Rollup Door Switch Comparison
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Trackit Proximity Sensor Switch Uses Patented Technology
The Only Patented Multifunction Switch Technology in the Industry
SUPERIOR PRODUCT
- Virtually Indestructible
NO INVASIVE HARDWARE
- No protruding screws or additional hardware required.
- No modifications or damage done to door track or rollup door curtain.
- Will not interfere with smooth operation of rollup door.
EASE OF INSTALLATION
- Fastest, Easiest installation possible; no special tools required.
- Replaces existing OEM head stop/doorstop or use with existing doorstop.
- No adjustment necessary in field.
- No unnecessary drilling or extra hardware required.
FUNCTIONAL OEM COMPONENT OF ROLLUP DOOR AND TRACK
- No design changes for rollup door manufacturers.
- No extra mounting holes required in door track.
- Door latch can be made of nonmagnetic materials; no special latches required.
- No additional mounting hardware.
MAINTENANCE FREE
- Patented floating reed technology.
- No damage from repetitious or heavy impact.
- Cannot be bent or knocked out of adjustment.
- Absolutely no false alarms
OVER 25 YEARS OF HEAVY COMMERCIAL USE
- Proven Reliability
- Tens of thousands of Trackit Switches installed.
- Limited Lifetime Warranty
The Trackit Switch was engineered as a necessary piece of hardware for the company I started with the help of my partners in the late 1980s, Envirocom. As a company focused on high-end custom commercial automation systems, sitewide remote monitoring, and failproof alarm systems in the greater Houston area, we would sometimes struggle using the existing alarm switch packages that were available in the industry at the time, and, in the early 90s, that is where the idea of the Trackit Switch began.
I knew what was required to keep the promises made to my clients and that there were too many complicated workarounds using the switches that were available on the market, so, using the job site experience of our installation crews and years of industry experience, I designed my own switch package.
Initially, my two major concerns were reliability and ease of installation. The two worries go hand-in-hand. A device that is over-engineered and a chore to install correctly in the proper location has a much greater chance of malfunctioning or not even working at all and is one of the reasons many individual door alarm systems can be abandoned in the first year.
Using these two key design principles lead me to develop a brand-new switch package technology; a multifunction glass reed switch that is virtually indestructible under any known conditions. After repeated successful field testing on all our jobs over several years, the first US government patent in what would grow into an entire line of patented products and innovations that all work in conjunction with one another was applied for and granted.
The Trackit Switch has proven its worth with almost thirty years of field application and is still offered at a very competitive price even in today’s market. To this day, it is also the easiest rollup door switch to install in the industry.
The Trackit Switch replaces the existing doorstop (head-stop) using the existing hardware supplied by the rollup door manufacturer to hold the original head-stop in place – no additional hardware is necessary that could damage the rollup door curtain or hinder the smooth operation of the door. Decades of reliable service make the patented Trackit Multifunction Rollup Door Switch a proven major player in the individual door alarm and custom control market.
Glen Gilmore
Brief summary of the following information.
- Theory of a reed switch. The norm in the alarm industry is to use a normally closed reed switch that opens when the magnet is moved away from the switch to trigger the alarm system.
- Theory of an alarm system. All systems look for a normally closed circuit to arm the door and function properly.
- Descriptive write up of all alarm switches. The best location for a door alarm switch on a rollup door to be installed is at the top of the door track where the curtain and track stay tight at all times. This is also the hardest location to defeat and the easiest installation point (shorter exposed wire lead). The automatic functionality of the alarm system to arm a door is not lost by using an alarm switch that monitors the open and close movement of the door. The only way to properly secure a door is to monitor the open and close movement of the door.
The Theory Of A Reed Switch (Or Proximity Sensor)
A reed switch detects the presence of a magnet. The normally closed reed switch(figure #1 below) is actually a mechanical contact switch. The actual contacts are rarely noticeable because they are encased in a glass tube inside a housing.
There are two different models of a basic reed switch. The most common model of reed switch is a normally closed reed that is a closed circuit device. Door alarm systems require a closed circuit to function. With no magnet present the reed switch is open (figure #1). When the magnet is in close proximity the switch is closed (figure #2) making a closed circuit.
The range of distance that creates a closed circuit is called the gap. Removing the magnet from the closing proximity makes the contacts dislocate and an open circuit occurs(figure #3). An open circuit triggers the alarm system.
The other model is a normally open switch. When the magnet is in close proximity to the switch it opens. With no magnetic field in close proximity this switch is closed. The normally open reed switch works exactly opposite of a normally closed reed switch. The normally open reed switch is rarely seen in the alarm industry except in the Latch switch as explained below in figure #4. The normal application of a reed switch and magnet is to move the magnet away from the switch and create an open circuit. The norm in the alarm industry is to use a normally closed reed switch that changes state when the magnet is moved away from the normally closed reed switch. It is not normal in the residential or commercial alarm industry to try to interrupt the magnetic field with a metal latch to create a closed circuit.(figure #4) Doing so introduces too many variables by trying to control a magnetic field with a metal door latch.
Many reed switch configurations are available. The specific application warrants which package should be used.
Theory of an Alarm System
An alarm system is designed with normally closed alarm loops that requires a normally closed alarm switch to properly alarm an opening. A normally closed alarm loop is used so the loop cannot be cut and bypassed to defeat the alarm system. The alarm system is designed to signal a warning. In the storage industry, a warning is generally associated with the unauthorized opening of a tenant’s door. The best method for complete site control by a manager or owner is to have the alarm system automatically monitor the opening and closing of their tenant’s doors. The unauthorized opening of a door will sound a warning and send a remote indicator that an alarm sounded.
A storage facility door alarm system operates by disarming an individual door when the tenant enters a valid code at an entry keypad. The system is programmed to allow a short period of time for that tenant to get to and open the door. Once the door is closed the system arms itself after a short period of time or when the current code is entered at the exit keypad.
It is of the utmost importance for the alarm system to have an accurate signal from the sensor switch signaling when the door is opened and closed. In order for the alarm system to operate properly a normally closed sensor switch that monitors the opening and closing of the door is required. Using this type of sensor switch the alarm system will always arm the door when the door is closed and sound a warning when it is opened regardless of the latch position.
Sensor switches that only monitor the movement of the door latch is a normally open device and will not tell the automatic alarm system whether the door is opened or closed. One of the problems is when the door is closed but not latched. The facility’s alarm system will never arm the door to sound a warning when it is reopened if the door is not latched in the track when the door is closed. In many cases the problem is magnified due to the tenant locking their padlock with the latch still in the unlatched position (not through door track) due to the latch type switch obstructing the latch opening in the track. If a correct normally closed switch that monitors the position of the door is used, all that is needed to arm a door is to close it. Does not matter the position of the latch.
By using a latch type switch the storage facility’s alarm system is monitoring the position of the latch and could make the storage facility responsible for making sure the tenant has slid the latch completely into the door track and they secured their lock. This action would normally be the responsibility of the rental tenant when the tenant locks their rollup door with their own lock.
When a normally open latch type switch fails it does not notify the alarm system it has failed. The only way to determine if there is a bad latch type switch is to monitor all the activity on an activity report looking for a door open and door close after a good tenant code is entered at the keypad. The facilities alarm system has now lost a key automatic function of the alarm system by not reporting defective latch type switches. Using this type of switch is burdensome to manage. If a normally closed switch that monitors the position of the door is used, all automatic functions of the alarm system are functional and any switch failure will be reported to the alarm system.
Using a normally open latch switch does not conform to the basic industry alarm standards. All credible suppliers do disclose that a normally open latch type switch should never be used to alarm an opening.
Using normally closed sensor switches that monitor the open and close movement of the door does conform to industry alarm standards and is the only correct method that allows the alarm system to automatically secure the units on the property correctly.
Non-invasive Installation
Trackit roll-up door switch is the only completely non-invasive door switch on the market. There are no protruding screws or bolts needed because the doorstop is replaced with the Trackit Doorstop / Switch assembly.
Trackit Roll-up Door Proximity Switch
Trackit is proud to offer this innovative product to the industry.
The patented Trackit Multifunction Rollup Door Switch uses the proper application of a normally-closed reed proximity switch that conforms to hardwired alarm standards for a closed loop alarm zone. A virtually indestructible switch that is easily installed, very durable and dependable, doesn’t need readjustment, and is extremely difficult to defeat. Absolutely NO FALSE ALARMS. A single Trackit Switch serves multiple functions including individual door alarm, stall lighting, HVAC damper, exhaust fans, cellphone dialer and countless other possibilities.
The Trackit Switch uses a powerful, low profile rare earth magnet to guarantee proper actuation. It is industry standard to secure any opening with a normally closed loop system. That way the alarm can’t be defeated by simply cutting a wire and tricking the system into thinking that the opening is still closed rendering the alarm useless. The most stable application of a normally closed reed proximity switch used in the entire alarm industry is to move the magnet away from a stationary switch rather than the alternative of introducing a metal latch into a magnetic field in order to attempt to interrupt that magnetic field to change the switch state. The latter application opens the door for many obvious issues and possibilities for failure. Moving the magnet away from the stationary switch gives a positive charge to the switch state 100% of the time and is always 100% effective. The commercial and residential alarm industry routinely uses this application to properly alarm and secure an opening.
The rare earth magnet is not glued on or screwed into the door curtain. Instead, the magnet has a slim enough profile that it can be attached directly onto the door curtain using an adhesive metal overlay on top of the magnet. The magnet metal overlay is a fast and permanent installation solution without the drying time of goopy glue. No damage to the rollup door curtain from invasive hardware and it can still be used without interference to rollup doors that use a curtain drum. We recommend installation of the Trackit Switch and the magnetic overlay high at the upper portion of the rollup door track and curtain because it is the most secure location, and the track and curtain are also both pulled closely together during the full travel of the door.
The Trackit Switch assembly replaces the existing doorstop or head stop. Our switch is actually a part of the doorstop, is very difficult to bend due to its steel construction, and, because the Trackit Switch is installed to the rollup door track, it will never be knocked out of alignment. There is no extra invasive hardware protruding from the assembly that will damage the door track or rollup door curtain. After installation readjustments to the switch assembly will never be necessary – even if the door track is twisted out of place it naturally recoils back into its original position at the top where the Trackit Switch is intended to be installed for optimal performance. The patented technology of our innovative switch makes it virtually indestructible under any known conditions.
For almost 30 years of daily commercial use the Trackit Switch has performed extremely well without fail. Using our patented technology alongside precision components combined with rugged materials is why tens of thousands of Trackit devices are still in the field, still in service after decades of reliable monitoring and security and will continue to for the lifetime of the facility. Easy to install, no invasive hardware and virtually indestructible. The Trackit Multifunction Rollup Door Switch is the best application for a storage facility door alarm installation. It arms the door even when the latch is not latched.
The scientific data and opinions on this website have been constructed by Trackit’s engineering staff.
