ᐅ Garage door opener for an old garage door. Weight/rail

Created on: 9 Jul 2021 23:50
H
heimwerk00
Hello,
I wanted to retrofit our old garage door with an electric opener. Unfortunately, I have encountered two problems.

Problem 1: The weight is unknown. The door (solid wooden door) has an area of just over 6 sqm (about 65 sq ft), but I don’t know how to determine its weight.
(There are steel cables on the top right and left of the door running all the way to the back, with weights attached. These make it easier to open the door since the weights assist you. Of course, these cables would have to be cut when installing the motorized opener.)

Problem 2: As seen in the pictures, one of the rails (relatively far in front, I marked it red in the photo) runs completely vertical — it is not curved backward.
This raises the following question: When I close the door by pulling it down from the outside, it works. However, the garage door opener would be pushing the door from back to front. Since the rail is vertical, wouldn’t that prevent it from working properly?

I would really appreciate your help! We definitely want to keep the door, but it should become electric due to age.

Rusty ceiling lift device above shelf with cleaning supplies in the garage.


Rusty metal rail lying on old wooden floor, dust and dirt scattered.


Rusty round pulley with mounting bracket on garage wall under the ceiling; cable runs over it.


Rusty metal roller with pin on a white wooden wall; next to it a dusty cable.


Basement/laundry room with pipes, PVC drain, round wall valve and hooks.


Messy garage/workshop with shelves, tools, hoses, boxes, and lighting.


Close-up of rusty metal rail on wooden window frame, damaged white wall underneath.


Open wooden door in garage, beam structure and tools visible at the wall.


Wood slat door with vertical boards and central metal latch, concrete wall underneath.


Rusty metal construction under the ceiling: vertical rod with diagonal cross brace.
L
laura.hälmer
20 Jul 2021 09:07
You can also find guides online on how to calculate the weight. Just search for something like "correct roller shutter calculation" on Google 🙂
11ant20 Jul 2021 15:14
laura.hälmer schrieb:

You can also find guides online on how to determine the weight.

The absolute weight of the gate is unfortunately only partially relevant for whether the drive will be overloaded. A lack of adjustment to the type of gate guide causes far more issues, sometimes showing up as smoke coming from the motor.
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