What actually decides how long a shutter lasts

Service life is usually treated as a property of the brand. It is a property of eight things, and three of them are decided on site after the door is bought.

Service life is usually discussed as though it were a property of the product. It is closer to a property of the installation.

Five of the eight factors are specification: slat material, operator capacity against curtain mass, guide quality, the safety sensing, and the control box. These are settled at the quotation, and a shortfall in any of them is permanent.

Three are decided afterwards. Installation, because a curtain that is out of square wears one guide and not the other. Environment — a coastal site is a corrosion case, a dusty site is an abrasion case, and an industrial site is a duty-cycle case. And maintenance, which on a shutter means the brake and the guide seals rather than the motor.

The single most common shortening of service life is an operator chosen one size down. It works on the first day, and every cycle after that is a cycle at the limit.