New garage door spring shaft issues

[matt_i]

Just installed the horizontal tracks and wound the single spring yesterday. Having issues with one of the cables losing the sheave/drum and birdnesting.

I believe to have the correct sheaves, red/black and a single-spring wound to between 8 and 9 turns (8' tall x 9' wide 2" thick door) on 3 different variants, 8.5, 8.75 and 9 turns.

What I see to be the problem is related to the horizontal movement of the shaft as the spring coils and uncoils as the door is raised and lowered. The upper left sheave translates approx 1-1/2" total (side to side between up and down). So as the cable winds/door raises, the sheave is moving left, but the cable wraps to the right (towards the centerline) which helps to compensate. The upper right sheave, however, where I am having issues with the cable staying on track, is moving to the left-horizontally while the cable wraps also to the left, so is pulling very far away from keeping the cable vertical.

My parts & setup match the manual/drawings, just not sure what I am doing wrong. It would seem to be fine if the left sheave wrapped to the right as the door is raised...but I don't have that part...not sure if it exists or not. My other two doors are double-springs so they don't have the side-to-side movement of the tube shaft. I figured this was a common problem and someone who does this regularly would know.

Thanks in advance.

 

[upndown]

Make sure your drums are set tight against the end bearings! Even with a 1 spring setup, there should be no side to side movement.

 

[matt_i]

I had it set like this at first, then the OD of the left sheave was jammed hard into the left bearing mount to the point of bowing it out, and the center bearing restraint bowed the other way due to the spring unwinding.

I can see the coil spring get shorter as I wind it up, it seems normal that it would try to expand as it unwinds/door raises. Thanks for your response, I'll give it another go as above.

 

[upndown]

Nature of the beast..spring will try to expand as its unwinding(opening) and contract as its closing. That's why it's so important that the end bearings are vertical and solid.

In the past I've even had to add a piece of angle 6-8" on the outside of the end bearing to make it solid. If you're lucky the gusset that lags to the door jamb will be pre punched. If not just drill your own holes. Hope this makes sense!

 

[upndown]

A picture wouldn't hurt, different manufacturers use use different mounting set ups! Some are just ****.

 

[matt_i]

Figured out the problem, I had the spring on the wrong side of the center bearing bracket. I thought the winding cone had to go "into" the coil of the spring, after checking out other doors, it has to do "away" or "with" the coil of the spring.

Wound incorrectly the spring shrinks in length in a big way as its wound and the OD of the coils get bigger, with nothing to restrain it. But wound correctly, the center group of coils shrink down, and correspondingly expand in length to counteract this tendency exactly.

There's more than I thought to a garage door moment spring But its working just right now.

 

[upndown]

Glad you got it figured out! What kinda threw me was if the spring is on backwards, the door usually shoots off the floor then dies halfway up. Don't ask me how I know..

 

[James-W]

I am glad it is working as well, but I am not sure how you could install the spring wrong. But in any case, since it is working, far be it from me to argue with success.

 

[upndown]

I am glad it is working as well, but I am not sure how you could install the spring wrong. But in any case, since it is working, far be it from me to argue with success.

Easy enuff to do. In my case being in a big *** hurry or being distracted. On a standard install the right wound spring goes to the left side of the center bearing and vice-versa. Usually one of those Grrrrr..moments!

 

[matt_i]

Yep, I originally bolted it to the center flange, spring going out to left. The fix was to flip over and bolt to center flange, spring going out to right. I had to take it all apart and reassemble, but well worth it in the end