Customer Reviews

Garage Door Autocloser

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The product comes with the sensor, reflector, wire, velcro, and instructions. It took me all of 30 mins and 3 tools (wire stripers, wire cutters and flat tip screw driver) to install it and that was only because I was taking my time.
Basically it's a door open alarm that triggers the garage door to close via the same two wire connection used on the wall button. This is such a great idea that I wonder why the new openers don't come with it as a standard feature. You can change the time interval from 2 to 30 mins before it closes the door. Also, if you work in the garage and want the door to stay open there is a disable button that will turn it off. Once the doors closes and re-opens the auto closer is on again. It has a very high pitch beep to warn you before it closes and works with most every garage door opener out there. Great instructions and easy steps to get it installed.

This is an very good product that works just the way it should and requires Zero modification of your current garage opener. Great Idea!

Update January 2011: Wow, it's been 3 years already since I installed this device. It's still working! My original review follows:

After leaving the garage door open more than once in our new house I Googled "auto garage door closer" -- after a little research I picked this one and am extremely satisfied.

I installed this in January 2008 and have had no problems whatsoever, it works every time we leave the garage door open (which lately is rare -- this thing does wonders for the memory). We have it set for 5 minutes, but I set it to 2 minutes when I show it to family/friends/neighbors. After 5 minutes of the garage door being open the unit beeps loudly for 30 seconds, brings the door down a couple feet then brings it all the way back open (to warn that the door is about to close), then closes the door all the way, beeping all the while. Push on the disable button to keep the door open another 5 minutes (or for however long the unit is set for) or hold the button until the unit beeps twice to keep the door open until you close it yourself (don't forget!).

Only 2 minor glitches during installation:
1) the AC adapter didn't have a screw hole-tab, as it shows in the manual, to secure it to the ceiling receptacle, but I secured it by wrapping a plastic cable-tie around it and the receptacle plate;
2) the supplied bolt was too thick for the holes in my particular J-brace, so I used an existing J-brace bolt.
Otherwise installation was relatively easy. I did install the disable button in the garage away from the button for the garage door opener; this was to avoid confusion for other users. The manual instructs to mount them side-by-side.

Before you buy this make sure your automatic garage door opener conforms to the latest government safety requirements: it has to have a properly working reverse mechanism and a photo eye mechanism. The Autocloser might work without these safety features, but the user manual stresses to "replace or update your garage door opener with a compliant model before installing the Autocloser."

The 32-page "Installation Manual And User's Guide" is well written with diagrams. The unit and accessories came professionally packed in pre-cut foam, and it's made in the USA -- a huge plus with me.

Easy to install, works great. Manual says "BE SURE YOU SCREW THE ELECTRIC PLUG INTO THE OUTLET" because if it falls out of your ceiling outlet it will hurt. But the plug doesn't have the screw tab pictured so you can't screw it in. I secured it with something else.

I also didn't know that the disable button required a separate wire from the unit across the top of the garage over to the inside opener button. I have a finished garage, and the opener wires are run hidden behind the wall. So now I have a second wire that runs exposed along the ceiling and wall. It works fine, it's just unattractive. Other than these two items, I have no problems and would buy it again.

Bought three Autoclosers and they worked perfectly for a couple of years and then one started behaving poorly, Beeps when it shouldn't beep, no closing of door, no lights on unit, then just dead. Contacted XCELTRONIX for warranty service and got some good ideas of what to check. Still dead! Sent unit in to company and was told nothing was wrong. Told them to throw it away as I wouldn't trust the thing to work right. So, lifetime warranty means NOTHING! Again, units work great until something goes wrong and then the purchaser is just up a creek.

I ordered this as peace of mind for our rentals. We live in Alaska where a garage door left open at -60F spells disaster. Unit is easy to install, decently priced, and I was impressed the company was willing to work with me on shipping. I also liked that it was hard wired in, I don't need a battery failing on me when it's January. We were afraid our tenants might get the override button confused with their regular garage door opener, so we just mounted it on the ceiling where it's an effort to get at. I don't want them overriding it anyways.
Initially I was told, as usual, there would be extra shipping costs for freight to Alaska. Once again as usual, I was about to cancel my order when I heard it was going to cost $44 to ship the $49 item and that was slow boat UPS. The rep from the company was nice enough to offer to take it to the post office and ship it USPS, which dropped the cost to $16, I had it in 3 business days. Any company willing to do that will have my business again.

I purchased two of these and installed them in less than an hour. The hardest part was running the wire to the disable button and that wasn't that hard- just used the same path as the regular button. I initially had a problem because the door wouldn't close totally. I called customer service and spoke with Ken. In a few moments he got it working. The sensor is so sensitive I had to aim the device down a bit so that it wasn' picking up erroneous reflections while the door was closing. Anyhow, it is now working fine. I looked at other devices that involved having a plunger (potential sticking) or using a transmitter with a battery (unnecessary maintainence). this was just slightly more expensive but I am pleased with the results.

This thing is awesome. Simple to hook up. Works consistently. Dont get annoyed when my roommates forget to shut the door. However, after 9 months of use, one of the gears in my garage door opener motor was stripped. Possibly from the autocloser shutting partially and reopening (it does this as a warning before it closes all the way). Had to replace the motor gear myself for $40, or be forced to pay $100 for a garage door repair co to do it. My opener is 10 yrs old however, so could be due just from normal use.

This AutoCloser works great! Fantastic for peace of mind. Installation will take a little while, most of which will be running wire, but isn't hard. You can tell the designers took it out in the field and installed it themselves then went back to the drawing board. Niceties such are a "setup" mode where it beeps when it sees the reflective tape are very handy in getting it installed correctly and quickly.

I like how you can perform so many functions from the single-button wall control. You can disable the autocloser so the door stays open, reset the timer, and set the delay time all without climbing up on a ladder to get to the unit. It would have been nice to have a sticker to put next to the button that detailed the functions and how many beeps = what delay time, but I made my own.

I do wish it had a better range for delay time. Options are 2,5,10,15, and 20 min.

The adapter plug on mine (ordered Jan 2010) is very light - can't see it slipping out of a ceiling socket. It's hard wired to the unit, so if you tie off the power cord 1/2 way between the adapter & unit, the adapter would just dangle from the cord anyway. No worries about getting clunked in the head.

The unit came packaged very well, all in form fitting foam. I'm sure this helps to survive UPS shipping. (Sorry, Amazon - ordered mine from autocloser dot com - cheaper by a few bucks and shipping was cheaper, too. Shipping from them was very quick as well.)

I'm not sure I like all the jigging and bopping the thing does when it does shut the door. I like the 30 seconds of beeping beforehand to warn you and give you time to make it over to the wall switch and reset the timer. But once it does start closing the door, it lowers the door a few feet, waits for 15 seconds, brings the door back up, waits 15 more seconds, and then lowers the door, and keeps beeping for 30 seconds after the door is shut. God Bless America and our lawsuit-happy lawyers that necessitate such exaggeration. (Although I must admit it came in handy - I was using the snowthrower and didn't hear the warning beeps. The visual clue of the door coming down 1/2 way was beneficial once already. Maybe I should reserve judgment.)

Works great with my Genie garage door opener and I really can't imagine an opener it wouldn't work with. Like another reviewer noted, it would have been nice if the j-brace reflector brace came with a reflective surface permanently attached. Mine came with a simple reflective sticker that I peeled off and put on. Even though I let it warm to room temp and cleaned the surface with alcohol, I wonder if the temp swings in the garage will make this sticker start peeling off one day.

Overall excellent product. I was drawn to this one over the tilt-sensor, door mounted models because it's AC powered. Not much peace of mind if you have to wonder if the battery on your autocloser is dead. I'd buy this again in a hearbeat. I will be buying as gifts, too.

Really easy to install. Works as advertised.

Basically you install a glossy red reflector to your garage door pivot arm, affix the main device box to the underside of your garage door opener and connect the autocloser to the garage door using the supplied wire (you get a nice roll of wire).

You then install the disable button (I didn't bother) by wiring the supplied button to the autocloser and putting it on your wall.

It works using an emitter on the autocloser that sees the red glossy reflector that you attached. It knows the door is open when it can see this reflector as when the door is closed it loses line of sight. Pretty simple.

The autocloser device has a toggle switch for off/setup/on. In setup it basically beeps letting you know it has line of sight on the reflector telling you that it's correctly positioned.

It beeps really loudly when it's about to close. Perhaps too loudly for my taste but it's my only complaint. I could easily muffle the sound with some tape if I wanted to.

Just wanted to add another review about how well this product works. It's not a cheap gimmicky one with batteries that will quit in 6 months and leave your door open. It's totally worth it. I got it because I forgot to close the garage door one morning when my wife and kid were home. In only a couple hours, some of our stuff ended up in the driveway. They could have walked in the back door and robbed us! Now I won't have to worry again. Thanks!