Check your garage door cables

[WVBrady]

I had a cable break as I was lowering my 16 foot wooden door. The unequal support jammed the door about a foot from the ground. The biggest problem in fixing it was to get it back up to relax tension on the springs. I released the garage door opener and pried and wiggled on the door until I got it down and straight. I pried it up and used blocks of wood until I got it high enough to use my lift table. The I used a floor jack on the table to get it high enough that the opener would get it the rest of the way up, with a little help from me on the broken side.

No way that I could have lifted it up by hand, even when I was younger and relatively strong.

Looking at the other side, I could see that it was deteriorated too, with fibers sticking out. If I had been inspecting it occasionally, I could have made the replacement relatively easily.

 

[Dogmeat]

I noticed a couple weeks ago that BOTH cables on one of my overhead doors....the 9' x 8' door...were fraying....so I changed both of 'em…….glad I did...I'd hate to have any door come slamming down on someone or my cars!! I took my time adjusting it, and it works better than it ever has! ALWAYS make sure you've got the extra cables going INSIDE your springs as well...[doesn't apply to the "torsion" horizontal springs on the wall type of door] or you'll have a spring going flying around and do serious damage to a PERSON of anything it hits!!

 

[pmiranda]

ALWAYS make sure you've got the extra cables going INSIDE your springs as well...[doesn't apply to the "torsion" horizontal springs on the wall type of door]

Yep, at our old house a spring broke and luckily it only tore up the drywall.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

For the guys in the Northeast "salt belt" areas, check the BOTTOM post where the cable ends connect because that area gets hit with salt during the winter and I have seen a few cables break at that area due to corrosion despite the cables appear to be in good condition.

BTW! Don’t forget to lube springs.

 

[Earp69]

For the guys in the Northeast "salt belt" areas, check the BOTTOM post where the cable ends connect because that area gets hit with salt during the winter and I have seen a few cables break at that area due to corrosion despite the cables appear to be in good condition.

BTW! Don’t forget to lube springs.

whats the best thing for that?

 

[WVBrady]

..ALWAYS make sure you've got the extra cables going INSIDE your springs as well...[doesn't apply to the "torsion" horizontal springs on the wall type of door] or you'll have a spring going flying around and do serious damage to a PERSON of anything it hits!!

Good point. I forgot to mention that I had done that. As it was, the spring hit the front wooden brace with enough force to knock a chip out of it.

 

[mwalsh9152]

When I was renting from my inlaws, they had a spring, or cable break one day. I was downstairs on the complete opposite side of a large house, and the sound of the spring smashing into the wall was loud!

 

[andyvh1959]

Whenever I see a house with the OH door askew, I always recall to check mine at home. But every one I see for certain were never checked by the home owner until something fails. OH doors are very reliable with basic maintenance.

 

[mikeinri]

I've had a spring break. The cable did its job and prevented collateral damage.

I'm not great about remembering to lube my doors. But, when they start getting loud, I spray them right away. Using the correct lube makes a huge difference.

I have one door that's always been a lot louder than the other. When I had the spring replaced, I mentioned it to the repair guy (great investment, BTW). He looked everything over, replaced some pulleys and it got much quieter. Still louder than the second door, but much better than it had been.

Mike

 

[CombatNinja]

whats the best thing for that?

Big box stores sell a spray marketed specifically for this purpose. Packaged like WD-40 with a little straw for precision stuff. I talked my garage door guy into leaving me a can of what they use on the commercial side and have been using it twice a year for about 5 years now.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

This thread reminds me to install my spring safety cable kit.


I only bought it three years ago...

Tommy

 

[nadogail]

I am a fan of Fluid Film.

 

[artrem]

I have Liftmaster jack shaft openers on my 16-ft and 8-ft doors. For those not familiar with this kind of opener, the motor is coupled to the spring shaft and thus raises the door with the cables. There is a cable tension sensor that is supposed to stop the motor if the cable goes slack.

I had set the opener to automatically close after 15 minutes. That was my first mistake. We were loading our van while it was raining so it was left half out of the garage. When the automatic closer was invoked, the door contacted the top of the van and the motor correctly reversed but both cables came off. This caused the springs to unwind. I didn't realize this and my second mistake was manually closing the door, whereupon it came down full force, damaging the bottom panel and the tracks.

Besides demonstrating my stupidity, the painful (and expensive) lesson I learned is never allow the door cables to reach a point of failure, particularly if you have jack shaft openers.

 

[malibu101]

I was in my garage a few years ago when a cable suddenly snapped. Door was closed. It sounded and felt like a dumptruck ran into the building!

Then I noticed the spring/cable carnage. Replaced all springs and hardware on both doors. I now often give the doors a good visual inspection and lube.

I can't imagine how things would have explosively flown around if the safety cables were not in place and in good shape.