Servicing
Automatic door servicing
Planned servicing that keeps an entrance running — on our own doors and on other manufacturers’ equipment. What a visit covers, how often it should happen, and how we take over a door somebody else installed.
On the visit
What a service visit covers, before any modernisation
Every scheduled visit works through the same checks rather than a quick look and a signature, and it is usually where the case for automatic door modernisation first shows up:
Door movement. Opening and closing speeds, hold-open time and cushioning are checked against how the entrance is actually being used, not against the factory defaults.
Activation and safety sensors. Tested at every visit as routine work, not only after a fault. Sensors drift, get knocked by trolleys and dust over, and a mis-set safety sensor is the fault most likely to hurt somebody.
Mechanical components. Belts, rollers, carriages, floor guides and tracks inspected for wear and alignment.
Controls and locking. Controller behaviour, battery backup where fitted, access control interfaces and after-hours locking.
How often
Service intervals by building
In high-traffic areas we recommend a service visit every three months, whether or not automatic door modernisation is on the cards. Quieter entrances run longer between visits, because the interval is set against the cycles the door actually carries.
A shopping-centre entrance and a controlled office door can sit on identical hardware and need completely different schedules. Retail, hospitals, clinics and transport interchanges tend to sit at the three-month end, and they are also where automatic door modernisation pays back fastest. Office receptions, back-of-house doors and controlled-access entrances often run comfortably at six-monthly intervals.
We set the interval when we quote, based on the building and the traffic rather than a standard package. When a door stops holding its settings between visits, that is normally the point at which automatic door modernisation is cheaper than continuing to service it.
Other brands
Taking over a door somebody else installed
A lot of the entrances we modernise were installed by somebody else, sometimes by a contractor who is no longer trading and left no record of what was fitted.
We service and repair automatic doors from other manufacturers alongside our own, so an unfamiliar brand is not a reason to replace a working entrance. Where parts genuinely are unobtainable, automatic door modernisation to our own MC-125 or MCW-100 operators puts the door back on a supply chain with spares held in Johannesburg rather than six weeks away on a container. Requirements for powered pedestrian doors in South Africa are published through SABS.
Questions
Service and modernisation, answered
How often should an automatic door be serviced?
Every three months in high-traffic areas. Quieter entrances can run longer, because we set the interval against the cycles the door actually carries rather than a calendar date.
Do you maintain doors you did not install?
Yes. We carry out automatic door maintenance and repairs on other manufacturers’ equipment as well as our own, which is what allows a mixed estate to sit with one supplier.
What happens if a door fails between visits?
Use the 24/7 technical support line rather than the office number. Because spares are held in Johannesburg, most common failures can be repaired without waiting on imported parts.
How long should an automatic door last?
Around 20 years if it is looked after, and automatic door modernisation can extend a door well past the life of its original operator. Wear tracks cycles rather than age, so the interval and the quality of each visit matter more than the door’s date of installation.
Aftercare
Servicing, spares and agreements
Service intervals should follow cycles, not the calendar: a mall entrance can do more work in a month than an office door does in a year. A visit checks and realigns sensors, inspects belt, rollers and guides, re-checks opening and closing force and replaces wear parts before they strand the door.
Consumable and wear items, including belts, rollers, floor guides and seals, are replaced as part of servicing rather than under warranty. A service level agreement runs alongside the product warranty; it neither replaces nor extends it.
Budget
How automatic door servicing is priced
Four things move the number: the opening width, the glass, the sensor layout and whether access control is included. Send the opening size and a photograph and a quotation usually follows within two working days.
Figures exclude VAT unless the quotation says otherwise, and any published guidance on this site is indicative rather than a fixed price.
Detection
What the sensors actually do
Two detection types work together on automatic door servicing: motion to open on approach, and presence to hold the door for somebody standing in the opening. Add safety beams and a force limit and the leaf reverses rather than pushing through an obstruction.
Speed, hold-open time, force and the sensor layout are recorded at handover, so a later adjustment can be compared against how the entrance was commissioned.
Send us the door as it is
A photograph of the operator housing, the clear opening width and height, and a note on what the door is doing wrong is usually enough for us to say whether it is worth upgrading. If it is not, we will say so.
What automatic door servicing actually covers
A service visit is not a quick look at the door. Automatic door servicing is a fixed sequence of checks on the operator, the leaves, the sensors and the safety behaviour, and it ends with the settings written down so the next visit starts from a known state.
The automatic door servicing checklist
- Drive and transmission: belt tension and condition, pulleys, motor mountings and the controller’s error history.
- Carriages and track: rollers, anti-riser blocks and the track itself, cleaned and checked for wear that will become noise.
- Leaves and guides: floor guides cleared, leaf alignment and closing position checked against the frame.
- Sensors: activation and presence sensors re-aimed and tested through the full sweep, including the threshold area.
- Safety behaviour: obstruction detection and reversal tested with an object, not assumed from the controller display.
- Speeds and timing: opening and closing speed, hold-open time and low-energy behaviour set for the traffic the entrance actually carries.
- Power and backup: supply checked, and battery backup tested where it is fitted.
- Access control: readers, free-exit devices and interlocks operated to confirm they still release the door as intended.
- Report: every automatic door servicing visit leaves a record of what was set, what was replaced and what is starting to wear.
Automatic door servicing intervals
Intervals are set against cycles rather than the calendar. A shopping-centre entrance can pass more cycles in a month than an office door does in a year, so automatic door servicing on the two cannot sensibly be scheduled the same way. At survey we estimate the cycle count from the traffic pattern, then set an interval and adjust it once the first year of real data exists.
Doors installed by other suppliers
We take over automatic door servicing on entrances installed by other companies. The first visit is longer because it doubles as a condition survey: we record the make, the operator, the sensor layout and the state of the track, then tell you plainly what is serviceable, what is obsolete and what needs replacing before it fails. Spares for the ranges we supply are held in Johannesburg, and the operators we install carry a 24-month warranty.
Are the operators made in South Africa?
The MC-125 and MCW-100 are imported and assembled at our Laser Park facility in Johannesburg, where spares and technical support are held locally.
Do you service other manufacturers equipment?
Yes. Where we take over an entrance somebody else installed, we report its condition before committing to a maintenance interval.
What warranty applies to the operator?
The MC-125 and MCW-100 carry a 24-month (two-year) warranty. The warranty that applies to your installation is the one recorded on your quotation and invoice.
Automatic door servicing in four pictures
