Making Your Garage Door More Interesting

Long-Term Care Tips for Your Commercial Garage Door

If your commercial building has a rolling garage door on it, you need to make sure that you are taking proper care of it in order to ensure that no one gets hurt. Here are two tips that will help you take care of your commercial garage door. 

Every Six Months

At least twice a year, you are going to want to do a few maintenance tasks that just need to be done occasionally to ensure that everything is working properly.

The first thing you'll want to do during the six-month check-up on your garage door is apply oil to all the roller chains on your garage door that are exposed. This will help ensure that they slide and work properly. Second, you are going to want to also apply dry lube to the limit switch shaft threads on the electrical components of your rolling garage door. It is important that you use a dry lube, and not a wet lube, so you don't compromise the quality of the electric equipment. 

Next, you need to locate all the bearings in drive bracket, as well as the counterbalance, that have grease fittings. You are going to want to lubricate these areas as well. 

Then, you are going to want to test out the fire door and make sure that it works correctly. This is called a "drop test," and your garage door should manufacture should be able to provide you with specific instruction on how to run this test. This type of testing is generally required to be completed a couple of times a year based on the local fire codes in your area.

Every Three Months

There are a few maintenance tasks that you should be doing a little more often if you have a commercial garage door located at your business. Every three months or so, you should apply oil to every moving part on your garage door that requires oil. Generally, the only mechanisms that don't require oil but instead require lubricant are the guides on rolling doors or the fire door clutch mechanism. 

If your garage door is electrically operated instead of just manual operated, you are going to want to check the operator gear and make sure that it has enough oil inside of it. If the oil levels are low, you are going to want to add oil to the electrical motor for your garage door.

Next, you need to check the tension on the roller chains as well as the door sprocket. Be very careful when checking the tension; do not position yourself in front of the chains while checking the tension. If the tension is a little loose, you are going to want to tighten up the bolts around the chains and sprockets. 

For more information on servicing your commercial garage doors, talk to contractors like Shank Door.