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Garage Door Operator Prewire and Framing Guide
GARAGE DOOR OPENER PREWIRE AND FRAMING GUIDE
By Bob Moulton of Moulton Custom Door Company of Duxbury, VT.
110 Volt AC Outlet: Use the following formula to locate the outlet for the normal residential Draw-Bar operator installation: Door Height + 4'ft. = Distance back from header. Then offset 1 foot either side of center of door opening.
Wiring Notes: Any new operator should be installed on a 20 amp. GFI circuit. This has proven to help provide protection for the solid-state circuits. The average cost of a new operator control board is over $150.00. Even a nearby lightning strike can burn out these electronics and is not covered by any of the manufacturer's warranties. If your building is located in an area prone to lightning, use a single outlet plug-in Surge Protector in addition to the GFI protected circuit.
Low Voltage Wiring: There are two low voltage wiring circuits required for any new operator today:
The doorbell or button station: The Button circuit runs from the ceiling, centered on the door opening, and the operator outlet setback distance. Leave a minimum of 3' ft. lead to connect to the operator. The other end runs to where ever a button station is required. Please note that any button station should be located in a position so that the door is in visual range and can be seen when activated. The best position is inside the garage at the main passage doorway either leading to the living space or outside, or both. Several buttons can be used in parallel for one operator. 50" to 60" level is best and side by side for more than one door.
The Safety/Photoelectric sensor reverse: The Safety circuits, there are two, one for each side of the door. Leave a 24"inch lead, 6"inches off the floor and 4" to 6"inches back or to the side, on either side of the door opening. These leads come out of the ceiling at the same location as the button circuit with a minimum of 3'ft. lead.
Notes: If uncertain of the brand of operator, a four wire run from one floor location to the other floor location will cover any brand. Both these circuits need a minimum of two wires but four wire is better, 22 gauge or better with a tracer for polarity identification.
Framing Notes: Frame 16" to 18" of ceiling height above the door opening so that we can use standard 15" radius track. This kind of track runs the smoothest and gets the door up and out of the way. Review our framing diagram for other details.
Bob Moulton of Moulton Custom Door of VT furnishes a pre-wire guide and framing guide (with diagrams) for contractors and electricians.
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Back jamb Opening detail for mounting door and track.
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Framing and track shim detail.
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