Grating/screeching Motorised Steel Shutters

[eek]

My steel shutter doors make a horrible screeching sound. They are motorised. I asked a "handyman" about them and his suggestion was to cut the motor! I love that they are motorised, and in my mind i cant see how cutting the motor would prevent the sound as the sound seems to be coming from the corrugated door edges scraping along the frame as they go up.

I also asked the handyman if maybe oiling them might work, and he looked at me like i was retarded...lol.

I just wonder if anyone here has had a similar problem and if they found a good solution? If its a big/difficult job to fix, i will likely just put up with the screeching (but im sorry for my neighbours too. Thankfully i dont use them too often). But hoping that something simple(ish) is worth trying!

Thank you.

[jackr]

Yep, roller shutter doors are inherently noisy what with all that metal to metal. Tempting as it is, best not to oil or grease the runners as it'll bung them up. It is more than likely the sliding of the edges through the guides (as you suspect) and nothing to do with the motor. The only type of stuff you could use would be a dry lubricant or something like a silicon spray, which you could probably get from Global/Home Pro. May have to spray on fairly frequently. For more permanence, you could consider getting a conscientious Thai craftsman ( ) to rivet some teflon trips to the insides of the guides.

[eek]

Tnx jackr! Will give the silicon spray and dry lubricant a shot. Not sure which one ill try first Glad i didnt just go spraying on oil! Even if the spray/lubricant justs quietens the sound down it will be good.

[GungaDin]

Hi Eek,

you might try a copycat of WD40 available here in the Tescos & Car4s.

It stopped my heavy bolts from screeching.

Good ideas from jackr, too.

[katabeachbum]

have the same garage door motorised.

if I disconnect motor, door is much more quiet because it opens/closes faster.

have tryed silicon on the gliders, works fine for about 5 times. same with CRC/Wd40

have tryed motorcycle chainspray, works fine for about 10 times.

the noise is very similar to Bangla road 3 am when all the bars close.

back to the noise. I dont mind, I m in my car

[eek]

Thanks guys. Hah..well..looks like im going to have to regularly use something to dull the noise a bit. Will give the variety of suggestions a try. Katabeachbum, im in a scooter, not a car, so im not so lucky. Plus im sure my new neighbours just love me when early morning or late at night they hear some godawful banshee sound coming from my garage doors. ..mind you..one neighbours dog did keep me up half the night, causing me to have malicious thoughts about ways of shutting it up...

[mirthseeker]

Some domestic rollerdoors in Australia have a strip of material, similar to seat belt webbing (but thicker), approx 10mm X 3mm, pop riveted to the edge of the door itself, so that there is no direct contact between the door and the door guides. Of course, the guides are of such a size as to allow for the additional thickness of the webbing.

Means the doors are silent if the guides are adjusted correctly. But whether such a solution could be retrofitted?????

[Cuban]

>..mind you..one neighbours dog did keep me up half the night,

Noisy dogs can be turned into shutter lubricant after removing the bones and teeth and then put through a blender.

The problem with using oil/grease etc in the open in Thailand will be the dust in the air that will settle on the grease and over time form a grinding paste between the metal surfaces. This is a problem that exposed motorbike chains encounter here, leading to wear and later problems.

However, in your situation if the screech is being caused by the metal-metal in tight contact perhaps the friction would be eased (and so the noise reduced over time) by some grease and dust (fine sand) applied to the shutter's guide channels on either side of the shutter.

Best to keep dust/grease out of the motor and any I assume chains or gear wheels that the motor has connecting it to the shutter.

If you do apply grease bear in mind that in the hot weather it will tend to run and you might wish to consider some rags to collect any loose grease that gathers at the bottom of the runners.

HTH.

[pgangell]

I had the same problem in Phetchabun and applied grease to the tracks. This worked really well stopping the screaching. The only remaining noise is from the rotation of the drum itself and I can't get in to the bearings as it is boxed in. I would need to undo the pop rivets. This noise is cyclic as the door unwinds and we can put up with it. It doesn't occur on the way up. We live in the country so not too much of a dust problem. Go with the grease.