Garage Door

[JCostello]

Okay, not a dodge issue but still an issue for me. My spring broke on my garage door yesterday and I need to open the door. I've pulled the "red" handle down and still cannot open the door.

Until I can get the repair guys here next week, any suggestions on what to do to get the door to go up?

Thanks

 

[Skydiver]

If set up properly the spring does 90% of the work when raising the door. Are you sure the spring broke ? Most of the time one of the cables comes off the spool.



If it is a heavy door try to open it from the outside with one person on each side. Make sure your release is disengaged. Have a stick ready to place under the door once it is open. The door will become easier to raise after it gets about halfway up. The first foot you raise it will be tuff. GO slowly!



Be careful , if it is allowed to fall back down there will be a crash landing . It will crush feet and children , probably destroy the door.

 

[JCostello]

Skydiver, thanks looks like a cable came disconnected from the spool. Will see if I can connect it otherwise I'll wait for the repairs.
Thanks

 

[GMike]

A few of the repair folks around here have a 24 hour emergency service. I had a cable come off the spool a while back they were out in about 2 hours, cost $90. I wouldnt attempt to try to fix it myself. Garage doors have bit me before.



I suppose if you did get it up, you would have to leave it up untill it was repaired.



Mike

 

[JCostello]

Mike,

That's what I'm afraid of, would get the door up and then it would be stuck, so I'll wait for someone to come out this week and check it out.

Thanks

 

[Skydiver]

In our volunteer fire dept. the cheap manual doors we have get opened fast. Never open or close a garage door fast. I have had a 14 foot door fall off its rollers. I learned then to slow down.



At the fire dept, we have this one door that the cable keeps jumping off the spool. With someone wearing a glove grab the cable that has not jumped off and pull it horizontally out about 5 or 6 inches. Have someone else on a ladder positioned very close to the other spool . As the person on the floor pulls on the good cable you should notice the spring will roll about 1/2 turn and the despooled cable will become more slack. Quickly while it is slack place the cable back on the spool. I say quickly because the person on the floor may tire and let go. This is the easiest way I have found to correct the problem and not get hurt. Carefull, This spring is wound much tighter than dicks hat band .

 

[rbattelle]

The art of garage door maintenance and repair seems to be considered voodoo by many people, but I've found them quite easy to work on safely.

I was having the exact same problem 3 years ago with my door - the cables kept jumping the spools. After it happened 4 times in 1 month, I took the time to repair it myself (and I still have all my fingers). The key is to work with the door positioned so the spring tension is near 0 (which is when the door is at the top of its travel). In this position, the cables can be safely wound/unwound from their spools. A properly-located clamp prevents the door from sliding down when you don't want to, and the means to re-adjust the door to run straight and true.

I won't go into details about how I did it, but I will point out something that apparently no one else in the universe does: your garage door should be greased.

I can honestly say in all my life I've never seen a garage door greased, except for mine. I liberally greased all the tracks, every wheel (packed with wheel bearing grease) and every hinge (with white lithium grease).

It's been 3 years with no additional maintenance and the door still glides like nobody's business. Total cost of repair: maybe $3 in grease and about 2 hours of my time.

If the guys who come to fix your door don't grease it (and I doubt they will), I highly recommend you grease it yourself after they leave.

People have told me, "you're not supposed to grease your garage door". No one has ever been able to answer why.

Ryan

 

[Skydiver]

rbattelle, I agree on the VooDoo. Woud dry graphite work as well as grease? Does the grease attract dust ? I use spray grease in the tracks about every other year.



In 96 when I built my home the door installer was about 70 y/o. He explained to my that people do not need the high horsepower GDO's. He explained how the spring does 90 % of the work. And so far it has.



I'm still glad I bought an insulated door. It's warm in my garage.

 

[courierdog]

Garage Door Issues

Some of our more than bright companies state

"unless you remove your vehicle from the garage, we cannot work on your garage door"

Note

The reason for calling a Garage Door service company in the first place is because we cannot get the door open to remove the vehicle. duh!!

 

[rbattelle]

rbattelle, I agree on the VooDoo. Woud dry graphite work as well as grease? Does the grease attract dust ? I use spray grease in the tracks about every other year.

The grease does attract dust, of course, but that doesn't seem to have had any measurable effects on my door.



The dust I'm talking about is the fine black mixture of aluminum oxide and steel you get from grinding (you know, the stuff that makes the inside of your nose black if you don't wear a respirator).



I probably should start thinking about adding a little fresh grease to my tracks and rollers and hinges. But like I said, the door still glides like a dream.



Graphite powder might work. Sure can't hurt. Give it a try and let us know how it works out!



Ryan

 

[Alan Reagan]

Be careful trying to raise one with only one side having the spool attached. The door can go sideways and jam with the danger of shifting the rails and falling out.





Mine was going up and one of the spools screwed up. The door twisted in the frame. Fortunately, I was able to get it straightened out an I used a come along to lower it back down.