How reliable are roller doors?

[Alan]

Just had a new roller door fitted to the garage and I'm being offered an extended 10 year warranty for £90.

Given that the warranty is "personally backed by the MD" I'm wary of it really being useful.

Does anyone have experience with roller door motors etc. enough to give me some idea of their reliability?

[Andy Dingley]

There are two sorts of roller door motor: simple motors bolted onto the end= of the roller and tiny, complicated motors hidden inside the roller.

The end-mount motors are reliable and cheap, standard motors. Should one ev= er go wrong, you get a new one from any motor shop.

In-roller motors are a total PITA. They are complicated, poorly cooled, ful= l of gearboxes, poorly cooled, expensive and door-specific. If and when the= y fail, you have to hope you can still find a door supplier in business who= has the right part. Then they cost (IMHE, eight times what an end-mount wo= uld have done). Oh, and you have to remove the heavy roll and door to even = get to the motor.

I have zero faith in these warranties, so I never buy them. =20

For reliable roller doors:

• If you have space at the end of the roller (ie door narrower than buildin= g), then always use an end-mount motor.

• If you have an in-roller motor, then don't let Adam's apprentice break it= by flicking the reverse switch back and forth. Especially not on a hot day= .

[Owain]

Does a new motor cost more or less than an apprentice's i_Phone?

Owain

[Andrew Mawson]

Over the last ten years I've had roller shutters in two retail shops, my previous workshop and two in my current workshop, all of which have had the in roller motors. Only one that has needed replacement was one pulled down by the Fire Brigade when we had a fire - perhaps I'm pushing my luck saying it, but they've been fully reliable.

AWEM

[Stephen Mawson]

I've had one whose motor failed after about five years. £100+ for a new motor.

Stephen

>

[harry]

nd of the roller and tiny, complicated motors hidden inside the roller.

ever go wrong, you get a new one from any motor shop.

ull of gearboxes, poorly cooled, expensive and door-specific. If and when t= hey fail, you have to hope you can still find a door supplier in business w= ho has the right part. Then they cost (IMHE, eight times what an end-mount = would have done). Oh, and you have to remove the heavy roll and door to eve= n get to the motor.

ing), then always use an end-mount motor.

it by flicking the reverse switch back and forth. Especially not on a hot d= ay.

+1 The industrial standard roller doors are almost indestructible. Avoid the mickey mouse ones. Be sure you have one that can be manually opened if the motor/ electrics fail.

[Alan]

Did that include fitting?

[bert]

In message , Alan writes

I'm on my second, changed because we made the garage door narrower and the old one was breaking up. Motor was fine. This one we've had for about 5 years and again it is not the motor that has caused a problem. One of the steel strips attaching the door to the roller broke off. Stuck it back on with gaffer tape and all is well.

Question is whether you think the company will be around in ten years, oh and does the warranty include the remote controls?

[Phil L]

Usually these warranties are worthless, that is, if you read the fine print, it will cover *the door* and nothing else, not the motor, any winding gear or remotes, and there's little, if anything going to go wrong with the door, so no, don't bother with it - I really can't see it covering the motor for ninety quid as a new one would cost that, and then it would need fitting

[Peter Crosland]

Not worth the paper it is written on. Have you a got proper industrial roller door or a mickey mouse plastic one?