Grifco, manufacturer of commercial and industrial door openers, has raised the alarm on imported imitations of their product entering the Australian market that offer inferior performance and pose potential risks to public safety.
Chamberlain sales and marketing manager, Mike Fraser said:
“We have recently seen an influx of imported imitation Grifco door openers in the Australian market, particularly in the Melbourne area. A recent independent test commissioned by Chamberlain, the manufacturer of Grifco commercial door openers, found that the tested import functioned at below 20 per cent of the durability capability of the Grifco door openers.”
Two additional imitation openers tested on the same apparatus also uncovered that all the tested imitation openers failed and in once instance in an industrial application, the door would have dropped violently. All three tested units showed signs of serious wear and malfunction, including: oil leaks, worn gears and bronze particles in the gearbox.
The company said that the problem with lower cost imitation products is the lack of rigorous testing in Australian environments which poses potential threats to public safety and the wellbeing of workers.
“The imitation door openers are seemingly identical in appearance and also feature a copy of the patented ACEM technology, but can be identified by the absence of the Grifco brand name and the poor quality of the materials, which ultimately undermine the product’s performance and safety,” said Fraser.
Chamberlain has taken action to prevent further imports of the imitation products. If anyone has any concerns or questions about a commercial door opener that has been installed in the last 12 -24 months, please contact Chamberlain and a representative will do a site inspection and appraisal at no cost.
