Last night when my wife went to close the garage door, the chain popped off of the sprocket.
Today, I got it back on the sprocket. But I just had hand surgery, so fixing it one-handed took a long time, and alot of swearing.
I never looked before to see how much slack there was. I notice now that there is a couple of inches of slack.
How much should there be, and if I have too much, how do I reduce it?
I haven't tried the door because if the chain pops off again, I'm gonna lose it. :)
Hi, It's just like bicycle chain. Too tight is no good. if it's really loose some times you have to remove a link or two. Now I have screw drive unit. Tony
snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:
Alot of chain drives have an adjustment you can use to tighten the chain, I know that most Craftsman ones do.
guess you won't get my email since it came back as user unknown... Remove NoSpam to reply, Thanks
All chain openers have a slack adjustment and it depends on the particular make/model as to how it's done. The two ways I've seen are : a long screw at the motor end that pushes between motor housing and the track basically lengthening the track; the other way is @ where the two ends of the chain join together on the carriage.
Depends on what brand of opener it is is how you tighten the chain. Some have the adjustment on the motor head, some are on the header bracket, & some are on the carriage (part arm attaches to), but it is usually a bolt or threaded rod.
But first you may want to examine all the parts to see why it came off in the first place as in "what broke"? They normally don't just come off for no reason.
Also it may depend on what position the door & opener is in before you put the chain back on. They should be both in the fully closed position. Some of the limit switches only have so much adjustment & if the chain is put back on in the wrong place you will not be able to get it to stop where it is suppose to in the up and/or down position.
Doordoc
Open the door slightly and then unplug the AC power. You never want to work on an opener with the AC plugged in, not only because of the electric shock hazard but also because if it starts unexpectedly you could lose a finger or get your hair caught in the chain and be killed. Never underestimate the hazards presented by gears, chains, and belts.
On top of the opener should be a sprocket. It's probably covered by a guard, but at either the rear or front of the gear should be an adjustment screw. Tighten until the chain sags 1" when the door is not fully closed. Don't reduce the sag further because the force on the sprocket shaft increases exponentially as the sag is reduced. It's normal for the sag to be much greater when the door is fully closed. It's possible that the bearing for the sprocket shaft has worn and is letting the sprocket wobble too much.
he posted in an open newsgroup, wouldn't that mean you should post your reply here also, maybe someone else with this same problem would like to read your solution.
On 20 Oct 2003 02:04:12 -0700, do_not_spam snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com (do_not_spam_me) wrote (with possible editing):
Great answer. I was about to tell him the same thing except to check the manual for the amount of sag and the position of the door when its measured. Of course, like most folks, myself included, he's probably lost the manual.
Another reason for the slack in the chain is simply stretching. Chains stretch - chainsaws are great examples - which is why adjustments are always provided.
I don't know a thing about garage door openers, but as an operating room nurse I have seen the catastrophic injuries they have caused. Fingers amputated, hands crushed, etc. Please think twice before attempting any repairs. Your life can change in an instant.
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