Reducing the width of an electric roller door?

[gerrymoore]

I'm fed up with my up and over electric door being 'cranky' all the time so looking to buy an electric roller shutter.

Just seen one on ebay but it's too wide...is it possible to cut an equal amount off each side to make it fit - or am I being silly!!

 

[knighty]

yes, you can cut them down no problem, no need to do both sides tho, just cut one side... I've done 4 like that myself :-)

EDIT: they have plastic guides down the side to make them move more smoothly... on the ones I've done I've just copped the end off and left them off, never had any problems myself

a mate of mine took them off the cut off bit and pop riveted them back onto the new ends

to each his own with those I guess :-)

 

[hotponyshoes]

I have done this before,
I only cut a bit off of one end though.

Used one of the rage evolution bench saws.

The one I did was just a load of alloy profile strips that slotted together. They had alloy blocks held in the end with pop rivits.
Had to drill them all out. Replaced them with some self tapping stainless screws but it might have been a better idea to have made a jig up to drill the holes in the right place and have replaced the rivits as I had to run a grinder over all the screw heads.

I don't remember exactly how we did it but have a good look at it before you start cutting. I think we had to shorten the slats at one end only, the drive shaft needed shortening at the opposite end and I think the box that it all wound up into needed 2 cuts in the middle.

This was a garage size roller shutter.
I also tried welding some ends up in a doorway size roller shutter which didn't work. The inserts seemed to be some sort of cast alloy and I was melting them trying to burn off the old grease and weld them in.

Other option is just mount it inside the door hole?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Another way that might work is if you can cut down just the door, fit the runners inside the frame and mount the roller etc, in behind the door frame to save you having to cut all that about.

Also, Check if you have any magnets in the end of the slats as some have up/down positioning switches.

 

[gerrymoore]

Thanks guys..it's too wide even to fit inside but worth a punt..do you think it will go on my roofrack as only have a saloon? Not sure of the weight of these?

 

[MoreWellie]

need to check your manufacturer roof rack weight limit as they are often quite low

on the screw type garage door, they usually get cranky in the winter as the grease along the screw thickens and the door thinks there is too much resistance. If this is the case a quick spray with wd40 gets it working again for a while until it all evaporates

Just don't park a car under the thread until it has finished dripping

 

[gerrymoore]

Thanks morewellie...the current door started playing up when I greased the thread about a year ago...I think it's a combination of age (it's old) and the door isn't balanced correctly. I've messed about with the big old springs but probably made it worse... I have to help it up and down every time now so quite fancy a roller type and get shut of the up and over. The roof limit is 75kgs ...is that enough?

 

[MoreWellie]

I also fancied a roller shutter style door until I found that the ones that go up in a roll need to be either fitted completely inside or outside rather than coming down in between the opening pillars so I would either have to extend the concrete floor out beyond the entrance or lose 10 inches of garage and expose a number of inches of painted floor outside

So basically I now lubricate the door every winter using car engine oil, pumping it in to the wheels that run in the side guides, the round hinge plates on the arms, grease the spring hook where it runs on the pins on the garage door and wd40 the thread

The springs are matched to the weight of the door and in my case it is a heavy door so the springs have the nuts at the bottom tightened up as far as they will go. When all this is right the door works fine

In addition to this there is a force adjustment on the motor itself but you still want the door to stop if something really is in the way so you cannot just crank this up to maximum

As regards the weight limit I would expect a complete roller shutter system to weigh more than 75Kg so you will have to check the weight or more likely find alternative transport such as a trailer

 

[gerrymoore]

Thanks again...I'll see if it's a bargain....otherwise try and fix the current door.

 

[knighty]

you can fix them in the opening instead of inside out outside... you just lose a bit of head high (the size of the roll at the top)

they are quote heavy tho, pushing it on a car roof rack

if it's not far you could always make a couple of trips... they easily come apart... all those slats you see, they slide into/out of each other :-)