Replacing Patio Door Rollers

[Mr Fizzion]

Hi,

My patio door from the conservatory into the garden has been getting harder to open. Yesterday I lifted it out of its frame to find that the back roller is stuck. Even with application of WD40, it refuses to spin freely.

How easy is the roller to replace? Are there many different types? I spoke to one "Double-Glazing-Doctor" type and he said he would have to take off the bottom of the frame which seems quite likely as there was no obvious way to remove the roller otherwise. Is taking the bottom of the frame off easy? Will it just pull off - there are no screws as far as I can see.

BTW, the door is aluminium.

TIA

Mr F.

[Rory]

Hi, I had a heavy Al patio door and had the same problem. There were two single wheel rollers which had become twisted (with the weight). I looked up 'Aluminium' in the yellow pages and sourced some spare patio door rollers (I think it was a company called Alcon). Apparently all new patio door rollers contain two wheels to cope with the weight. Replacing the rollers was far easier than I'd thought. Get someone to help lift the door off the rail. You'll see some holes at the sides towards the bottom. In these are the screws for removing the bottom part of the frame - I needed to remove these to replace the rollers. I'd no problem putting the part back after replacing the rollers (I didn't even need to drill any extra/new holes for the new roller). Rory

[Mr Fizzion]

Thanks for your reply.

I already took the door out and removed the screws at the sides. However I am not too sure about how to remove the bottom part of the frame as it seems to require a fair amount of force to move it down. Shall I just carry on pushing?!

BTW...you're right about the rollers...there is only one wheel on each one.

Thanks

Mr F.

[John Rumm]

I did this once for my FIL. There was a hole in the inside of the sash that led to an adjuster on the side of the roller mechanism. An alan key could be inserted to "wind up" (or down) the mechanism. So removal of the sash simply involved retracting the exiting wheels into the sash which then enabled it to be lifted out of the frame from the bottom. Replaced the broken roller, put it back in the frame and then lowered the wheels onto the frame rail. This both fixed the door in place and also raised it so that it was running freely on the rollers.

[Rory]

Hi, Yes, it does need a fair amount of pulling/pushing to get the bottom section off. With two hands I pulled at one corner and rocked it a bit until I could see the Al slide a little out of the rubber, then a little from the other corner and so on. (I didn't use any tools for fear of damaging the Al). Rory