garage door opener that automatically closes?

[trader4]

Yes, I agree. Two scenarios:

1 - A kid is killed because the controller closed spuriously. First, someone would have to prove the controller closed spuriously, as opposed to the kid or someone else activating it. Then, they'd probably have to show that it was caused by a specific design flaw that the manufacturer knew or should have known about as opposed to some random component failure that couldn't be anticipated. 2 - Same thing, but activated by someone's controller down the street. Extremely unlikely with today's controllers that use pseudo- random codes. And if it happened to occur, what's the chance you could establish that's how it happened, exactly who's controller did it, etc? 3 - Door closes after 2 hr delay as provided for by the maunfacturer and kills kid. Or kid just sticks his finger in between door sections and gets it crushed, for which there is no effective safety emergency stop. In this case, you have a case where the manufacturer designed it to allow it to close unattended.

Which case do you think is easier to prove/win?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Safety aside, I'd rather have an indicator inside house to monitor the door whether it's open or closed. Then I can close or open as I wish.

[Goedjn]

[Goedjn]

YEah, and if the door doesn't close when the label says it will, that's ANOTHER liability problem. All of which the manufacturers would be prepared to deal with or just tolerate, if they thought enough people would pay enough more to make it worthwhile.

Which they don't, or there's be a system.

(If you want your door to close in order to keep people for stealing your stuff, why are are you willing to leave before it does so? and how is the door going to know the difference between when you WANT the thing up, and when you just forgot to shut it?)

[Tim Smith]

Your money would probably be better spent on treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder! :-)

[Rich]

The timers are readily available for electric openers and are typically used on apartment house door openers. They consist of a timer box with two lights, one green which when lit indicates it's safe to drive through the door opening and one red light when lit indicates not to drive through because the door is about to close. The timer can be set to start the close cycle after a predetermined amout of time ususually about two - five minutes.

Rich

[Phisherman]

Bad idea. The last thing I want is the garage door coming down on me. Gosh--how difficult is it to press a button?

[Phisherman]

A neighbor was robbed last year. They conveniently left the back door open where the thief walked off with a laptop computer, prescription pain killers, and some cash--all while the occupants slept.

[Joseph Meehan]

Gee, I would think you could see it open as you left the house. :-)

[DerbyDad03]

-- I'd buy one.

--

-- Every morning on the way out, I

--

-- 1. Watch the door close all the way.

-- 2. Say to myself three times out loud "I closed the garage door".

-- 3. Turn around and look as I drive off.

-- 4. Still wonder if I forgot to close it.

If you go through steps 1 - 3 and *still* wonder if you forgot to close it, how would a time-controlled closing device relieve your anxiety?

Wouldn't you just spend your day wondering if the device worked? If you don't trust your own eyes, why do you think you would trust an electro-mechanical device that operates outside of your field of vision?

[mm]

They should make the doors quieter. Might get a few more cats.

[sonofabitchsky]

So you can't remember to close the door and want some company to build a product to help your failing memory? How bout a machine that wipes your ass? Or an automated refrigerator door closer..... WTF?

[Bob (but not THAT Bob)]

Time to move.

[SBH]

I've been using this for a year now with no problems.... >>>>

It simply replaces the main controlling unit inside the garage and has a receiver which mounts on the door to determine if it's open or close. It does not take away from any safety features of the opener. It still allows safety functions such as objects in the door area when closing.

The unit can be set to close in 2, 5, 10 and 20 minutes. With a simple touch of the main unit, you can deactivate it if you want to keep the door open while working inside the garage. AND...even if you forget to close the garage after that, it will still close in about 2 hours. You can also permanently deactivate with a touch of the button. But I've never used that feature yet.

With the wife forgetting to close the garage door when she leaves or comes home, I had to find something to auto close and this has been a blessing since I have many of my tools and motorcycles inside.

For $40, it was the best investment I made for my piece of mind.

[Art Todesco]

I do some volunteering in a commercial building which has such a door system. It actually turns on an exhaust fan for a few seconds when the door moves. I really don't know what a few seconds would do for removing CO. But, if the door is left open, after about a minute, it closes. It does have an infrared detector about 2 feet from the floor which will stop the door from closing and actually reverse it. BTW, the funny thing about the whole design is that if you don't want it to close, you simply stop it before it reaches top. It will then stay open forever. We use it that way all the time while loading and unloading. Pretty stupid design if you ask me.

[aemeijers]

Taking away her opener and making her park outside woulda been cheaper.... :^)

aem sends....

[aemeijers]

Yeah, mine has been known to do that too. Find it open in the morning, or when returning home from work. Now I wait ten seconds whenever I close it, to make sure it stays closed.

aem sends...

[dpb]

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote: ...

That's indicative of an adjustment problem or an obstruction -- either the stroke is a little long or there's a building binding that on occasion is just enough to trip the force-limiting reversing switch.

An adjustment/cleaning/lubrication should eliminate the problem...ignoring it will probably just increase the frequency of events slowly.

--

[in2-dadark]

As someone said if the door is in proper adjustment this feature would be as safe (no less a liability) as any already built into garage doors.

I don't even fiddle with my garage door for days before I leave the state to go to my summer place.. I can't imaging leaving the house for the summer through the garage door. I dissconnect the power and lock it into place.. I'd wonder all summer if I closed it or if it took...LOL..

As it is, I make a false departure on my trip (1200 miles) . I lock up and shut off everything real good , then I head out on the road (about half a mile) with my car packed. But I go back and get out and check everything one more time as a fail safe..

When I'm living at either place, I do what the other poster does , I watch it annaly till it completly closes and often look back. Sometimes the IR trips can work too good on those things..

The cat squishing option can only be a good thing..