Main door of the hangar is approximately 20' high, 40' wide, weighs a few tons. It is supported by a row of a dozen or so hinge sections along the top -- these hinges are welded to the door and to the door frame.

The door pivots on these hinges; it is opened by two hydraulic cylinder / piston assemblies, one at each end. The door is pushed outward and upward to open. Photo is not our hangar, but it shows the type of door.



The welds have broken several times, leaving the door unuseable and requiring hinge sections to be replaced at significant cost.

Here's a photo showing one of several broken hinge areas in the latest (current) failure:

This message has been edited. Last edited by: V-Tail,

I have worked on quite few overhead doors, none that big though.
Hard to tell from your picture but first glance it looks like the hinges might be out of alignment causing stress on them.

Do I see some corrosion ? That can't be good .

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:

I have worked on quite few overhead doors, none that big though.
Hard to tell from your picture but first glance it looks like the hinges might be out of alignment causing stress on them.

Big door, or not so big, depending on your frame of reference. Yes, this is big, but the smallest size at Our Little Airport. The developer laid out hangar lots standardized on three widths -- 50', 70', and 100'. The hangar that I lease is on one of the narrow lots, so the door is "only" about 40' wide. Many (most?) of the hangars with similar doors are on the 70' or 100' lots. Door failures like these are extremely rare; I only know of one other, whereas my hangar door has failed like this four times. One of those (the third one) was caused by a doofus who operated the door improperly, but the first two instances, and this one (the fourth) were seemingly random failures.

I too, have questioned alignment. The outfit that repaired the previous similar failure a year and a half ago, stated that alignment was proper, but I'm not convinced that they were correct.

A month has gone by while trying to find somebody to do a proper repair job. Several companies have been contacted. Finally found a company that is a hangar door specialist, it's what they do.

The repair was scheduled to start today. Step one was removing the weather stripping that covers the hinges, at which time the door specialist stated that there was not enough steel on the hangar side of the door frame, to support a proper weld. He said that if he tried to weld the new hinges to the existing support plate, it would likely fail in a few months; he needs to install a proper backing plate on the hangar, and then weld the new hinges to that.

Local supplier did not have the required material in stock, he ordered it, should be in tomorrow or early in the coming week. The door specialist says that once he has all the material, it should be a two day job.

Well it will be good to have a working hangar door now that fall is here and we're going to be in the mid to upper 80's

Are there any 9MM bullet holes in the skyward surfaces?

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

Are there any 9MM bullet holes in the skyward surfaces?

Not right now. Maybe they'll be there on New Year's Day.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Well it will be good to have a working hangar door now that fall is here and we're going to be in the mid to upper 80's

I was there for a short while today. Intended to do some work there, but with the door closed, I got baked to medium rare pretty quickly.

quote:

Here's a photo showing one of several broken hinge areas in the latest (current) failure:

It looks like the weld itself is breaking. With good welding this shouldn't happen. The metal next to the weld should give way first. This may be in conjunction with a misalignment or binding somewhere.

I had horton stack doors on my 55x60 in Hubbard, Oregon.

I really liked them.

quote:

Originally posted by AKSuperDually:

I had horton stack doors on my 55x60

I'm not familiar with those. Is that a multi-panel door, where the panels slide sideway on rollers?

If so, they are not permitted at Our Little Airport. The Owners Association mandates doors that are supported by hinges along the top, either the one-piece hydro-swing type like we have, or the electric bi-fold.

Pretty much everything about the outside of the hangar is dictated by the Association. Color, etc. Like most (all?) Owner Associations, HOA's, etc., there's a mix of good and bad. We have the usual assortment of Association Nazis, but on the other hand, there's a sort of cohesive appearance to the airport that's pretty attractive.

V-Tail,

Looks you really need some sliding doors. The way that one is designed puts a lot of stress on those hinges and is probably way too much weight for the intended application. If you need that style door, having it pivot on the ends with a counter balance of some sort would be my preference and much easier to maintain. However, it may sacrifice some head room you may not have.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:

V-Tail,

Looks you really need some sliding doors.

Per the last two paragraphs in the post directly above yours, sliding doors are not an option at this airport. The only hangar doors that are approved by the Owners Association are hinged at the top. Either hydro-swing type, or electrically operated bi-fold.

Repair work started today. In this photo, they are removing the weather stripping so that they can access the hinges, The hinges on the end of the door nearest us in the photo are completely broken and are not supporting the door at all. The bottom of the door at this end is resting on the ground instead of being suspended by the hinges.

Nothing like age, weather, humidity, and use to wear out something in Florida...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Nothing like age, weather, humidity, and use to wear out something in Florida...

haven't worn me down yet.

quote:

posted

I wonder if rain/moisture is trapped and collecting on the metal/angles on top of the door/hinges?
Billy

I'm wondering what a repair like that would cost?

I do recall some of the bullet hole story, wtf.

How often do you lube the hinges? The doors on our hangar in SZP West (Bifold, cables driven by electric motor) has hinges that are 3/4” rod running through tubes welded to the door. It started making a nasty pop on opening. I thought it was just the tile that a prior owner put under the door. Nope, the hinges and hinge pin were sticking, then popping loose with a loud crack. A neighbor explained that I’d best lube the hinges post haste less I have broken hinges as others in the complex have suffered. Hit them all with some spray white lithium grease and it quieted right down. Makes sense that if the hinge pin rusts to one of the tube, it is likely to put excessive load on the weld and surrounding steel.

Good luck with your repair!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: slosig,