Garage door chain adjustment

[rjacobs]

Been fighting a little bit with my main garage door.

3 years old.

Last week I noticed it was opening and closely "oddly". I saw that one side of the cables were loose on the drum, but the other side was tight. The garage door opener wouldnt close the door, it kept hitting the force limiter. I realized like one loop of this cable was actually outside of the drum. I got it re-situated and manually closed the door and re-opened it and everything seemed fine. Went back to the motor and the door tried to close one side and got way out of shape and hit the limit. I then realized that somehow 2 of the rollers on the opposite side had come out of the track, no clue. Got them back on the track and everything is working "correctly" now... except the chain.

It SEEMS the chain now has a lot of slack in it when the motor is running and the long side(the side that isnt attached to the carriage) is dragging on the carriage or below it and causing a lot of noise and other "drag"... HOWEVER when the door is UP or DOWN the chain is "tight" or I will say has a lack of slop... so the adjustment turn buckle setup doesnt seem to be the correct method to adjust. I dont know if it jumped a tooth or has a lot of chain stretch or if something else is going on. Anybody got anything I can check to adjust this "long side"(for lack of a better term) chain slack when running the operator?

 

[firebirdparts]

That kind of chain does stretch.

 

[rjacobs]

That kind of chain does stretch.

I mean, yea its basically a bicycle chain, which I know stretch, but I know I've seen chains that are 20+ years old and never been changed...
Its just "odd" to me that when its not moving, everything is "tight". Its only when the motor is running(up or down) that the long side seems loose, sags down and rubs the carriage...

 

[rayra]

If you've corrected the condition that caused a a loop of cable to jump the drum on one side, causing uneven force / spring tension. Then all you need to do now is put a little adjustment on the tensioner bolt there the chain attaches to the trolley that drives the door.

The rest is is just distraction and theory. Be an empiricist.

 

[rjacobs]

If you've corrected the condition that caused a a loop of cable to jump the drum on one side, causing uneven force / spring tension. Then all you need to do now is put a little adjustment on the tensioner bolt there the chain attaches to the trolley that drives the door.

I dont know enough about them I guess is my issue... When the door is at rest(up or down) the chain is tight on both sides... Its only when moving that there is a lot of slack in the "long" side...

Will adding a bit of tension on the adjuster bolt correct this? It seems to me, that it wont, since its adjusting the off side... or does it just take a few cycles of the door to distribute the tension change?

 

[dfiler2]

Make sure the door opens properly without the opener hooked up, just pull the emergency cord. A chain drive opener will have the most slack while it is opening or closing as that is when there is the most tension on one of the chains. A properly tensioned chain will hang just below the rail in the middle when it is at rest, at least that's how I remember it.

 

[kbs2244]

"A chain drive opener will have the most slack while it is opening or closing as that is when there is the most tension on one of the chains. A properly tensioned chain will hang just below the rail in the middle when it is at rest, at least that's how I remember it."

I agree with what he said and the reasons he gave
with a chain drive slack on the non-driven side is OK
as long as it stays on the gear

 

[Garcky]

Check your springs. If one of them has slipped, which is possible, that would explain the uneven opening and cockeyed opening. If that doesn't get corrected, it will just happen again. You may have to re-tension the springs to make sure they are balanced. I had that happen to one of my garage doors. Once I figured that out and redid the spring tension the problem was solved. Your door has to be lifted evenly on both sides by those cables. If it's not lifted and lowered evenly, you get that track jumping problem and the cable coming off the drum.

Sounds like a spring problem to me.

 

[rjacobs]

Make sure the door opens properly without the opener hooked up, just pull the emergency cord. A chain drive opener will have the most slack while it is opening or closing as that is when there is the most tension on one of the chains. A properly tensioned chain will hang just below the rail in the middle when it is at rest, at least that's how I remember it.

Door opens and closes manually just fine.

When the door is closed both sides of the chain are tight. I believe same when the door is open, but I would have to get my ladder out and look above it.

with a chain drive slack on the non-driven side is OK
as long as it stays on the gear

Never had the chain jump either gear.

 

[rjacobs]

Check your springs. If one of them has slipped, which is possible, that would explain the uneven opening and cockeyed opening. If that doesn't get corrected, it will just happen again. You may have to re-tension the springs to make sure they are balanced. I had that happen to one of my garage doors. Once I figured that out and redid the spring tension the problem was solved. Your door has to be lifted evenly on both sides by those cables. If it's not lifted and lowered evenly, you get that track jumping problem and the cable coming off the drum.

Sounds like a spring problem to me.

No springs at least externally... not sure how this one works if its like a torsion bar or internal springs that the cable reals interact with...

 

[Garcky]

No springs at least externally... not sure how this one works if its like a torsion bar or internal springs that the cable reals interact with...

Ah, OK. I don't know, then.

 

[rjacobs]

Went to open the door today and it stopped half way up. The slack side chain was so loose it was below the carriage and snagged on the carriage and the force limit stop engaged. There is a small plastic pad on the top of the carriage the slack side of the chain should be riding on, it was not at all on that.

I had easily 2+ inches of slack up and 2+ inches down, dont know exact, didnt measure it.

I added about 3 turns to the turn buckle which brought me down to about 1" of slack up and 1" down and now the chain rides on or barely on the little plastic pad its supposed to ride on. Im basically at the end of the turn buckle adjustment range so if I need to adjust the chain again I am going to have to take a link out which isnt really a problem as I have a chain tool for my bikes that should work. I feel like this chain is slightly to long(like 2-3 links) as the turn buckle is at least 3" long and was set almost at full tight and I've never messed with it in the 3 years since it was new.

 

[FredWanaker]

who put it in originally? i would be calling them. If you put it in, go over all the steps again, something may be shifting or loose.

 

[rjacobs]

who put it in originally? i would be calling them. If you put it in, go over all the steps again, something may be shifting or loose.

I think overhead door is the vendor the home builder used. Im not going to call somebody out and pay money for a simple chain tension adjustment... at 3 years I am sure I am out of any warranty outside of maybe the insulated door itself. If it wasnt something I could figure out then I have no issue calling somebody out, but I think I got this one figured out...for now.

 

[Fav Onefour]

The chain adjustment sounds like a good plan. I'm wondering if there might be a bit more happening?
How much is the drive rail bending when the door is moving? Is it one of those multi section rails they used in DIY shipper versions?
Your early description with changing chain tension sounded like a drive rail that was deflecting down as the opener operated.
Some of the rail trolleys(carriage) had plastic bushings that slid on the drive rail. Those can wear fast and if the chain was that loose those bushings are probably getting worn. That would also mess with chain tension with the trolley flopping back and forth each time the opener changed direction.
BTW, it's quite possible that the opener had been assembled with little room for adjustment left on the turnbuckle. I've had brand new openers that came with no adjustment room left on the threads.