Electric garage door openers UK - History - Part 1

One that got away

Low voltage DC motors driving garage door openers were to be seen in the UK during the mid to late 1970's.

Those Electric Garage Door Openers had state of the art solid state circuitry and were then, the market leader.  

Electric Garage door openers UK

First electric garage door openers, low voltage garage door openers were made in UK. They were successful only when installed to tight tolerances. Unfortunately, this limitation was part of its downfall in the race to offer automatic garage door opener UK which could be fitted by the DIYers. The price was right, and it should have been a popular choice. But ...

At a meeting between the UK manufacturer and specialist automatic garage doors installers, only 2 firms in a group of about 15 showed approval for the continued development of the then unique openers. The opposite attitude of the remainder due entirely to the limited tolerances in the installation of one part of the kit.

Shortly after that last meeting on the tour - of four national regions I believe - the manufacturer withdrew the openers. They would not consider the suggestion that those who could use it successfully could 'buy the concept' from them and continue the development. It was subsequently revealed that they wasted a lot of money on that venture.

Last sight of one of these fine electric garage door openers , more than twenty years later, was of one in use every day in the late 90's. But of course the manufacturer in those early days could have been seeking volume sales in a rush to maintain their market share. Shortly thereafter they were importing older earlier designs using mains motors. Of course the customers had to fork out more cash for the inferior alternatives.

No doubt some of these electric garage door openers or automatic garage doors are still in use today. Those same electronic design principles are the basis of the current low voltage garage door openers that have been introduced during the first few years of 21st century. Good old electric garage door openers UK :-)

History of garage door openers UK, Part 2 to follow