Morning, Dominic.
Most garage doors have a travel limit switch. The switch functioned or not.
As for an official test. You got me there. I did not know injury or deaths caused by entrapment had to be official.
Just kidding.
I use my forearm. When there appears to be too much force, live loading, or not enough, is noted and reported.
Keep well.
Robert
Not a valid test, purely arbitrary, and has been well documented to cause a high number of “failures” by an inspector “testing” the opener. Door panels and other parts (especially if not correctly installed) can buckle under the load while being tested in this manner.
Follow the recommend protocol and avoid the liability.
Focus on helping answer the question please. There are 2 things to check on garage doors. The photo eye sensors is one check, and the other is checking the safety reverse if the door encounters resistance or hits an obstruction. To do the second check, the resistance reverse check, I hang my arm down so it is fully extended down, cock my hand out at the wrist, and then grab the door as it goes by and apply slight upward pressure or resistance as I follow the door down. Normally the door reverses pretty quick but if not I let go and let it close. I don’t like grabbing it and preventing it from going down, or using a board or something immovable because if the reverse mechanism doesn’t work, you’ll damage the door and or frame as the operator tries to keep letting the door down. Which is what happened to me. If you do it with your hand and apply that pressure as the door goes down, and it doesn’t reverse as you gradually increase resistance, you pull your hand away and write it up, no damage done. Yes, that means it wasn’t working, but it could be something as simple as that reverse mechanism’s screw just needs to be adjusted. If you test it the wrong way, i.e. like force it to stop with an immovable obstruction, you can damage the door and track and operator, and now you have a bigger (costlier) problem than just the sensitivity needs adjustment. I’ve had problems with the 2x4 laying on the ground method of checking, where a small percentage of the time the door just stops that low to the ground right on the 2x4 (it must think it is down all the way) and doesn’t reverse unless you test it up higher, and then you have to make sure you don’t trip the photo eye sensors.
Yes Bob, I have seen the other comments in previous chats, I did a search, mostly they were made several years ago, about what happens when things break during an inspection and whether the inspector is liable or should pay for repairs. The answer was if the test was a proper test and operation was proper, than no inspector liability. So now I wonder/ask, what is the proper way to test that obstruction/reverse mechanism? Did I do a properly? I’m sure I’ll now get 20 replies as to the proper way to test that safety feature, and I’ll bet you all do it differently and you all have what you feel are legitimate reasons for doing it your way and that all the other ways are incorrect. So let’s hear them.
BTW, my brother doesn’t like the sensors at the floor cause they are always getting misaligned and then the door won’t work up or down, or the dog trips them after you try to close the door, etc. Bottom line he’s just too lazy to install them and keep them working. They are written up as a safety write up and he knows he has to move them to their proper location before selling the house. But that has nothing to do with my question about how to test the auto-backup safety feature. Thanks.
Dom if you are going to tell us to follow some standard, please do us all the courtesy of including a link to the standard you are referencing, or copy/paste what it says, or go ahead and tell us what it says. Otherwise, you aren’t being much help by telling us to “do it according to X standard”.
And Robert, you said not to touch the door but how do you do a proper inspection of the door opener if you don’t touch the door to check the back-up safety feature? And it’s tough to not talk to the owner when you are doing a prelisting inspection and they are your client.
Thanks.
Which is what, exactly?
Did you do something wrong? Yes.
You operated a door opener with visible defects and used unapproved / improvised testing methods.
Read the testing methods for the opener you inspected (you never ID’d the model) I imagine there is no paragraph that states:
I really have no problem with you choosing that route, not my concern, but you just have to accept what comes next when it goes wrong.
Alternatively, you can disclaim the testing of the reverse feature and recommend a door technician perform the require safety check.
I searched DASMA. Do you have a link to the DSMA publication you’re referencing?
Chamberlain site:
https://support.chamberlaingroup.com/s/article/How-do-I-test-the-Safety-Reversal-System-1484145519301
Genie site:
And the DASMA publication:
garage door inspection.pdf (80.8 KB)
A toilet paper roll wrapped in thick plastic. Roy Lewis used that method.
I use my forearm and stop if I feel more than 10 pounds of pressure.
Thanks Dom and Junior, for posting those standards. Seems the InterNACHI method allows the use of the ‘outstretched arm’ method which I used, I conducted a properly acceptable test. My brother said he was able to purchase a new bracket for $10 and it took 15 minutes to install.
Robert, any idea why Roy used a modified roll of toilet paper and not just a 2x4? I’m going to throw a short piece of 2x4 in my tool bag to use in the future since that seems to be a better test method, which might be easier (and less arbitrary) method than the arm method.
Summary: My question was did I do something wrong and should I feel liable to pay for repairs? Answer is I did not do anything wrong, I conducted a proper test and should not feel liable to pay for damage or repairs. Had the InterNACHI standards not indicated the outstretched hand method was acceptable, then I would have conducted an improper test and should accept responsibility for repairs.
Thanks all.
Yes, your Honor, I tested the door reverse system just like our inspector’s association standards said was acceptable. No, your Honor, our association did not do any testing sufficient to compare with the vehicle door’s manufacturers and their association.
George, read Larry’s comment above. Using a 2X4 is the Only method that will keep you out of trouble.
Also testing the overhead garage door for automatic resistance is not required in InterNACHI’s SOP.
IV. The inspector is not required to:
K. verify or certify the proper operation of any pressure-activated auto-reverse or related safety feature of a garage door.
I’ll add that I have came to the same conclusion as Bert (below). Being that it is not required in my State’s, or InterNACHI’s, SOP and to avoid risk of damage and costly repair, I no longer test the auto-reverse function.
IMO InterNACHI should remove any relevance to testing the auto-reverse safety feature from All of their related courses or material.
Reading this thread, it is clear that there are a variety of opinions on the proper way to test a garage door’s automatic reverse safety functionality, and for good reason. The officially sanctioned test (2x4 lumber on the slab) has resulted in numerous broken doors during inspections as many of us have personally witnessed a failure or two ourselves. The force test (outstretched hand with gentle pressure) is impossible to replicate exactly every time and this test also has caused many failures during inspections because sometimes we don’t know our own strength. I have had both methods result in broken garage door components (and paid for repairs) and I now choose option #3. Do not test auto-reverse by contact or force.
Try telling a homeowner “It failed during testing” and guess what their reaction will be.
It will be pretty hard to convince a homeowner that breaking their garage door was a normal and acceptable thing to do, even if you try to justify it with " our SOP" and “Manufacturer’s official test”.
Thanks Bert, I’m beginning to come around to your view that maybe it isn’t worth testing it. I haven’t had a 2x4 test fail with damage…yet.
But I have about a 2% fail with damage rate iwth the outstretched arm test, so neither test is really worth the potential damage. Thanks all.
