For safety, test your automatic garage door

heloise

Dear Heloise: You asked me to write about how to test the reversing feature of an automatic garage door. The reversal test should be done monthly, if possible. The garage door is typically the largest and heaviest moving object in the home. If not used or maintained properly, it can cause injury or death.

If your opener is older than 1993, it should be replaced. Garage-door openers manufactured after Jan. 1, 1993, are required by federal law to have advanced safety features that comply with the latest Underwriters Laboratories standards.

Check the balance of the door to make sure you can easily open or close it manually in case you lose power or automatic operation. Balance also helps the reversal feature to work properly.

Start with the door closed. Pull the red release handle, attached to a rope suspended from the opener or its rail, to release the opener from the door. Manually lift the door by grasping the door handle or a safe gripping place where your fingers cannot be pinched or injured. The door should move smoothly and with little resistance. When you let go of the door, it should stay open about 3 or 4 feet above the floor. If it does not, it is OUT OF BALANCE (I put the emphasis here — Heloise), and a trained door-systems technician should be contacted.

If the door is balanced, close it and reconnect. This is done by pushing the transmitter or wall button to activate the automatic opener. It should reconnect itself to the door.

With the door fully open, place a 11‚Ñ2-inch-thick piece of wood (a two-by-four laid flat) on the floor in the center of the door’s path. Standing inside the garage, but safely away from the path of the door, use the remote control or wall button to close the door.

When the door contacts the wood, the door should automatically reverse direction and return to the fully open position. If the door does not reverse, contact a trained door-systems technician to inspect the door system.

Hazards exist when making adjustments to a garage door’s balance system. That’s why it’s always best to contact a trained professional to make adjustments. Joe Hetzel, technical director, Door and Access Systems Manufacturers Association

Joe, thank you for this potentially lifesaving information! It was nice talking with you when I called to check the safest way to test an automatic garage door. Readers, please take heed — your family’s safety is at stake! Heloise

• Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate