ice on airlift doors

[SHINEY2]

looking for help in finding a blower heater to keep the automatic doors from getting laryered with ice from auto oversparay and freezing shut every day in january...so i am turning to the pro's [ah..thats you by the way]

can someone point me to a link or site to show my heating guy.

 

[DiamondWash]

I don't know if this is overkill, but I have seen these heaters at a few washes here for that exact same reason. http://www.carwashdoors.com/Brochures/gg doorjet layout 2003.pdf

 

[Reds]

I have the exact same problem with ultimate doors. I called one of the door companies a couple years ago and they wanted a couple thousand dollars for the type of heater that carwashdoors.com has. Any idea of the price range for the carwashdoors.com heaters? They say it's stainless - are the burners stainless or just the outer housing? I don't know if this heater is the answer to my problem. I get water laying on the "top" of my door when it's open during UC spray. Then the door closes and the wet surface which is now on the outside of the bay freezes. Over the course of the day the ice gets thicker and thicker. Sometimes 1/2" thick and needs to be knocked off with a rubber mallet. The water also seeps into the joint between the doors and creates resistance to the panels closing tight. I have to take a screwdriver and clean out between the panels. Admittedly I am located in a cold climate with a constant north wind blowing at my entry doors. But I am not sure that the heater could dry the door enough in the short time that it's open to fix the problem. My bays are heated so no ice on the inside of the door. But the outside ice problem is very difficult to deal with. I wonder if a heater like this pointed at the doors for a couple minutes would melt the ice.

 

[ted mcmeekin]

We had same problem. Got a tip from this forum on track heating--a 4 ft strip heater 120 v (1 inch wide) attached to back side of track with hi temp rtv--heat moves up entire track. We also set doors about 1/2 inch off floor, our electric operators are inside equipment room. We just flip switch on very cold days and feel track to be sure they are working. Works great for us.

Ted

 

[ScottV]

Ted,

Where would one find that type of 4' strip heater. I have the Airlift vinyl door tracks and we had ice buildup last winter as well. Sounds like your solution is a proven one.

ScottV

 

[bigleo48]

I have the airlift doors too and I'm up in Canada and it can get very cold here (great white north!).

I do not have anything special on my doors and they do not freeze. This is what I have done. First, I have floor heat with a loop right under the door bottom to prevent ice from forming there. I also have a fan coil for supplemental heat and to knock down the fog when its really cold. Finally, once a month I spray White Lithium Grease between the panels.

But I did have the same issues you guys have and what I found worked for me it to make sure the doors seal very very well. Especially on the bottom. Just a small opening can cause the door to freeze. I also keep the bay in the 50s. Too hot is a waste and cause too much fog.

Big

 

[ted mcmeekin]

Scot,

We got heat strips from Dultmier (sp ?)- not sure they are in catalogue. They are 1 inch by 4 ft. and operate at 120 volt.

Ted

 

[SHINEY2]

Anyone have a link for the coil fan heaters...my heating guy dont know where to get these...

 

[bigleo48]

If you just google fan coil unit, you get lots of links. However, any Plumbing and Heating Supply store would have some. I can tell you where I got mine, but we are likely in different areas.