Environmental Testing

When you select an automatic door to purchase for your coop, do you have any idea to what extent the manufacturer tested the door design? We have probably done more testing and evaluation than we suspect the other door manufacturers have done... and we continue to evaluate and improve.

We have just completed some testing at temperature extremes, using this industrial Environmental Chamber. You can see the temperature is set to -30 and has achieved -28 degrees. Without help from liquid Nitrogen, this chamber can't get colder than that!

     

We subjected an ADOR1 to the nominal -30 deg C (-20 deg F) to be sure there were no mechanical problems for operation at that temperature.  Putting the ADOR1 in continuous cycle mode, we watched the door go up/down with no problems while subjected to these temperatures for about 30 minutes.  Then we tested that the ADOR1 responded to light properly at -30 degrees C.  We don't know if anyone would want to operate a chicken door at such a temperature extreme, but this is a measurement of reliability and ruggedness.  The ADOR1 came through with flying colors.

The next test was to do the same thing at the high temperature extreme of +150 degrees F (+65 deg C).  We don't expect such extremely high temperature to be what a coop will be exposed to, but if it works at 150 degrees we have a great margin. Again, we observed no problems at the high temperature either.  We observed the light sensitivity increased a little bit at higher temperature compared to freezing temperatures, and this is not a bad thing.  It is better that opening would be a bit later and closing would be a bit earlier in very cold weather. 

Watch the video of the ADOR1 running a continuous cycle test at 150 degrees Fahrenheit.  We didn't post a video of the other temperature tests. The lab tests at -20 degrees and +150 degrees Fahrenheit were performed on an individual random sample from production.  Test results are provided as qualitative indication that the ADOR1 is rugged and reliable at normal temperatures extremes where these test points are outside of what we recommend for use.

The following is a video of the ADOR1 exposed to simulated falling rain.  The box remains protected from the water. We recommend the ADOR1 be installed so that it is protected from falling rain, especially since water can freeze in the channels and immobilize the door.  There are no wooden parts that can swell and bind and the electronics is protected from surface condensation.
IF YOU MOUNT SIDEWAYS THEN YOU MUST HAVE ADOR COVERED FROM FALLING WATER.  THE ENCLOSURE DOES NOT SHED RAIN IF MOUNTED HORIZONTALLY.
NOTE: We do sell a Canopy to help protect ADOR from falling precipitation. Some people like the Canopy just for the looks of it.
Back to blog