Safety Is Everyone's Business
.A few simple precautions can protect your family and friends from potential harm.
Safety Tips
A garage door is the largest moving object in the home. It is often operated by electric garage door openers. Proper installation, operation, maintenance and monthly testing of the garage door and electric garage door opener are necessary to provide safe, trouble-free operation.
An improperly adjusted garage door or garage door opener can exert deadly force when the door closes. This could lead to serious injury or death from being hit by a closing garage door or from being trapped under the door.
CARE & MAINTENANCE
Monthly
Garage Door Opener Tests: Reversal Test, Force Setting Test, Additional Safety Devices
Garage Door Visual Inspection: Springs, Rollers, Pulleys, Cables and Track Lubrication, Door Balance.
GARAGE DOOR OPENER MAINTENANCE TIPS
There are routine safety and maintenance steps that you should follow once a month. Review your owner’s manual for the door opener. If you don’t have the owner’s manual, look for the opener model number on the back of the power unit and request a manual from the manufacturer.
Garage Door Opener Reversal Test
Make sure your opener has a reversing feature. If a reversing feature is not present, it should be replaced. Garage door openers manufactured after January 1, 1993 are required by federal law to have advanced safety features which comply with the latest U.L. 325 standards. Contact your manufacturer or installer for additional information.
Test the reversing feature every month.
First, test the balance of the door (see “Testing and Maintaining The Garage Door”). If the door is properly balanced, then proceed.
With the door fully open, place a 1-1/2″ thick piece of wood (a 2″x 4″ laid flat) on the floor in the center of the door.
Push the transmitter or wall button to close the door. The door must reverse when it strikes the wood. (Note that the bottom part of “one piece doors” must be rigid so that the door will not close without reversing.)
If the door does not reverse, have it repaired or replaced. Have a qualified individual adjust, repair or replace the opener or door.
GARAGE DOOR MAINTENANCE TIPS
Perform routine maintenance steps once a month. Review your owner’s manual for the garage door. If you don’t have a manual, look for the model number on the back of the door, or check the lock handle, hinges, or other hardware for the manufacturer’s name and request a manual from the manufacturer.
Garage Door Opener Reversal Test
Make sure your opener has a reversing feature. If a reversing feature is not present, it should be replaced. Garage door openers manufactured after January 1, 1993 are required by federal law to have advanced safety features which comply with the latest U.L. 325 standards. Contact your manufacturer or installer for additional information.
Test the reversing feature every month.
First, test the balance of the door (see “Testing and Maintaining The Garage Door”). If the door is properly balanced, then proceed.
With the door fully open, place a 1-1/2″ thick piece of wood (a 2″x 4″ laid flat) on the floor in the center of the door.
Push the transmitter or wall button to close the door. The door must reverse when it strikes the wood. (Note that the bottom part of “one piece doors” must be rigid so that the door will not close without reversing.)
If the door does not reverse, have it repaired or replaced. Have a qualified individual adjust, repair or replace the opener or door.
Additional Safety Devices for Garage Door Openers
Many garage door openers can be equipped with additional safety devices. Consider adding a photo eye or edge sensor as an extra measure of safety to protect against entrapment. Keep in mind that adding more safety devices will not make an old opener meet the current U.L. standards.
Make sure the additional safety devices, such as photo eyes or edge sensors, are properly installed and adjusted (see owners’ manual).
Never remove, adjust or loosen the screws on the bottom brackets of the door. These brackets are connected to the spring by the lift cable and are under extreme tension.
What should I Be Looking For?
WARNING – Springs are under high tension. Only qualified persons should adjust them.
Garage door springs, cables, brackets and other hardware attached to the springs, are under very high tension and, if handled improperly, can cause serious injury. Only a qualified professional or a mechanically experienced person carefully following the manufacturer’s instructions should adjust them. The torsion springs (the springs above the door) should only be adjusted by a professional. Do not attempt to repair or adjust torsion springs yourself.
A restraining cable or other device should be installed on the extension spring (the spring along the side of the door) to help contain the spring if it breaks
Visual Inspection
Look at the garage door springs, cables, rollers, pulleys, and other door hardware for signs of wear. If you suspect problems, have a qualified person make repairs.
Lubrication: Regularly lubricate the moving parts of the door. However, do not lubricate plastic parts such as plastic rollers and plastic idler bearings. Consult the door owner’s manual for the manufacturer’s recommendation.
Steel Garage Doors and Salt Exposure
Rock salt, other forms of ice melt and salt spray (in coastal areas) are extremely harsh on concrete and asphalt driveways, but especially harsh on steel garage doors and door components. Salt is considered a corrosive, and if not washed off, will deteriorate steel over time.
Door Balance
Periodically test the balance of your door. Start with the door closed. If you have a garage door opener, use the release mechanism so you can operate the door by hand when doing this test.
You should be able to lift the door smoothly and with little resistance. It should stay open around three to four feet above the floor. If it does not, it is out of adjustment. Have it adjusted by a qualified service person.
To learn more about garage door safety, visit the Door and Access System Manufacturers Association (DASMA) website.