433.92 Mhz, although there is no denying that in recent years the former has become more popular, as it proves to be more secure.

Which garage door operator will be the best?

When purchasing a drive, you must first of all remember that its type must be fully adapted to the model of the gate, otherwise it will not work properly.

Overhead sectional gates

Selecting an actuator for this type of gate is the easiest, because…we will be able to install any. Overhead sectional gates are very popular due to the fact that they do not take up space either inside the garage or in front of it.

Side sectional gates

An alternative to overhead, useful when we can’t afford a gate that, when tucked away, adheres to the ceiling. In this case garage door drive Must be mounted either on the side wall or above the lintel of the opening. These types of drives have a lot of pulling and pushing power, we may also notice an additional arm that allows the leaf to move sideways.

Tilt gates

In this case, too, we do not have to think hard somehow about the type of drive – as long as it has enough power to open and close the. The primary determinant is therefore the weight of the structure.

Swinging gates

Can be problematic in terms of drive selection. The gate width can not exceed 2.8 m and requires the installation of two arms.