Despite their automatic operation, automatic doors experience the same level of wear and tear that manually operated doors do – requiring periodic maintenance and upgrades in order to ensure long-term functionality. In this blog entry, automatic door hardware experts here at 505 Locksmith Albuquerque will detail the top tips for periodic and/or regular automatic door maintenance services.
Regular Automatic Door Safety Checks
It is recommended by the American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers to perform a safety check for automatic doors on a daily basis. First, activate the automatic door and make sure it opens at a smooth pace and stop without a sharp impact. Verify that the automatic door stays open for at least 5 seconds before it starts to close, and that it closes slowly (it must take at least 4 seconds) and shut without an impact. The floor around the automatic door should not have any loose parts or impositions in the floor traffic path – and the door’s signage and hardware should be up to date and in quality condition. Check your automatic door sensors by walking towards the door from different angles and from different speeds. If it’s a two way automatic door, do this process on both sides.
Weather Based Automatic Door Maintenance
Make sure that rain isn’t affecting outdoor automatic doors – Summer storms have been known to interfere with automatic door sensor operation. Furthermore, you want to make sure that the weatherstripping on your automatic doors are intact, so that the cool air inside your property doesn’t leak out through any holes – which can strain your HVAC system and lead to higher energy bills. If there’s any tears or dents in your weather stripping, it should be incredibly fast, cheap, and easy to replace.
Ensuring you have the right Automatic Door Operator
You want to make sure that your automatic door is matched to an automatic door operator that has the size and power to properly open and shut its attached entrance / exit. Powered automatic door operators are designed according to weather and traffic conditions, with some being manufactured to open and close heavy automatic doors, while others are made to only operate light ones. If your automatic door isn’t properly matched to the right automatic door operator, it could be straining the operator – which will wear it down more quickly, and even lead to improper opening and closing of your automatic door. If this is the case, maintenance won’t provide a solution – you will need to upgrade your automatic door operator system to a model that fits the size, weight, and usage patterns of your automatic door.