DODDS GARAGE DOORS Safe Door Operation Tips

Almost every home in Canada has a garage door. In many cases, the door is operated with the use of an automatic garage door opener. Because the door opens easily, with the touch of a button, we often forget that garage doors are extremely heavy and can be dangerous. The best way to ensure the safe running of your garage door is to have the door tested and make sure that both the door and opener are properly installed. Regular maintenance and testing of all equipment is vital to ensure safe operation. Remember, a poorly balanced door could result in injury or even death.

Dodds Cares about your safety!

Please read the following safety tips and have your door and opener checked regularly in order to avoid injury. Also ensure that you have read and understand the user manuals which came with your door and/or opener.

• If you do not have a safety manual for your garage door opener, contact the manufacturer and ask them to send you one right away. It is a good idea to have the manual close at hand and not to wait until there is a problem to contact the manufacturer.

• If there is no other entrance into the garage besides your garage door and you have an automatic opener installed, please make sure that you have an emergency key release installed on the outside of the door at least 6’ from the ground. Keep the key in a safe place with easy access. If some one is trapped in the garage or under the door and the opener is malfunctioning or power is cut to the garage, your emergency key release may be the only way to open the door.

• There should be a push-button installed near the garage. This button should be at least 5 feet from the nearest standing surface. It must be out of reach of children. It should not be near any moving parts and the door should be clearly visible when operating the opener from the push button or transmitter. Do not move from the line of vision until the door is fully open or closed.

• Never allow children to play with or near the garage door. Make sure that the transmitters are kept out of reach of children. Do not let children or adults walk under a garage door when it is in motion.

• Make sure that everyone is aware of the dangers incurred by irresponsible operation of a garage door. In the same way as you must explain to children not to touch a hot stove, play with electrical outlets or matches, you must also explain to them that garage doors can be very dangerous and also cause injury or even death. Make sure that everyone is aware of the danger of being trapped in the garage or under the garage door.

• Never put your hands between sections or near any moving parts of the garage door. Explain to children that if fingers are caught between sections of the garage door or in any moving parts serious injury can occur, even if you do not have an automatic opener installed on the door.

• Make sure that regular maintenance and inspections are performed on your garage door and opener once per year by a trained professional. Never perform this maintenance yourself. Door springs are under very high pressure, some screws and brackets are attached to the spring system through the cables and if you have not been properly trained you could get seriously injured.

In between yearly maintenance you should inspect the door yourself regularly to ensure that:

• The safety eyes are working correctly – place a flat piece of wood 2 by 4 (1-1/2" thick) on the floor directly below where the opener is installed. Push the button or transmitter to close the door. The door should reverse within 1 to 2 seconds of making contact with the object. If your opener was installed prior to 1993 it may not have safety photo eyes installed. It is strongly recommended that you replace the opener with a new model which now, by law, come with these safety features installed. There are also some safety options which can be installed on your existing opener. Please contact a qualified professional to discuss these options. If the safety eyes are not reversing correctly, call a service repair man immediately. Disconnect the opener and do not use it until a repair man has checked it.

• The door is properly balanced – If you have an opener installed on the door, please disconnect it before checking balance. You should be able to lift the door easily with 2 fingers, with a down force weight of no more that 3 to 5 KG. Try this simple test to check for correct balance. With the opener disconnected and the door on manual, lift the door half way. Gently remove your hand from the door, making sure that your feet are clear of the opening. A properly balanced door will remain in the half opened position. If the door continues to close there is not enough tension on the spring. If the door starts to open, there is too much tension on the springs. NEVER TRY TO ADJUST THE SPRING TENSION YOURSELF, you could get seriously injured. If your door is not balanced call a repairman immediately. An incorrectly balanced door could cause the safety feature on your opener to malfunction, it could also cause damage to your opener and other garage door parts.

• Check for wearing parts – Prevention is always the best policy, if you see any parts that are starting to wear, have them replaced before they break.

Here is a list of garage door parts for you to check.

Springs	Shaft
Rollers	Hinges
Cables	Brackets
Panel Condition	Tracks
Drums	Strut
Center Bearing	Spring Anchor
End Bearing Plate	Seal
Pulleys

Make sure that all nuts, bolts and brackets are tight and all parts are securely fastened and not separating. Check all the panels for cracks and signs of wear. With the door in the down position check the lift cables for fraying and examine the torsion spring and axles for cracks in the axle, signs of slippage where the torsion springs are anchored to their axles or broken spring segments.

• Check the down force/up force on your door opener – Push the button or transmitter to close the door. As the door is coming down, grab the bottom of the door. If down force is properly set then the door will reverse. Now push the button or transmitter to open the door and grab bottom of the door while it is opening. If the up force is properly set then the door will stop.

At Dodds Doors your safety is our first concern. Garage door accidents can be deadly and most people know that children should not play with matches or that faulty wiring can cause a fire but the dangers of poor garage door maintenance are not as well known. Now that you have educated yourself on the potential dangers, you are half way to protecting yourself and your loved ones. Follow through with regular maintenance visits and together we can prevent tragic accidents through education and prevention.