Automatic Garage Door Openers

[Han Chung]

Hi,

I have a single car garage about two years old that slides along a track to open. When open, it looks something like this:

's not a roller door, the door is in 4 pieces. The tracks are on both sides of the garage door. The problem is that every month or so, the wheel of the garage door will come off the track on one side.

Will this cause big problems if I were to have an automatic door opener installed?

I've never looked closely at how a garage door opener works - does it power the door until fully open, and when closing, power the door all the way until it is fully closed?

Han.

[John]

You need to have it all working smoothly otherwise you will get major (power driven) problems,

Is it all lubricated? Are any rollers seized or damaged, Is the track properly adjusted - how does it jump out?? - does one side stick?

[PoP]

Do not, I repeat do not, put in an automatic garage door opener without having a fully working door assembly. You will have tears if you do because if the door mechanism misbehaves as the door is being opened or closed the motor will continue piling on the pressure. You could end up with a bent door or worse.

I fitting an automatic garage door opener some months back. It's been successful, but the door mechanism was in good shape before I started.

If you aren't sure about what the problem is I would suggest a visit to a garage door company showroom where you can express an interest in automatic garage door closers, and then advise of the problem you've got. If you are lucky the company will have a resident expert (and I'm not talking about the straight-out-of-sales-school kid) who has worked on garage doors and who would be able to offer you the sort of advice you need to ensure this is fixed properly.

PoP

[Han Chung]

I'm not quite sure why it jumps out. The tracks do not appear to be lubricated. It's always the same side that comes out, and the other side always sticks on the track. Whatever it is, it's been very poorly installed.

Han.

[Han Chung]

Thanks for the advice - looks like I'll need to get the door sorted out before trying to automate it.

Cheers,

Han.