What are the main parts of a garage door system?
Perhaps the right question is, how does a garage door mechanism work? No matter how difficult they seem to you, garage doors are not complicated. Their operation is easy, just opening and closing over and over all year round. For this to work properly, the doors are composed of interconnected components that perform simple functions.
Once you understand how one part works, you will understand how the others perform. You will know what makes the door move up and down. Modern garage doors are designed with many cool features including WIFI operation through any kind of smart phone, battery backup in case you lose electricity, and most importantly smart sensors as a safety feature.
Despite this, the mechanical aspect of your garage door calls for constant maintenance. The opener and other parts may require repair and replacement from time to time.
The next major component of the garage door is an opener system. This part is also called the operator, which is responsible for moving the door up and down.
This is a simple component that looks like a box hanging from the ceiling. It has a cord extending to plug into the power outlet.
Your garage door motor is part of the garage opener. The opener receives a switch or remote signal when you press a command allowing it to react appropriately. The motor produces the energy that sets the mechanism in motion.
There are four main types of garage door openers; they have a similar design comprised of a motor and a trolley. The motor is the driver that pushes the trolley along a rail. This trolley is linked to the door to pull the door along when it moves to open or close.
These are simply pulley wheels on either end of the tube shaft. They rotate as the energy from the springs is released, moving the cables.
The bar that runs above the door holding the torsion springs is called a tube. It does not move but allows the proper function of the spring.
Automatic garage doors use electrical power, which requires a connection to a source. This means there must be a way to make this connection.
The link between the opening function and the door itself is presented as metal that is lifting cables on either side of the door. Each cable connects to the door at the bottom while the top links to the drums.
The drum rotates when the motor is activated, rolling up the cable in return. The door is lifted when the cables are pulled upwards and vice-versa.
The motor controls how the door moves. This requires a lot of power. The power from the motor would not be sufficient on its own to move the doors. This where the garage door spring comes in to play.
A torsion spring is set above the door to make movement easy. The springs are loaded with elastic potential energy, which delivers the balancing power to the door’s weight. Hence, the reason you can still open the door manually.
Tracks and rollers keep the garage door on a set path. This makes sure the door does not crash into the ceiling. Rollers are small wheels on either side of the door fitted into the metal tracks.
This keeps the door connected. Brackets keep the cables and rollers fastened while the hinges are in the middle of the door, helping it fold as it closes or unroll as it opens.
Safety sensors come in the form of the photo eye on either side of the door. They keep you safe from hazards that come from garage door operation.
Another important safety feature is the emergency code. You might never use it, but very crucial when there is a red flag. It disengages the monitors.
