Garage Door Opener: Types and its parts
Over the years, cars have become a necessity rather than a luxury. Naturally, if you own a car, you need a place to keep it. Almost all the houses now have a garage in their houses. This has made it convenient for people to keep their cars safe with 100% security.
Earlier, garage doorswere opened and closed manually. But with the advancement in technology, electric garage door openers are gaining popularity.
Even though it is a part of daily lives, we are hardly aware of the types of garage door openers available in the market and how it functions.
Let us first look at the types of garage door openers one can choose from.
They are mainly of 5 types:
- Chain drive openers: use a chain
- Belt drive openers: use a rubber belt
- Screw drive openers: use a long screw
- Direct drive openers: use a motor and a gear wheel
- Jackshaft openers: installed on a wall
It is either controlled electrically or through remote controllers. A brief about the two are given below:
- Electric opener:
An electric opener uses a power unit. This power unit uses an electric motor and is connected to a track. The power unit is then attached to an arm on the top of a trolley. This trolley supports the movement of the garage door and helps it in opening and closing. They are controlled through a switch.
- Remote control:
As the name suggests, remote control openers use a remote to open and close the garage door. They are wireless and are easier to use. But one disadvantage of remote control openers is that their connectivity is limited to a certain range.
Now that you know about the types of garage door openers, you can choose the appropriate one for your house.
Let us now make you familiar with the parts of a garage door. This will help you in fixing small problems by yourself without needing the help of a professional. And a little extra knowledge harms no one. So let’s get right onto it.
Parts of a garage door:
It consists of various parts that function uniformly for a smooth movement of the door. If you are getting a garage door repair in edison nj or installing a new one, pay attention to these parts during garage door installation in edison nj .
- Springs:
Two types of springs are widely and most prominently used in an opener: torsion or extension spring system. The first one is more popular than the latter because it is better in quality, safer, and better operational.
Torsion springs are huge and are placed on top of the door. This positioning helps in the movement of the door closing and opening.
On the other hand, the extension spring system uses two springs placed on both vertical sides of the door.
While comparing the shelf-life, you should opt for torsion springs. The reason in, torsion springs have an operational life of almost 10 years. At the same time, extension springs can last up to almost 7 years.
The former is definitely recommended because it is superior to the latter in all criteria.
- Cables:
Cables are usually made from braided steel and work in coordination with springs. They together help in lifting and lowering the door. The door’s weight and dimensions determine the type of cables in a garage door opener.
- Hinges:
Hinges are put in the garage door panels and enable the sections to bow and rescind as the doors unlock and lock. It’s suggested that massive garage doors have dual hinges to help clinch the door while it’s in an open position.
- Tracks:
To make the door function smoothly, tracks are either added horizontally or vertically. If your door size is big, it’s better to go for thicker tracks because they provide better aid in bending and wrapping.
- Rollers:
To move along the track, your garage door utilizes steel, black nylon or improved white nylon. Nylon allows for a simpler procedure. Adequate rollers that are looked after and greased will effortlessly roll along the path and not slip.
- Reinforced Struts:
The struts help strengthen a load of double garage doors while in an open position for the expanded durations.
- Weatherstripping:
Placed between the door sections, on the external frame and along the bottom of the garage door, weatherstripping is reliable for retaining energy efficiency and insulation and deterring exterior components from reaching your garage, like vapour, insects and trash.
The material used to make its different parts is galvanized steel
to increase the garage doors’ operational life and performance.
You must have understood the basics of how a garage door functions and the various parts used to make it. So the next time you are getting a door repair or garage door installation in edison nj, make sure to pay attention to the little details. These will come in handy in case you face some issue that needs to be fixed immediately.
