CONTACT US
Over 44 years ago, Schweiss Doors started manufacturing bifold doors that were lifted with cables.
But we didn't stop there. Each year, we raised the bar with continuous improvements like better and stronger
hinges with easily accessible grease zerks, robust door rollers and stronger all-steel doorframes.
After holding the distinction for 16 consecutive years as the best-selling and most popular cable-lift bifold door on the market, we decided it was time to create an alternate and safer method of lifting the bifold door through the use of our patented Lift-Strap system.
Straps are totally enclosed, rotating drum totally enclosed, protects you in all positions
It didn't take long before our new lift-strap invention would revolutionize the way customers could raise and lower their bifold doors. Utilizing lift straps to raise and lower our already renowned bifold doors was a real market game changer for the entire bifold door industry. It immediately made cable-lift doors outdated. Our bifold sales rocketed after customers could clearly see the advantages of using lift-straps to raise and lower their bifold doors.
Straps are more durable and longer-lasting than steel cables. Straps are flexible, which means longer life span than cable. Straps offer a quieter, smoother run on mechanisms like doors, where the reduction in noise can be a significant advantage in residential or quiet environments. Industries that prioritize safety, longevity, and noise reduction—such as construction, transportation, and residential applications—might find straps to be an optimal choice over traditional steel cables.
Unlike cables, straps are 100% quieter and smoother running on the door. Straps never get tangled or criss-crossed over them selves when they become slack, enhancing safety, and reducing the risk of operational failure or accidents.
Straps flexibility ensures an extended lifespan surpassing that of cables. The comparison of strength-to-weight ratios between straps and cables significantly favors straps. With a lifespan triple that of cables, their remarkable strength-to-weight ratio further reinforces their reliability. For instance, 3" straps are rated at 29,000 lbs, while 1/4" cables are rated at 7,200 lbs, highlighting the superior strength of straps. This implies that for equivalent weight, straps can handle significantly more load, making them an efficient choice on your bifold door.
Straps provide numerous benefits over traditional steel cables in applications like bifold door systems, heavy lifting, or any mechanism requiring robust, reliable support. Straps are resistant to rust, making them more durable than steel cables. This attribute alone significantly extends the lifespan of straps, as they're less prone to degradation over time. The inherent flexibility of straps reduces the wear and tear experienced during operation, contributing to a longer lifespan compared to the more rigid steel cables.
These advantages make straps a compelling alternative to steel cables, especially in applications where their unique benefits can be fully realized, leading to significant cost savings over time, both in terms of replacement parts and maintenance labor.
Once again . . . Schweiss looked closely at how we could make even more door improvements, not only for our doors, but other manufacturers doors as well. Thus emerged the advent of the "Schweiss Lift-strap Conversion kit."
With our "Do-It-Yourself" strap conversion kit, customers can save on installation costs and install the lift-strap conversion to their door by themselves. At the same time, they can go a step further and upgrade their latching system to the new strap latch system. This is a great way to have the benefit of a Schweiss automatic latching system added to their existing door!
Schweiss Lifts straps have proved to be a far superior method of lifting any bifold door. Lift straps wrap on top of themselves by design. No worry with overlapping issues or with cables rubbing against each other. Furthermore, everyone knows that cables are not even close to being as quiet as liftstraps. Can you imagine the noise that 10 or even 50 cables must make?
Once the word got out how amazing the lift-straps worked on bifold doors, other brand bifold door customers asked the Schweiss Team if their bifold doors purchased from other manufacturers could be retrofitted with lift-straps on their existing cable doors. Schweiss figured out how door owners could convert cable doors over to straps!
You can't get a much better testimonial than having door owners ask for their "Brand X" cable door to be converted to lift-straps. By converting an existing cable-lift doors to lift-straps it immediately gave their doors extended door life, added value, and it was like having a new door again, quieter, safer operating with virtually no maintenance.
Doors manufactured with cables come with their own problems, and they still do. Cables tend to overwrap, become tangled, fray, produce uneven lifting, and much worse they could break entirely, not to mention they are slower to open, harder to replace and need replacing more frequently.
• The truth remains that cables are not easy to work with and the life expectancy is shorter compared to lift-straps. |
• Cables operate on a fixed speed, whereas straps lift your door faster and are exceptionally much safer! |
• Lift straps are a thousand times better than cables and easier to install! |
Cables, particularly 1/4 inch woven cables, offer very limited flexibility and strength. Steel cables, while providing more rigidity, tend to be stiffer, necessitating frequent adjustments and resulting in a lower safety factor. Additionally, cables have a propensity to criss-cross over themselves when they become slack on the driveline. This criss-crossing can cause the door to lift unevenly, leading to operational issues and potential damage.
The process involves many parts, including crimped-on cable ends, thimbles, and various hardware components. The more cables a system has, the higher the maintenance requirements and costs for replacing worn cables. Cables tend to stretch, which can cause them to overlap and lead to the door lifting unevenly, resulting in bigger problems. Loose cables will not wrap consistently and need frequent tensioning and replacement. If not well maintained and replaced often, cables can break easily.
Straps are much easier to handle and install, requiring no special hardware. They wrap on top of themselves, eliminating the risk of criss-crossing that occurs with cables when slack. Additionally, lift straps provide a soft start and soft stop mechanism. They start the door slowly and speed up as it opens, putting less stress on the building structure. This is in contrast to cable doors, which operate at a single speed.
Before purchasing a cable door, it's essential to weigh these factors carefully to ensure that the door system will meet your needs without requiring excessive maintenance or compromising safety. Lift straps offer a more reliable and easier-to-maintain alternative to traditional cable systems.
By nature, when you wrap a steel cable around a small drum, the strands of the cable tend to break. Replacing cables is a real tedious and strenuous undertaking. Because they have a shorter life span, this also leads to additional costs and downtime.
On the other hand, the longevity of lift-straps, rated with a tensile strength of 29,000 pounds each, far surpasses the tensile strength of 1/4" cables rated at only 7,200 pounds each. What would you rather prefer to lift your heavy door?
Cable tension is also critical. When cables stretch and need to be snugged up, you are dealing with multiple bolts, pulleys, and cable clamps. With lift-straps all that is needed is to reset the limit switch to acquire the proper tension; it's easy and simple!
Cable wraps are exposed . . . Not Shielded
Rotating cable drum is exposed . . . Not Shielded