Cables lose on both sides of door

[pc5598]

I'm not very familiar with how the cables on the side of the doors work, but I noticed they were lose after the door wouldn't come up. I'm sure they work somewhat with the pulley system, because my door seems a lot heavier to open manually. Is this something I can fix myself?

[HayZee518]

probably not too difficult. a cable on each side of the door goes from the bottom to a pulley at the corner then back to another pulley then back forward and connects to a spring, then maybe to a turnbuckle to adjust tension. another way is if you have a torsion spring that runs along the top of your door. a cable again goes from the door bottom to each end of the spring. tension is adjusted here by means of a ratchet and a removable pin. you insert a rod and rotate the spring and replace the pin. there's a lot of tension on the spring and you could lose a couple of teeth if you are not careful.

[gdoorpro]

cables

Garage door cables can wear out. Usually this happens by rusting out at the connection to the bottom section of the door. Sometimes, it is caused by abrasions from rubbing the track, which it shouldn't ever do. Also check the end of the spring to see if the loop broke off.

There are 2 methods of springing a door. Extension springs (the type that stretch along each side of the door. These are typical on single car doors and most doors 10' wide or less.

Torsion springs systems have a steel shaft above the door with springs on it that wind the lift cables around drums at each side of the door, enabling the door to lift evenly as cables wind up cables at even rate.

Sounds like you may have a broken cable. If you are fairly mechanically inclined you could do it yourself, but I recommend a trained garage door guy. Call around to find out what might be a fair labor rate in your area.

Depending on the age of the door, if it is over 10 years old and relatively heavy, you would want to replace the pulleys on an extension spring system, or at least check them for wear. If there are gaps between the extension spring coils, you should consider replacing those as well. Make sure their is safety cables through the springs.

If you have a torsion spring door, other than the cables there is not much needed other than a cable. Do not buy drums, shaft, springs (unless they are 10,000 cycle rated and over 10 years old) or center bearing plate.

If the door is over 10 years old you will want to look at the hinges and rollers as well.

If the cable is all you need, you should expect a bill of maybe $60-100 for the repair. A tech should be able to tell you the cost before he begins work as well.

Ryan