Certified Garage Door, Inc. » Symptoms and Problems

My garage door is crooked and the whole door shakes when I try to close it

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:28:43 +0000

My garage door is about 5 years old. Although it closes all the way, I noticed that one side is about 1-2 inches off the ground when it does. There are two springs mounted above the inside of the door and they appear to be intact. The door opens and closes like normal and appears level when it is half-way down. I looked at the cable drums on either side of the spring bar and it looks like one is un-wound about 2 inches more than the other one when the door is all they way down. I see two nuts on this wheel, and it looks like if I loosen it, I can let out about 2” of slack when the door is down to make it even again.

Is this a correct assumption? I’ve heard that adjusting garage doors can be very dangerous, especially when adjusting the actual garage door springs.

Thanks,

Steve in Brandon

Answer:

You are correct in that the problem is with your cable drums. Your torsion spring shaft is most likely not keyed, so over time cable drums to slip on hollow shafts, causing the door to move out of alignment.

You are also correct that this adjustment is potentially very dangerous. You are incorrect in trying to let out the slack on the other cable drum to “match the slack” in the other drum. You must draw up the slack in the affected cable drum to rebalance the door.

Before you can rebalance the door by adjusting the cable drums, you must take out the tension or “backwind” both garage door springs. The torsion springs are under EXTREME TENSION and it is highly recommended that even the most adept “do-it-your-selfer” call a licensed garage door repair company to make this adjustment. The repair should not cost much more than $100, unless you have lived with this problem to long and damage has occurred in other areas of your garage door system.

Warning to all consumers:
If a garage door company inspects your issue and they are claiming it will cost several hundred dollars to repair, it is recommended to get a secondary estimate from a locally owned and operated company. Many garage door repair companies that operate under a franchise have minimum quotas they must reach on every job that far surpass a minimal service charge.

- Certified Garage Door, Inc

The cable on the garage door appears to be fraying. Should we be concerned about this problem?

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:20:43 +0000

Yes. Even a small kink or fray in your garage door cables will weaken the system and should be replaced. If the amount of fray is significant, where there are only a few remaining strands of cable, your garage door cable could break at any moment. You should contact a qualified garage door service technician as soon as possible to have your garage door cable replaced.

When I tried to close my garage door, the garage door is crooked and will not close completely.

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:15:08 +0000

What is wrong with my garage door?.

Most likely one of the garage door cables has come off of the cable drum. Be careful, the garage door cables may still be under the spring’s tension. The garage door cable(s) should not be touched without the proper knowledge and tools to make the repair. Be careful not to force the garage door closed or open, it may cause further damage to the garage door tracks and may also cause the garage door to fall to the floor. In most cases you are better off to leave the broken garage door in whatever position you found it until a licensed garage door service technician can properly repair it.

Our garage door opener was working fine, but now we have to hold the wall button down to get the door to close.

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:09:39 +0000

How can we get the door opener to start working properly again?

It sounds like the photo cell’s safety beam is either blocked or out of alignment. Move any objects that may be interfering with the signal and verify that the photo-cell’s LED lights are illuminated. If the infrared beams are not blocked and the photo-cells appear that they are aligned, then contact your local garage door service technician to diagnose and repair the problem. You will not be able to close the door with the remote control transmitter until the photo-cells are working properly.

Both of our transmitters quit working at the same time.

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:03:48 +0000

Can I fix easily or should I call a garage door service professional?

Most likely the problem is in the garage door opener receiver. It is also possible that the problem could be inside the operator itself and that it is no longer sending power to the receiver unit. You should call a garage door repair professional to determine & fix the problem.

Our garage door opener will not do anything at all when we push the button.

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:51:06 +0000

The first thing that you should verify is that the garage door opener is still plugged into the electric outlet. Secondly you should confirm that there is power coming out of the electric outlet or plug the gargae door opener into another outlet with a temporary extension cord. If there is power to the operator then there is some type of mechanical or electrical problem within the garage door opener itself and may need to be diagnosed by a qualified service technician.

I heard a loud BANG in the garage and have not been able to open the garage door since then.

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:47:44 +0000

It is likely that you have a broken garage door spring that should be replaced by a licensed garage door service technician. If your garage door springs are on a shaft across the top of the garage door, you will notice that one of the garage door springs has broken into two separate pieces.  Even though only one garage door spring is broken, you should have a licensed garage door technician replace both of your garage door springs because the other spring has been fatigued and will not be easily balanced with a new garage door spring.

The light comes on but the garage door opener will not open or close the door.

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:42:18 +0000

If the light on the garage door opener comes on, then the opener is getting power and the problem would be in the electrical/mechanical workings of the opener. Be sure to unplug the operator before making any attempt to remove the motor head cover. To avoid the possibility of electrical shock, why not have your garage door opener repair made by a knowledgeable service tech. If your garage door opener is more than ten years old you may want to consider upgrading the garage door opener to one with the latest safety features.