Screw drive garage door opener binds...needs lube?

[phishn]

My garage door makes it 1/3 of the way up and then begins to bind. This is a screw drive opener. The rail between the opener and the garage door, that holds the screw, begins to flex fairly seriously. It appears this has bent the rail, and potentially the screw inside. A neighbor told me he thought the screw just needed to be lubed. I bought a tube of lube but am not real sure exactly *how* to lube the screw. Do I just squirt the lube directly onto the screw for it's full length? If the lube does not solve the problem, does the opener need to be moved further away from the door or something like that?

Thank you for helping.

[greg6755]

Mine use to bind up when the weather got cold and lubing it fixed that problem.

I put the lube on the screw in places over the full length and then open and closed the door a couple of times to spread it around.

That is about as much as I know.

If lubing it doesn't fix the problem I don't know what to tell you.

Good luck.

[Paul Franklin]

First disconnect the door from the opener by pulling the emergency release rope or handle. Operate the door by hand. If it binds, you have to diagnose that and fix it first. If it operates smoothly, you can try lubing the screw, they do need it periodically.

Before you lube it, look to see if the screw has an accumulation of old dry grease and gunk blocking the threads (they usually do.) If so, you'll have to clean it first, which is a real pain. When it's clean, distribute the grease evenly along the screw and operate the door several times to spread it over the screw.

Good luck,

Paul F.

[dpb]

It sounds far more serious than just lubrication on the screw.

Phil provided good advice to first disconnect the door and all. I agree w/ all that and would just add --

If there's any indication of damage already that needs to be fixed first or will simply exacerbate the problem even more. It's possible there's an actual break in the screw on one side or the other (or even both) and maybe that's causing a hard interference. The "serious flexing" makes it sound like there is a restriction between that point and the mount that wouldn't be the door itself binding as that would be tension in the "up" direction...

[jmagerl]

Make sure you use the right lube if you do lube it. Most stores carry garage door lube. I can't say why its special but I do know that regular lithium grease doesnt work in cold weather ( found out the hardway).

I deposited a dab of lube every 4 inches on the screw and let the mechanism distribute it around

[dicko]

You didnt say whether it is a rollup door or a cantilevered door. A cantilevered door puts tremendous stress on an opener when it is about a 1/3 of the way up.

My chaindrive unit used to flex something terrible at that point in its travel with my cantilevered door. I had to screw a 2x4 across 2 studs in the ceiling right above that spot in the track, then screwed another 2x4 down to the track, and finally screwed the track to the

2x4. In other words, I anchored the track to keep it from flexing right at the spot with the most stress on it. It work for 20 years after that without a problem.

-dickm