Garage Door Strangeness...

[MPOWERD]

Ok... I have a 16 foot - 2 car garage door with a 1/2 HP Craftsman garage opener that worked with no issues until a few days ago... I insulated the garage door with the pink Owens Corning Garage Door Insulation Kit from Home Depot and added some very light weight double reflective on top... and now I have an intermittent problem with the door when it opens. It retracts about 6 inches, stops, goes back down, then tries to go back up again. Sometimes it will do it only once, other times it will do it multiple times, and sometimes it stops completely after the 6 inches...

Then it will work fine...

And to make it even weirder... It will act up then work fine for a day or two and then act up again.

The insulation itself doesn't weigh very much. The R-8 pink is not heavy and the R-3 reflective weighs next to nothing...

So anyone have any ideas why its doing this?

 

[upndown]

Check if you have a broken spring, try the door manually..if all is good, adjust your up sensitivity just a bit.

 

[p_mori7]

Did you notch or bevel the insulation in the panel joints so they would not interfere with the folding action of the panels ?

 

[LennyTheLizard]

The other guys already hit the nail on the head.

1. You added weight to the door even if it was not a lot
2. You may have stiffened all the panels by pressing the insulation into them
3. You're info doesn't show where you live, but it's really cold right now. That put's more stress on the door.

The door openers have a force adjustment, and you probably just need to tweak it a little. Make sure to test your adjustment though.

 

[StevePgh]

If you try the above and still have issues, check the safety beam sensors. My money is on the force adjustment, since it happens when opening not closing and you didn't mention flashing lights.

You also could have knocked the beam sensors out of alignment, have a loose flap of something on the door that is breaking the beam, or jiggled the wires going into the sensors enough that the contact is poor (if you have the sensors where the wire plugs in - those are known to have poor contacts that get worse with age - I soldered mine in).

 

[imnutz]

probably a weight issue - photocells have no affect on upward travel

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

If you installed the insulation kit correctly then it is just that you added weight and need to rebalance the door. This happens often when people paint their door as well.

DO NOT mess with the sensitivity setting on your opener. Doing so may work but it will only mask the weight issue which will shorten the life of your opener greatly. Pull the emergency access cord on the opener and just balance the door correctly.

The instructions in the kit should have mentioned this.

 

[upndown]

I have seen openers become more sensitive as time passes, that's why they're adjustable! I agree always check manual operation first and adjust accordingly!! When doing so, NEVER disengage the door in the open position.. that way if there is a problem it wont come slamming down on you costing you a new pair of shorts! Also a good time to lubricate the door..Good luck.

 

[YNOT2K]

my guess is that when you did the insulation install you bumped the sensors on the sides and they're not lined up as well now. recheck alignment of sensors.

 

[Gary S]

You messed up the balance of the door by adding weight to it. First you need to disconnect the opener and adjust the door springs for proper balance as your instruction manual calls for.
If you adjust the door springs properly, you shouldn't need to mess with opener settings and mess them up too.

 

[Falcon67]

>The R-8 pink is not heavy

It is when it covers 112 sq/ft. I did a 8x7 door with 1" pink and had to rebalance the door. The 1/2" R3 reflective Styrofoam I used on both doors here added very little and did not require door adjustments.

 

[MPOWERD]

Wow thanks for all the feedback! I tend to agree its a weight issue. However I do not have an owners manual for the door. It was already installed when we purchased the house...

I believe the added weight is causing binding so I will manually release the door and see how it behaves.

The door tends to fail more when cold than when warmer. I am in Dallas area and right now its warm. Door works perfect in the afternoon but not in the colder nights and mornings...

So given that additional information, how do I go about adjusting the spring if it is a weight issue? Is there a manufacturer number or code on the door anywhere to identify it?

 

[MPOWERD]

Tried the door manually after releasing it from the opener. Its definitely a weight issue! Rather surprising how much that insulation weighs when installed...

I have taken a couple pictures of the spring and will post them momentarily. Looks like it has adjustable ends for increasing tension... Have never worked on one before. Used to work construction when I was younger but never touched one of these. Seems these end caps have openings for a bar to slide in to use to tighten...

 

[puttsy]

You may also want to check the force of the springs. When I had to replace the springs in ours, I needed to weigh the door and get springs accordingly. Although you didn't add much weight with the insulation, if the old springs were right at their limit, you may have pushed them over the top.

As others smarter than I said though, balance it and lubricate it. Also make sure to check the sensors.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Here is a website that ought to help you re tension those springs.

 

[YNOT2K]

if your torsion spring is not rated for the extra weight you say you added then you may have to change the spring to one that is. they can be adjusted, slightly, but there are different colors/sized of springs for different weight doors. plus, torsion springs require a special tool to adjust (well, not "require" but it does make it a lot easier). my garage door tech will do a complete service/adjustment/replace broken spring for about $50. you may want to consider just calling in a professional.
my .02

 

[MPOWERD]

Here are pics of the spring...

 

[Gary S]

You have the old style torsion springs there. They can be deadly to adjust if you don't know exactly what you are doing. Yours have to be adjusted with a couple of steel rods, but to adjust them, you need to release the full power of the spring.
The newer style has a gearcase on them to make the adjustments using your electric drill. With these newer ones, you never release the power of the spring.

 

[kbs2244]

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/

 

[MPOWERD]

Here is a website that ought to help you re tension those springs.

Thanks... Good site.

Just confused by the most important instruction on that page...

5) Depending on whether you wish to increase the opening force or decrease the opening force of the springs, you must determine the proper direction to turn the collar:

Turn the collar in the same direction that the garage door cable passes over the pulley for increasing the opening force.
Turn the collar in the opposite direction that the garage door cable passes over the pulley for decreasing the closing force.

Which pulley? The ones at the side of the doors attached to the torsion spring, right?

 

[upndown]

If you do try adjusting yourself.. DO NOT use rebar as your winding bars!!! Also use the right size bar. Good luck..

 

[MPOWERD]

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/

That is the ticket!

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instr...with-less-than-90-degrees-of-turning-area.php

 

[MPOWERD]

Just realized the tightener on the right side spring is missing a set screw. That cant be good...

 

[Virgil Cain]

Does your door have an optical beam obstruction detector? If so, make sure that your added insulation is not protruding into the beam path as the door goes up. Also, make sure the sender and the detector is lined up properly.

 

[MPOWERD]

Nothing is breaking the beam unfortunately... I have given up on the DIY and called for repair. The spring adjustment didn't change the problem so I have no idea what it is...

 

[MPOWERD]

Plus the springs are not in the center of the door (don't know why) but you can see where the set screws are supposed to be tightened down... But they are over a foot to the left of where the spring is... Its over a foot a to the right.

 

[yuk]

what happens if you help lift the door? does it still stop?
maybe the offset spring and the added weigh has caused a disbalance that is binding the door.
pay close attn to see if the door looks disbalanced when it stops

 

[MPOWERD]

Door is not square to begin with. Whoever did the original install did a horrible hack job... I will let the professionals solve this issue tomorrow morning...

Personally I think I need better springs and they need to be centered to keep the door from binding, plus the door track needs to be squared to the opening.

 

[upndown]

^ Wise choice!! Once again the sensors do NOT affect the up cycle!! The spring location shouldn't affect the operation of the door..Hell i've mounted them on the horizontal track at the back of the door. Good luck..

 

[MPOWERD]

The "Professionals" managed to break both springs and then pronounce that I needed a new door, a new set of rails, a new opener and of course new springs...

After I was finished chewing out their boss on the phone for destroying my springs (they did a massive over wind on them and cracked them) I received a set of new (heavier) springs for free from the company the next day, that I installed myself. Garage door problem solved...

 

[Gary S]

That sounds like the right way to fix it. A heavier door should have heavier springs to handle the additional weight without over-winding them. If your old springs were at the lower end of their rated load, you would have been successful winding them tighter as long as the additional weight didn't exceed their ratings. Since they broke, that tells you that they weren't up to the job. Heavier springs fix the problem.

 

[santagary]

Call a garage door company...please. A friend of mine was nearly killed when he tried to save a buck and adjust his own door. He was disfigured for the rest of his life (nearly ripped his lips off and a cheek too. Don't do it, make the call.

 

[imnutz]

That sounds like the right way to fix it. A heavier door should have heavier springs to handle the additional weight without over-winding them. If your old springs were at the lower end of their rated load, you would have been successful winding them tighter as long as the additional weight didn't exceed their ratings. Since they broke, that tells you that they weren't up to the job. Heavier springs fix the problem.

Heavier springs? Lower end of rated load? I didn't know torsion springs had a rated load. It's no wonder people get hurt.