Industrial door maintenance
Industrial doors get heavy use and maintaining them properly is vital to ensure the smooth running of your operations. Undertaking preventative maintenance, especially replacing worn parts, enables your industrial doors to function reliably and deliver a long life of service.
Sectional doors
The trouble-free operation of your sectional doors, fabric lift doors, and high-speed doors relies not only on the door leaf and running rails but also on the often overlooked ‘small’ parts. Despite their size, components including seals, cables, and switches play a critical role in ensuring that your doors are always ready for use and operate efficiently. These are the ‘wear parts’ of a door system and they must be checked regularly and replaced as necessary.
By proactively monitoring and replacing these wear parts, you can not only minimise the risk of unexpected failures and maximise the overall performance and longevity of your doors, but also avoid the need to carry out major repairs or replacements which are more time-consuming and cost-intensive.
Planned maintenance prevents industrial doors from malfunctioning and interrupting ongoing operations, and by putting a regular maintenance schedule in place you can avoid unexpected failures of the industrial doors in your company. The professional maintenance services of ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems include the legally required inspections of the doors but also any adjustment work required.
Replacing wear parts on sectional doors - small job with a big impact
Even though good-quality sectional doors are very sturdy and durable, they are still impacted by age-related wear and tear. However, with regular checks, these signs of wear can be detected at an early stage and managed by appropriate maintenance. This way, they remain a small intervention that only brings the door system to a standstill for a short time, rather than a larger issue requiring significantly longer downtime and causing more disruption. Not only does the time required for repairs increase, but the financial aspect also has a greater impact too.
In addition to replacing the seals, important maintenance measures on industrial doors include checking and replacing the spiral cable and the pneumatic switch in the safety strip. This keeps both the industrial door and any personnel or machinery in the area properly protected.
Replacing the seals on industrial doors
The replacement of the bottom seal, side seal and corner seal is an important part of industrial door preventive maintenance as they perform several functions.
- They effectively seal the industrial door on the sides and the lower edge against the penetration of wind and water.
- Dirt and insects are also prevented from entering the area around the door, especially due to the corner seal.
- Intact door seals reduce the energy losses of the building.
- Side seals ensure that the door runs optimally and causes as little noise as possible.
- The bottom seal is the point of contact between the door and the ground and absorbs the impact when closing to protect not only the door leaf from damage, but also any persons or objects from impact and injury.
During maintenance work, we regularly carry out a clamping force measurement in accordance with DIN EN 12453 on power-operated gates as well as an inspection of the suspension cables, brackets and shafts.
Throughout the life of the industrial door, wear and tear automatically leads to signs of wear. Age-related hardening of the sealing material, for example, leads to a decrease in elasticity. Abrasion caused by opening and closing as well as constant stress are further causes of wear.
Therefore, pay attention to possible deformations, flexibility and chafing in all seals of your door. In general, the replacement of a dock seal after about 5 years or an equivalent number of opening and closing cycles is strongly recommended:
- Bottom seal: replacement after 50,000 cycles
- Side seal: replacement after 20,000 cycles
- Corner seal: replacement after 100,000 cycles
The engine and gearbox should also be regularly checked for noise and tightness.
Doing this means you can always be sure your industrial doors are operating as safely and efficiently as possible.
Replacing the spiral cable and pneumatic switch on industrial doors
In addition to the seals on the industrial door, the spiral cable and the pneumatic switch are also important safety features and proper functioning is crucial for the trouble-free operation of your industrial doors. Just like the seals, signs of wear can occur here, which indicate that they need to be replaced.
In order to be able to guarantee the necessary safety, comfort and efficiency at all times, the pneumatic switch should be replaced every 3 years or after 20,000 cycles at the latest, and the spiral cable should be replaced after 30,000 cycles.
Any corrosion on the contacts of the pneumatic switch should be identified at an early stage before it can lead to a system failure or an accident during door operation.
Excessive abrasion, twisting or stretching, as well as age-related hardening, are the most common causes of wear and tear on the spiral cable and clear signs that a replacement is urgently needed.
If these parts are not replaced, problems may arise when closing the door. Since the safety strip is automatically checked with each closing cycle, malfunctions of the pneumatic switch or the spiral cable have a direct influence on the smooth functioning of the door.
Timely renewal always guarantees a trouble-free workflow.
Maintenance for sectional doors
Maintenance for sectional doors
Did you know that non-compliance with the law is costly, can result in fines and other punitive measures, and put your employees at risk?
Professional maintenance is your best insurance.
