Electric Roller Shutter Doors Types of Electric Motor Systems
Any electric roller shutter door is driven by one of 3 types of electric motor systems.
Each has their limits and advantages in terms of operational speed, power requirements, number of operations per day ratings and other factors, such as motor size and positioning to enable installation with any site restrictions.
Controls for electric roller doors include the basic ‘hold to run’ push button system, which is what most electric doors use in non domestic installations because it is the cheapest and easiest system. One step up is an ‘impulse’ control which enables the user to walk away once a button is pressed because the door has safety devices to avoid the door hitting anything in its path. When you go to remote control or radar/loop detection controls the safety is often even more robust to detect even potential objects nearby.
The controls for any electric door all depend on the users and building requirements along with security and convenience, including perhaps operation out of hours for certain operatives.
So many controls are available these days along with robust monitoring from within the motor and controls to log the activity of the door.
Here are the 3 main types of roller shutter electric motor drive methods:
Tube Motor Drive - 240V
An internal fitted ‘tube motor’ or barrel motor is most common on smaller, lighter roller shutter doors and is only available as a single phase 240V option. This type of motor will be neat and compact allowing the door details at the top to be slimmer and neater, BUT it also means a far lower number of operations per hour or day.
This type of motor is not suitable for any commercial or industrial roller door which is to be opened more than around 10 - 15 times a day, although this will also be dependent on the overall size and weight of the door curtain.
The electric tube motor shutter also has more size limitations, especially on the height of the door. A thermal cut out built into the tube motor itself and the manufacturers rating means it has limited operation time and therefore isn’t suitable for taller doors as used on warehouses and the like. A tube motor is great for easily adding wireless controls as the receiver is often built into the tube motor itself, again keeping everything neat.
For low level use and small to medium size roller doors this is a great option but will not be available in any of the heavier duty roller door models with heavier double skinned steel curtains.
Chain Drive
The chain drive motor is one of the most traditional methods for automating an industrial roller door and can be a retro fit, although regulations would possibly not be met if there wasn't an anti fall mechanism out in place at the same time.
The chain drive method allows the motor to be installed in various positions to suit and generally is always an ‘inboard’ motor set up at the endplate and this helps to keep the side room requirements to a minimum.
A chain drive motor can be either single 240V or three phase 400V depending on various factors such as door size, number of operations per day and the curtain weight overall.
Single phase, just like the tube motor, has more limited weight handling and therefore limited size ranges for the doors.
Single phase is usually easier to manage and also to add on additional controls.
Obviously the size of the motor is determined by the power and torque output required and output torque can vary from around 60Nm to around 5000Nm on the largest motor drives.
Anto fall back devices can be integrated into the motor as an overall package to comply with regulations where required, otherwise it is an external and separate device.
Direct Drive
The direct drive motor has minimal moving parts and components in its set up and is a quieter method of roller door drive as well. The downside of the direct drive is the requirement for more sideroom, but the benefits are usually worth it if you have the room.
A direct drive motor will allow for high speed power settings to be used and is also the default motor type for any high usage roller shutter doors such as you would find in a car park or busy warehouse or factory environment.
The direct drive motor is available in single and three phase, but is mainly used with three phase as this matches the usual specification for the door and the environment where high speed and high usage are required. It also allows for the largest sizes of roller door to be electrically operated.
