Help with jumping garage door (video)

[Wiedhas]

Trying to help the mother in law... Her door jumps when closing and opens ok. I replaced the springs and several warranty guys have been out to no avail.

When in manual mode the left side seems to move well before the right side when I push down on the door from the center. Perhaps the right side is binding? The screw track actually jumps up when the door is operated. Here's the video link.

Any help appreciated.

 

[atthebeach]

Welcome to Garage Journal!

The door needs to be adjusted so it manually opens and closes easily. Are the new springs the same size and installed so they are equally stretched? Is the door weight balanced by the springs? If not, adjust the spring tension. Does the door bind on the door trim or anything else? Do the pivot points move freely? If not apply dry lube. When the door is manually moving freely and balanced properly by the springs, it should take very little effort to open and close the door.

Once the door is properly adjusted, the garage door opener needs to be properly adjusted. Of course the opener needs to be installed perpendicular to the door so it does not pull to one side. The opener should be parallel to the ceiling and clear the highest point of the door path by at least a couple of inches. The screw track needs to be properly lubed. When the door is fully opened, the straight section of the J bar should be horizontal. In the video, the J bar is pointing downward indicating the opener needs to be hung lower.

You are a good son-in-law!

 

[gnpenning]

After you have done everything mentioned above before you hook the opener back up. You have the straight arm and angle arm in the opposite location of where the should be. Mount the angle arm to the door then attach the straight arm to the opener.

 

[Wiedhas]

Thank you all for the quick replies. I definitely have several problems going on here.

In manual mode, one side of the door moves before the other side. This would indicate different tension of the springs? How do you adjust the tension safely?

The screw track is definitely NOT parallel to the ceiling. I will remove and set it lower so that it is parallel.

Regarding the J bar, should I swap it around? Does the J bar (angle arm) face up or down when swapped? And is this necessary or should I tension the springs and parallel the track and see what happens?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Red Box]

The screw track in supposed to be at an angle. Look at the door when open. As soon as power is put the the screw it, through the J bar, wants to push down causing the bind and surge.

I vote to first set the door opening stop a bit less so the when the opening cycle ( upper limit )stops the door is a bit closed. ( just an 1" I would guess at a start ) Currently the door is flat or parallel to the ground, and I'm suggesting the door have a bit of close angle to it. Not the perfect solution but it should work until you raise the screw track that is mounted to the gararge header. Or, lower the opener unit to achieve the same result. This may be easier as you have some adjustment in the mounting angle brackets is appears.

Your j bar is in the correct position now, btw. The springs and other stuff will come after the screw bar angle is correct.

 

[rlitman]

As far a safely adjusting the springs, it is one of the most potentially dangerous tasks you will encounter. I would encourage you to have an experienced person adjust the springs as you watch and ask intelligent questions.

Did you even look at the video? He has extension springs, not torsion springs.
They're not under tension when the door is open.

 

[James-W]

You said that several warranty guys have been out to check out the door. I am a bit confused by that. I am assuming you are talking about warranty guys the manufacturer sent out to check out the installation of the door to see what parts are needed to repair the problem under warranty. Surely at least a few of them should know enough about garage doors to identify the problem. I mean, after all that is their job. I would think a prerequisite for getting the job would be that they understand all about garage doors. I see no reason why they should not be able to take a look at the door, open and close it a few times, then tell you straight out what the problem is. This whole thing is a bit baffling to me.

 

[Dustball]

It looks like adjusting the opener setting to not open the garage door so far would help out. It wants to push the door down first before going forward.

 

[upndown]

Damn guys! That's not an extension spring door!! It's a one piece door.
That arm belongs mounted to the top of the door!

First off that motor end of operator should be mounted much lower. Ideally the opener should be pushing upward when it starts closing.

Another thing to look at are the pivot points on the one piece door arms. If they look worn, Replace!! Or it will never work smoothly.

Don't know who looked at your door, but Do Not call them back...WTF?

 

[Wiedhas]

Re: Help with jumping garage door (video) UPDATE

Thanks for all of the replies. They had some home warranty policy and the guys had no idea what they were doing.

I noticed that one side of the door wasn't moving as well as the other. Turns out a sliding exterior handle (where a padlock can lock the door from the outside) was installed too high on the door. This caused one side of the door to hit the top of the jamb prematurely. Removed the handle and now both sides rise evenly.

As others noticed the screw track angle was causing the j arm to push down on the door when closing, causing the track to bend up then snap back down as the j arm reached horizontal. I lowered the arm to a lower positive angle and that helped quite a bit.

The door is much more smooth now but not perfect. It's still rubbing slightly on one side. But I'm leaving that for another day.


Thanks again for all of the helpful posts. It did the trick.

 

[6t7gto]

Need an after video.