Maintenance

Garage Doors

• Lubricate all moving parts and coat torsion springs with regular grade machine oil.
• Check for loose or missing fasteners. See warning concerning spring components under tension.
• Check moving parts for signs of wear. Pay close attention to end bearings, rollers, hinges and lift cables.
• Check track support system for loose parts.
• Check ease of door operation (if electrically operated, disconnect operator first). Note any binding or unusual noises.
• Check for seal of door against jambs, header, and floor.
• Check that all safety warning labels and tags are in place.

Periodic Cleaning: Use a mild detergent to wash your door; do not use abrasive cleansers. Check for scratches that can be reasonably repaired. If bare metal is exposed, treat with zinc-based primer. Avoid excessive touch-up; post-applied painting will not match original factory finish.

Label Maintenance: Product safety labels should be periodically inspected, cleaned or replaced as necessary to maintain good legibility at a safe viewing distance.

Garage Door Openers

• Keep opener and peripheral parts such as photo cells free from dust, cobwebs, spider webs and bee’s nests etc. Note: By keeping your garage door closed you can avoid a lot of this.
• Once a year, unplug your opener, remove the cover from the motor and wipe away dust and any other debris with a soft brush or cloth. Be careful not to damage any delicate parts such as the circuit board or limit assembly. Replace cover before plugging in the motor. Note: Never remove the cover or put it on unless the power cord is unplugged. This could cause electrical shock or damage your circuit board.
• If you own a Liftmaster, Chamberlain, or Craftsman opener, use white lithium grease to lubricate the rail and gear assembly about once a year. The gear assembly is located inside the motor casing (you can check to see if it needs lubrication when you are performing the steps above. Always remember to unplug the motor before performing this maintenance). There’s no need to unplug the motor while greasing the rail. Never use oil or WD40.
• If you own a Linear, Marantec, or Hormann opener, no lubrication is ever necessary. Just keep the opener clean as described in steps one and two.

Gate Operators

There are plenty of automatic Gate Openers to choose from (i.e. slide gate openers, swing gate openers etc.) It’s a great idea to buy those that are easy to maintain. This will save you from a lot of work and increase the life of your opener as well as your gate.

Here are a few tips on how you can clean and maintain your Gate Operators:

• Use a silicon spray on the opener’s actuator. Spray silicon to the gate’s inner tube. Don’t using any oil-based sprays because these will only gather more dirt and dust. Only silicon spray can maintain the pliable inner seal while preventing the gates from becoming moist, especially when it’s extremely cold outside.
• Apply grease to the hinge area. Take the arm of the gate out sometimes and let it swing to make sure that it is still working. When putting the arm back again, put it tight and solid.
• Lubricate the pad mount of the Vehicle Gate Arm, particularly its pivot points. Greasing these points should allow them to move freely.
• Oil the chain attached to the gate. Chains need to be oiled to insure they stay flexible. If it doesn’t budge, your gate won’t open. Greasing is also helpful when it’s heavily snowing and the chains are showing signs of freezing.