Manual doors get left open. That is the honest reason most sites motorise: a chain-hoist door that takes two minutes of effort to close stays up, and an open door at night is a security problem regardless of what the shutter is made of.
Retrofitting to an existing door
Most existing doors can be motorised, but not all should be. The barrel, springs and guides have to be in good enough condition to take powered operation, because a motor will keep pulling against a binding curtain until something breaks. We inspect those before quoting the conversion.
What we fit
- Tubular, side-mounted and chain-drive operators sized to the door and its duty
- Manual override on every installation, without exception
- Remotes, keypads, key switches, loop detectors and push buttons
- Safety edges and photocells
- Battery backup for uninterrupted operation during outages
Safety devices are not optional extras
A powered door closing on a person or a vehicle is a serious incident. We fit safety edges and photocells as standard on commercial and industrial installations, and we will not quote a motorised door without them to save a few rand.
Can your door be motorised?
Usually. Chain-hoist and spring-balanced doors convert readily provided the curtain and guides are sound and there is headroom for the operator. What stops a conversion is normally a worn curtain or a door so far out of balance that motorising it would simply transfer the strain to a new motor. The survey establishes which you have, and occasionally the honest answer is that replacement makes more sense than automation.
Sizing the operator
An undersized motor on a heavy door is the most common reason we are called back within two years. We size the drive against the finished curtain weight and your actual cycle count, not against the opening dimensions alone. Where a door is out of balance we correct the springs at the same time, because a motor fighting a badly balanced curtain is a motor with a short life.
Controls and access
Remotes and additional handsets, keypads, key switches, push buttons, vehicle loop detectors, radar activation for high-traffic bays, and integration with existing gate motors or estate access control. On busy dock and workshop openings, loop or radar activation keeps traffic moving without anybody touching a control at all.
Load shedding and safety
Every motorised door we fit has a manual override, and battery backup is available so the door operates normally straight through an outage — specify it at quoting stage and it is built into the price. Safety edges and photocells are fitted as standard rather than offered as an upgrade, and closing force is measured and set within safe limits before handover. A powered door is machinery, and it is treated as such.
Replacing a failed operator
Tell us the make if you know it, or send a photograph of the unit and the drive. We carry the common operators and can usually replace one within a single visit, including resetting the limits and testing the safety devices before we leave. We also check what killed the last one, because replacing a motor without correcting an unbalanced door simply restarts the clock.
High-traffic and industrial automation
On dock doors and workshop bays that cycle constantly, activation matters as much as the drive. Vehicle loop detectors, radar and pull-cord activation keep forklifts moving without anybody stopping to press a button, and correctly specified they materially reduce the impact damage that follows from drivers nudging a slow door.
What it costs to automate a door
The operator itself is the smaller part of most quotes. What moves the figure is whether the door needs rebalancing first, whether power has to be brought to the right side of the opening, and which controls and safety devices you want. All three are itemised so you can see what is the motor and what is preparation.
Common questions
About roller shutter door motorisation and automation
Usually, yes. Most chain-hoist and spring-balanced doors can be converted, provided the curtain and guides are sound and there is headroom for the operator. The survey confirms it — occasionally the honest answer is that the door is too far gone to be worth motorising.
Yes. Every motorised door we fit has a manual override, and we can add a battery backup so the door operates normally right through an outage. Mention it at quoting stage and it is included rather than retrofitted later.
Remotes, keypads, key switches, loop detectors for vehicle traffic, push buttons and integration with existing access control. For high-traffic bays, loop or radar activation keeps forklifts moving without anybody touching a control.
Yes, and on a powered door they are not optional extras. Safety edges and photocells are fitted as standard, and closing force is measured and set within safe limits before we hand the door over.
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