Overhead Door Cable Drum

[bfarroo]

I installed an 8500 opener on one of my shed doors this weekend and I'm having issues with the cable tension switch. The way the cable drums are installed when the door is all the way up the cable is overlapping the edge of the door and slides in front of the door, when the door goes down the cable slides back to the side and goes slack for a second causing the sensor to trip. My question is can I move the drum to the side some to try and center the cable so it doesn't hit the door? I'm assuming I will have to unwind the springs first before I can move the drums but I don't see anything else that would stop it. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[gnpenning]

Are you saying that your drums are not out against the bearing plate? You should not be able to see any of your spring shaft between the drum and bearing plate.

 

[wssix99]

Pictures, please.

 

[HoosierMark]

There is another recent thread on here about the need for pusher springs to help keep the tension on the cable so the sensor does not trip. Check it out. My 8500 trips on one door apparently because the cable unrolls faster then the door moves.

 

[frank001]

I installed an 8500 opener on one of my shed doors this weekend and I'm having issues with the cable tension switch. The way the cable drums are installed when the door is all the way up the cable is overlapping the edge of the door and slides in front of the door, when the door goes down the cable slides back to the side and goes slack for a second causing the sensor to trip. My question is can I move the drum to the side some to try and center the cable so it doesn't hit the door? I'm assuming I will have to unwind the springs first before I can move the drums but I don't see anything else that would stop it. Any suggestions are welcome.

I have three 8500s. On one door it would often trip the cable sensor when the door the was closing at the bottom, causing the door to open again.

After numerious times trying to adjust it, I finally took a piece of stiff wire, hooked it over the plastic arm and hooked the other end to the door rail, holding the arm away from the sensor. Problem solved.





http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284998&highlight=frank001

 

[bfarroo]

I'll get pix tonight. The drum is against the bearing but the bearing is separate from the track so it could be moved over. The door is a 14 ft door with a 6 inch drum but the cable probably makes 8 loops when it raises moving the cable closer and closer to the door until the cable position is actually inside the edge of the door.

 

[bfarroo]

So I looked at it more tonight and the mount for the drum bearing is attached to the top rail. The best I could do would be to move it to the other side of the horizontal track which would maybe gain me a quarter inch which I don't think will be enough.I may just try making a bracket to keep the cable from sliding over the front of the door, I held the cable to the side by hand and it doesn't seem to do anything odd on the drum. This pic should show how far the cable overlap the front of the door, this is with the door nearly all the way up.

View media item 53502

 

[CNGsaves]

^ ^ ^ Is that door about to fall and crush Tiny kid holding his homework ??

 

[wssix99]

I'm still confused how this could happen. By definition, the door must be between the tracks. Assuming the vertical and horizontal tracks are connected to each other and the drum is on the outside of the tracks, it should be physically impossible for the cable to cross the door at all, unless:

- The tracks are crooked or out of whack - is this problem just on one side of the door, or both sides?
- There is a problem with the mount for the cable to the door bottom

 

[upndown]

Only a pic of your end bearing and drum position is going to help solve your situation! That last pic was useless. Check to make sure your cable is wrapped correctly! First wind should be on high lift section of drum (first groove).

The only time I've run across a cable overlapping like that, either the end bearing plate wasn't spaced correctly or the drum was not set tight against the end bearing.

 

[bfarroo]

Here's the drum picture, the cable is installed correctly as far as I can tell. Could it be that the track was installed to close to the door causing the drum to be to close to the door not leaving enough room for the cable?

View media item 53544

 

[bjcouche]

IT looks like in your picture, you might be able to move your drum over at most 1/4" closer to the bearing plate. You guessed correctly that your big picture problem is that the vertical door track might be installed too close to the door. When you look at your door rollers, are they sticking out more than 1/2"?

I have taller doors, 10, 12' and have noticed that the taller the door, the more wraps on the drum are required and the more horizontal distance the cable travels on the drum. Thus the farther the tracks have to be installed away rom the door so that the cable doesn't bind or rub on the door both in the open and closed positions.

Basically, when in the open position, you want the cable to be nearly vertical up to the drum. When closed, the cable will be at a gradual angle from the bottom of the door to the drum. Think of it this way, you will always have a difference in horizontal cable distance from open to close, so it's best to have the distance off when the door is closed, not open.

Because you have a 14' door, this exacerbates the problem, So I'd say start by moving your tracks and drums out until the cable is perpendicular with the door open.

Brian

 

[wssix99]

I matched my door up to your picture and it looks similar. My cable does move across the door, but I don't notice it because the tracks are slanted inward. As the door moves up, it moves into the room, away from the cable as it moves across the face of the door - so the two don't touch.

Are you getting the cable touching the door? If so at what point does it happen?

Do you have the problem if you stop the door right at the opening and don't let it open as far as it can go?

 

[bfarroo]

The cable touches the door when it's about 3/4 way up, after that it starts rubbing and finally jumps over to the front of the door. I'm going to try contacting the builder and see if he will do anything about it. It's been a year and a half so I doubt the door company will do anything about it but it can't hurt to try.

 

[bfarroo]

Here's a video, I have the door starting 1 panel down so that it doesn't trip the cable switch for now but would like to be able to run it all the way up.

 

[upndown]

Can't see the video, says it's a private video.
I looked at your second pic again, your cable is started in the correct groove. But after the radius, where your cable goes vertical, it looks as though the cable is coming out of the third groove, not the second. This can and will make a difference! (Might just be camera angle)

 

[wssix99]

The cable touches the door when it's about 3/4 way up, after that it starts rubbing and finally jumps over to the front of the door. I'm going to try contacting the builder and see if he will do anything about it. It's been a year and a half so I doubt the door company will do anything about it but it can't hurt to try.

Can you post a picture of the bracket where the cable attaches to the door?

On mine, the cable attaches to the side of the door and sticks out a little bit, which gives the cable clearance as it crosses the door.

Do your tracks slant away from the door opening so the door backs away from the opening as it moves up?

 

[bfarroo]

Video should be public now

 

[bfarroo]

Can't see the video, says it's a private video.
I looked at your second pic again, your cable is started in the correct groove. But after the radius, where your cable goes vertical, it looks as though the cable is coming out of the third groove, not the second. This can and will make a difference! (Might just be camera angle)

I'll double check. I think it tracked correctly.

 

[bfarroo]

Can you post a picture of the bracket where the cable attaches to the door?

On mine, the cable attaches to the side of the door and sticks out a little bit, which gives the cable clearance as it crosses the door.

Do your tracks slant away from the door opening so the door backs away from the opening as it moves up?

I'll get some more pix of where it attaches. The door does back away from the opening as it goes up like it is suppose to. I really think it wasn't installed correctly. Just ***** because all 4 doors are the same.

 

[wssix99]

I had to reinstall one of my brackets during my install = not fun. It's easy to do, but requires taking the tension out of the door springs.