Garage door adjustment

[Lee Nowell]

Hi All,

I have a double garage door which I believe is called a retractory type. E ssentially it has 2 coiled springs (one each side) and 2 runners at ceiling height for the door to run on.

I am about to fit an electric door opener and looking around for advice it seems I need to firstly ensure the door works properlly - sounds sensible t o me :)

Anyway...... I *think* mine needs adjusting and was hoping you could help me pls....

When I open the door, I have to give it a tug (or push the top in) and it w ill lift itself to around 3ft off the floor and stop. I then need to lift it myself and push it into the fully open position. If not in this positio n, it drops itself to around 5ft off the floor.

When I close the door, I give it a pull and generally it gets down to the 3 ft mark itself. I then push it into position with the last inch or so requ iring the use of my foot :).... Just before the foot action is deployed, on e side of the door seems to be in position whilst the other needs to go in about an inch....

Forgetting the foot bit for a second, is this the standard behaviour for su ch a door? The advice re: the opener suggested that a properly balanced doo r should stay in whatever position you put it in....

Any idea what is causing the door to be out of line when closing (it is fit ted squarely into the frame)... Could the springs be out of synch? Can the y be adjusted?

Thanks in advance for your advice....

Lee.

[charles]

At the end of each spring should be a nut allowing you to adjust the tension. Are you sure the track doesn't need lubricating?

[Martin Brown]

It should be fairly smooth and roughly in balance. Something doesn't sound right either its been forced or lacking lubrication or both.

I guess mine sort of does that a bit although I could easily open it in one smooth motion but even my arms are not quite that long.

That is bit more worrying. It should not require excessive force to close it so something is out of kilter. Try WD40 first...

The springs should have adjuster bolts which allow you to tension it to get a roughly neutral balance condition which will be important so as not to strain the motor on an automatic opener.

Fitting an automatic garage door opener is on my roundtuit to do list.

[Lee Nowell]

Thanks all very much for your replies...

How do I know when it is balanced - i.e. the springs are at the correct tension and (I guess) even?

thanks

Lee.

[charles]

I chickened out of diy and got one fitted late last year. SWMBO wonders why I ddin't organise it yearsa go.

[Lee Nowell]

Sorry one further question... Should the rails that the top of the door runs in be level? I would estimate that the rear of mine (i.e. the end in the garage) is about 150mm below the front end (i.e. where the door is).

thanks again

Lee.

[Gazz]

I fitted one to my door when i moved in this place, as an electric door opener kit off ebay was cheaper than the price of the parts from hendersen to replace the missing locking mechanism.

(opener was £55 from soneone who had converted the garage to be part of the house for living, hendersen wanted around 70 quid for the locking parts)

But i did have to fanny about for a while getting the door to manually operate nicely, minde didn't have tracks to run in, but rather cantalevered arms with 2 long springs pulling on them, bu it was mainly a case of getting the spring tension equal and lubing the pivots.

[snot]

If the door mechanism has not been regularly lubricated it's very likely to be worn. Be careful adjusting spring tension until you have lubricated the mechanism and checked for jamming caused by wear. Spare parts (pivots/rollers/guides are still available for some types. Unless you can get the existing mechanism working smoothly I would not fit an electric door opener. Worst case is that you might have to fit a new door.

[DerbyBorn]

I have always been a bit obsessive about lubricating parts of my garage door - but I have found that it has caused the rollers to slide rather than rotate - caused them to get flats worn on them. One day I will replace them

- but I guess I should have tried to lubricate the roller spindles - but keep the track clean. In the meantime, I will clean and oil the runners so that the flattned rolers can slide freely. My door actually opens or closed with one finger. Most neighbours garages (built at same time) are stiff, noisy, or have been replaced.

[snot]

Yes, same at my old house (built 1994). Mine was the only one left in the cul-de-sac of 12 houses that worked smoothly thanks to regular lubrication. At my new hovel the garage door now works properly thanks to a bit of lubrication and adjustment. It was not square in the aperture and tended to catch on one corner. The wire would then jump off the cone pulley.

[Capitol]

If you have a canopy door, be aware that you will lose up to 8" of height below the open door. I can't fit an opener to one of my doors as the roof rack would foul the canopy arm required.

[DerbyBorn]

snot wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Most garage doors are pre-ruined by the builders who allow sand and grit to get into the tracks - and then the buyer of the house just assumes everything is nice an new so such things don't get maintained in time. It is only when people have to exert a lot of force that they perhaps wished they had done some maintenance - but by then it is too late.

[Harry Bloomfield]

I bought a door electrification kit several years ago. During the fitting, I decided my door mechanism was too worn for it to work reliably, so I ended up fitting a new electric roller kit and selling the other kit on. It cost me £500, made to measure for DIY install, but well worth it. It gives me much more space in the garage and works every time.

[Gazz]

That is true, mine needed the canopy door arm thingy to allow for the weird movement the door makes going up and over, not a problem with car height to it as the car never goes in the garage, but the sodding thing is regularly whacked by my head as i walk in.

[Peter Johnson]

Check the door maker's website for instructions on installation/maintenance, and if the springs look dry, lubricate them.

[Lee Nowell]

ce, and if the springs look dry, lubricate them.

Unfortunately, the door was there when I bought the property and can't seen any obvious makers mark or anything. I have done some searching for simila r but still no joy - it could be fairly old (I would guess at late 80's ear ly 90's)! Looking at it I can see

1. It is made from a fibre glass type substance
2. It is a retractable type
3. has a single spring down each side
4. the style is a "Wood look" with Georgian type design (ie several square panels)
5. oh... and it is a double sized one

These seem quite common in my area so assume they were made by a popular do or manufacturer of the time..

thanks

Lee.

[DerbyBorn]

Lubricating the springs is only necessary if they are the type that twist (above the door). It they are merely tension springs at the side of the door frame then they don't need oiling.

[julie]

Hi

The saga continues... Help........

I have spent all morning "adjusting" the door. The rails were out so have now been corrected and there was a fair amount of movement on them which ha s now been corrected. So as far as I can tell, they are now parallel and th e door when open hits both buffers at the end of the rail (well within 5mm

- it was about 60mm out!)... All joints have been oiled and the rails comp letely cleaned.

Now moving to adjusting the closed position and I am stuck! The bottom of o ne side of the door is about 70mm from the frame when the other side is in position. This is before it reaches the floor so no obstruction there....

Measuring the closure mechanism on each side indicates it is exactly the sa me. The only odd thing I can see is that there is about 20mm difference on the spring adjusters. Adjusting them doesn't seem to make any difference although I haven't evened the lengths completely.

Anyone have any ideas? How do I know whether the springs are out of sync? Does this matter?

Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom..

Lee.