Roll-up garage door tension adjustment

[Uncle Ben]

Hey everyone, I wanted to see if you could take a look at the 2 pictures I have attached (one of each end) and tell me how I would go about increasing the tension. The roll-up door takes a lot of force to push up, and will come back down if you don't push it up far enough. How do I increase the tension on this style door? Thanks!!

 

[Codyboy]

Do you know the manufacturer?

I have a lower end 8x8 from janus that has similar hanger brackets , not sure what yours is as the picture is too dark on the ends of the barrel.
On mine the left side has a cog that is very telling of what it does. Stick screwdriver or rod in it aand turn it. It has a catch paw on it to not let it rotate back.

No idea on yours as I can't see a mechanism.

I suppose you could always roll the curtain all the way up , tie it in place and roll the whole door a couple turns like is do e when you install one.

 

[captmoto]

I've done it when the spring is exposed. It's chancy and I think I'm due again but I'm not sure I'd do it again myself. In your case it looks like an RV awning with an interior spring. I think I'd call a pro on this one.

 

[PWC Repair]

I suppose you could always roll the curtain all the way up , tie it in place and roll the whole door a couple turns like is do e when you install one.

My son has a small garage with roll-up/ self-storage type door. When he bought the property, the door was all loose and hanging lower on one side. I did like you said........I rolled the thing up right onto itself, strap tied it, then wound it several times until it worked.......then CAREFULLY slid the door back into the tracks. It was just a guess that worked out LOL!!

 

[dcg9381]

I've done it when the spring is exposed. It's chancy and I think I'm due again but I'm not sure I'd do it again myself. In your case it looks like an RV awning with an interior spring. I think I'd call a pro on this one.

This. These springs are not fun to deal with.

I have roll up doors (2 remaining). You want them to come down on their own. You should have a chain on the side that "locks" the door... Doors actually should want to come down with gravity, otherwise they "unspool" and then you've got a real mess.

 

[Codyboy]

O

This. These springs are not fun to deal with.

I have roll up doors (2 remaining). You want them to come down on their own. You should have a chain on the side that "locks" the door... Doors actually should want to come down with gravity, otherwise they "unspool" and then you've got a real mess.

OPs door doesn't have a chain fall hoist.

The tension on the spring is all that holds it open.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Here are some better pictures with some light shining on each end. Not sure if this helps determine how this particular door is designed to have the tension adjusted...

 

[firebirdparts]

Well, that hole for the bar and the little red knob ought to be tell you "this right here is the place"

 

[BurtEggley]

appears to be a pair of combination drum, motor, and springs for roll-up doors. There is armored wiring that looks to go to it, and a wire going to ground on one end. Not a clue but I would be hesitant to make suggestions on how to work on it until I fully understood the specific brand mechanism. Maybe give some photos to a local roll up door dealer nearby to see if they can ID it, or look at it to see if there is a brand name or model number on it.

Ran it thru Google Lens and it took me to this page. Also a mention of Janus roll up doors. Maybe look at their website for customer care, and shoot them a photo to see if they can ID it.

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That said - if you are an adventurous soul, I suspect this is how it works. In the photo below there are some red arrows. Those may point to a series of stops that are equally positioned around the shaft. The red device is probably the stop that locks them. To adjust my GUESS would be

1. Use vice grips or long board or both to hold door from falling on you and crushing you.
2. Insert very strong solid bar thru shaft and remove some tension.
3. Pull red lever then wind it up a little more to next stop and release stop, locking it. It may be on a cam that rotates to release it at each stop to allow you to add tension without unlocking it.

BE AWARE that screwing up on this, and the door may come down with a roar and kill you or anyone else nearby. There is a cotter pin in that image. Not sure its function. It may be to hold the shaft from slipping from the bracket, or it may be a safety of some kind. I would recommend speaking with someone who services Rolling Coil Doors in your area. At the very bottom is a door similar but not identical, and how it is adjusted. Yours may or may not be similar.

 

[Codyboy]

Well, that hole for the bar and the little red knob ought to be tell you "this right here is the place"

Yes , looks like that red plastic tip is the end of the spring and captured in the hole on the bracket.

There has to be a mechanism to hold the tension on the bar to keep it from spinning and unwinding. Perhaps similar to what Burts video shows but that is on the outside of the bracket and nothing in the OPs picture has that unless it's on the inside between the bracket and drum end.
My small 8x8 door is like what Burts video shows and very obvious how it works.

There is a hole in the bar , I wonder if it goes all the way through to where a screwdriver can be inserted and spin the bar (clockwise) ? But there still has to be a catch that we can't see to hold the tension on the bar.

 

[BurtEggley]

My GUESS is that the red thing is the catch because it sits in a slot. My GUESS is that it is spring loaded and that it slides in the slot to grab the stops as they click by. To increase pressure rotate the spring tighter, to lesson pressure, rotate the spring to remove tension and move the red thing in the slot to disengage the stop, then let it back a little and let go of the red thing so it engages the next stop.

What ever, do not lose control of what is being used to rotate the shaft/spring.

 

[Codyboy]

My GUESS is that the red thing is the catch because it sits in a slot. My GUESS is that it is spring loaded and that it slides in the slot to grab the stops as they click by. To increase pressure rotate the spring tighter, to lesson pressure, rotate the spring to remove tension and move the red thing in the slot to disengage the stop, then let it back a little and let go of the red thing so it engages the next stop.

What ever, do not lose control of what is being used to rotate the shaft/spring.

Ha. Yeah good luck holding that red tipped spring if you knock it out of its hole if there is any tension on it.
Good way to lose a finger.