We talked about torque. We talked about which motor for which door. Now the thing people mess up most: will it actually fit?
You'd be surprised how often someone orders a motor that looks perfect on paper – right power, right speed – then tries to mount it and the screw holes don't line up. Or the shaft is 5mm too short. Or the flange won't sit flush.
So before you hit "order", measure your space. Especially for built‑in motors – the ones that go inside the tube or inside the operator housing. You don't have extra room in there.
What to actually measure?
Shaft center height – from the mounting base to the center of the shaft. Off by 2mm and your coupling wears out in weeks.
Pilot diameter and bolt hole circle–the front flange has a little lip (pilot) that centers the motor. Use a caliper. Measure the pilot OD and the distance between opposite screw holes (PCD). Get this wrong and the motor will be slightly off‑center-then it binds.
Shaft diameter and shaft extension length–too thin, slips. too thick, won't go in. too short, clamp has nothing to grab. too long, hits the bracket. We keep a box of mis‑ordered shafts in the shop–you don't want to be that customer.
Also, mounting style matters. IMB3 (foot mount), IMB5 (flange mount), IMB35 (foot + flange), IMV1 (vertical flange). Pick the wrong one and you're drilling new holes.
Tubular motors – the adapter is everything
Take our CA60-120NM. It fits a standard Ø80mm tube. But the crown adapter has to match your tube's inner profile-round, splined, or hex. Use the wrong adapter and you lose torque. We've seen adapters crack after 500 cycles because someone forced a hex into a round tube.
So when you ask us for a quote, we need: tube inner diameter, profile type, and length from crown to end bracket.
Integrated motors (driver inside) save headache
The old way: buy motor, buy separate driver, wire them together. Takes space, lots of cables, more things to fail.
Integrated motor – driver is inside the housing. One cable for power and control. Saves about 40% of your space. Wiring cut by half. Our CAW series swing actuators are all integrated. No external box to hide. Just mount it and go.
Your cheat sheet before ordering
Measure available space (length, width, height)
Shaft center height
Pilot diameter and flange dimensions
Bolt hole PCD and thread size
Shaft diameter and shaft extension length
Mounting style (IMB3 / B5 / B35 / V1)
Adapter type for tubular motor (round / splined / hex)
We do custom dimensions, but we'd rather get it right the first time.
Not sure? Just ask.
Every door is different. Send us: door type, size, a photo if you have it, and what space you've got. We're a California factory since 2009. We'll reply in 24 hours with a straight answer – no upselling. let's have a
deep talk!
Hope this content useful for you.