In this spring edition discover how the new IP65i protected range of drives and controls can keep your customers’ doors working even in harsh humid environments.

We also look at new guidelines for installers and discuss the best ways you can prevent pedestrians becoming trapped by industrial doors.

If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover, please email your ideas to andrew.collett@guthriedouglas.com.

Andrew Collett Director 01926 452452

PS Please take a minute to add our email address to your list of ‘safe’ addresses so that our next issue in June lands safely in your inbox.

IP65i specification drive unit

Drives and controls used in harsh humid environments, such as composting facilities, can now be protected from the effects, keeping your customers’ doors working.

Guthrie Douglas now offers IP65i specification drive units. Unlike normal IP65 protection, IP65i prevents damage caused by the ingress of water vapour, which condenses out on to the electrical components. IP65 only stops the ingress of liquid water.

IP65i protection can be applied to mechanical limit drives in the Guthrie Douglas range. It’s ideal for use in situations where a lot of water vapour is produced, as illustrated in our case study of an indoor composting facility.

On traditional drive units, the limits are on a circuit board within a sealed box. The box prevents liquid water getting to the circuit board, but in high humidity it cannot stop water vapour. Once inside the box the vapour condenses back to water, soaking the circuit board and causing electrical damage.

In IP65i drives, all the limit switches are totally encapsulated. Although vapour can still enter the box, any condensate cannot get to individual switches or cause them to short circuit with a neighbouring switch.

Our TS series control panels are all IP65 rated if hard-wired into the mains supply, but to increase the protection a mini-heater in the control box prevents vapour from condensing, reducing the likelihood of water short-circuiting the panel.

Guthrie Douglas uses only the best quality components and suppliers so we’re pleased to have partnered with GfA to create IP65i. Talk to our technical support team on 01926 452452 to see if it answers your needs.

Wireless Safety Edge datasheet now available

Last issue, we launched details of the Wireless Safety Edge. The datasheet is now available for download here. More details on how the Wireless Safety Edge is easier to fit, more reliable on high-performance doors, and less likely to be vandalised than hard-wired models can be seen in our February 2010 newsletter. To discuss your requirements or order the Wireless Safety Edge call 01926 452452.

IP65i was created when an industrial door customer asked our experts to help prevent drives and controls failing in high humidity conditions at a composting facility.

The plant places green waste in rotting tunnels and heats it to accelerate decomposition, creating compost. The resulting humid conditions started to cause electrical problems with the drives and controls for the tunnels’ doors just a few weeks after the plant opened.

The Guthrie Douglas technical team investigated conditions at the site thoroughly before working with our partner GfA on the solution. Lessons learned by GfA from installations in Holland, where composting plants are commonplace, were also applied.

IP65i drives were fitted at the customer’s site in just a couple of weeks, keeping the plant operational.

If you are fitting door controls and drives in an unusual location please give all the details to the Guthrie Douglas technical team. We’ll advise on any potential pitfalls and make sure the best solution is specified.
 

I welcome the HSE’s new safety notice relating to electrically powered gates. I recommend everyone in our industry read it. The guidelines reflect the case of a child who was crushed by a powered gate but they apply equally to doors and shutters. The message is a very strong Safety First.

The recommendations include a reminder of installers’ legal obligation to CE Mark the completed assembly and for a conformity assessment. While door manufacturers and installers are responsible for the safe installation, Guthrie Douglas provides peace of mind that you are using safe, reliable and legal products.

We work with leading European manufacturing partners and test houses to ensure only compliant components are used in Guthrie Douglas products.

Everything we supply is designed to meet BS EN 12635 (Industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates. Installation and use).

The Guthrie Douglas technical team will help you select the right products for the job. Call 01926 452452 for their expert pre-sales advice.

The new draft standard for fire shutters is now out for public consultation.
prEN 16034 merges the product standard for fire/smoke resistant industrial doors with the equivalent document for pedestrian doors.

DHF members are invited to comment on the draft at a DHF Technical Review Group meeting at Guthrie Douglas’s offices at 2pm on Tuesday 27 April. Non-members can buy and download the draft from the BSI website here.
 

Would your employees benefit from Guthrie Douglas product training to help them better understand what they are selling to your customers? Maybe they just need a refresher course or you need to induct new employees. We regularly run dedicated training sessions such as the recent one for a door manufacturer’s new influx of depot managers.

To arrange tailored training sessions for your team, call 01926 452452. You are also welcome to tour our Warwick facility with customers or employees to view many Guthrie Douglas products in action.
 

If you’ve bought from Guthrie Douglas recently, you may have noticed our new paperwork and parts numbers. The changes are all part of a new computer system being installed.

Once fully up and running it will allow us to respond to your requests quicker, and speed up the flow of paperwork, such as order acknowledgements and quotations.

Please bear with us if there is a temporary slow-down of response times in the meantime.

So we can continue to communicate effectively please let us have any relevant email addresses for your business by replying to this newsletter.
 

A. Install a high-level photo-beam.

A serious hazard exists when a roller shutter, sectional door or rolling grille is capable of lifting someone as it opens. One of the most dangerous situations is when children play chicken by riding on automatic grilles at car park entrances. They risk being trapped and injured at the top of the door’s opening. Indeed, there has been one fatality in Germany in recent years.

Under both the Machinery Directive and the Construction Product Directive, installers have to provide means of preventing entrapment if a door can lift a person. You can reduce the ability to ride the door by ensuring it is smooth with no cutouts or protrusions that could work as a grab handle. But where a grille is needed for ventilation and visibility this is not always possible.

A simple and effective solution is a photo-beam at high level on each side of the curtain. A person travelling with the door will interrupt the beam causing the door to stop. This solution is easily integrated with our TS range of controls.

Remember that if you find a potentially dangerous situation with an existing installation you must bring it to the owner's attention immediately.
 

Last issue we asked about the biggest challenges facing you and your customers. You’ve told us that high-speed and higher-performance doors are becoming increasingly important to your customers. Drivers include the need to limit heat loss in their buildings to address environmental concerns and energy costs.

Buyers of industrial doors are also looking for ways to avoid contamination in food preparation areas, and new industries are emerging, bringing opportunities for new innovation – see our composting plant case study as an example of this.

So while the current economic climate is clearly having an impact, there are still opportunities in our industry, and long may that continue.