Sticky Garage door

[CharlestonJoe]

A friend of mine has a garage door that sticks when it's cold. I have lubed the daylights out of it with garage door lube, which is what I use on mine and mine works great. Cold here being below 50, when it hits the low 20's later this week it will be really bad. The only thing I can figure is with the cooler temperatures the metal is constricting and tightening up? It's an all metal door, that's 8-9 ft wide and 7 ft tall. It has the kind of springs that whined up over the door as opposed to the springs that run parallel with the rails. The door doesn't shut tight to the ground, nor is it frozen to the ground. It sticks when it first tries to open, sometimes it comes up a foot then it sticks or binds and goes back down and you have to hit the button again, when it gets colder she will have to do it 2-3 times. I'm also wondering if maybe one spring (the left or right side) is tighter than the other and it's coming up crooked and binding up that way and the colder weather intensifies it? There's no problems spring,summer or fall. Maybe the door is meant for a more tropical location? Lol
Any thoughts or ideas?
Thanks!

 

[Rookie2]

I would try oiling the springs.

 

[jstroede]

Im guessing screw drive opener?

John

 

[dfiler2]

Sounds to me like the sensitivity of the opener needs to be adjusted, very common here in N MN. The lubricant in the rollers stiffens up and it takes more power to open it, trying it 2-3 times will loosen it up a bit, so that it works. Look up the model of the opener and get the manual online or if she does have the manual refer to the section on adjusting the sensitivity.

 

[CharlestonJoe]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I'm going by her house this afternoon I will check it out.
It is a screw drive type.
I will get some pictures while I'm there.

 

[scooz14]

the lift cables attached to the shaft that the spring is wound around may need to be adjusted. when i bought my house, the door sometimes would jam. ended up that the left cable was too loose and wouldn't help bring the door up equally. my problem ended up being the pulley that the cable wraps around needed to be re-clocked. no more garage door issuses after that. it took me 2 hours to figure out the problem and 10 min to fix it. with the door fully open, one cable was tight and one was loose, that's how i figured my problem out

 

[upndown]

Joe, the first thing you want to do when you get to her house is put it on manual. Try opening and closing the door by hand to see if there's any binding.

You said the door doesn't close all the way, manually close it all the way then open, if you notice a popping sound coming from the spring, the door is "spring bound" if that's the case open the Door a couple inches to create seperation in the coils, then squirt with silicone, or an oil can.

If the door works smoothly then the grease on the screw is too thick. Pick up a small tube of Lubriplate (Genie Lube) HD has it and lube the screw.

Reconnect the door and check the up sensitivity, when the door is opening, grab the bottom of the door to see how much resistance it takes to shut off the opener and adjust accordingly. Good Luck!

 

[Bondo]

A friend of mine has a garage door that sticks when it's cold. I have lubed the daylights out of it with garage door lube, which is what I use on mine and mine works great. Cold here being below 50, when it hits the low 20's later this week it will be really bad. The only thing I can figure is with the cooler temperatures the metal is constricting and tightening up? It's an all metal door, that's 8-9 ft wide and 7 ft tall. It has the kind of springs that whined up over the door as opposed to the springs that run parallel with the rails. The door doesn't shut tight to the ground, nor is it frozen to the ground. It sticks when it first tries to open, sometimes it comes up a foot then it sticks or binds and goes back down and you have to hit the button again, when it gets colder she will have to do it 2-3 times. I'm also wondering if maybe one spring (the left or right side) is tighter than the other and it's coming up crooked and binding up that way and the colder weather intensifies it? There's no problems spring,summer or fall. Maybe the door is meant for a more tropical location? Lol
Any thoughts or ideas?
Thanks!

Ayuh,.... I'd sooner think the garage is shiftin' from frost, than the actual door or hangin' iron is shiftin',...

 

[rburke65]

Cold here being below 50*!!! I just check here and at 1:20pm its 12!! I would love 50.

 

[Top_Fuel]

...It sticks when it first tries to open, sometimes it comes up a foot then it sticks or binds and goes back down and you have to hit the button again

...when it gets colder she will have to do it 2-3 times.

This is an outside shot...you definitely want to do as others have suggested and operate the door manually to see if it freely goes up/down before you do anything else. Don't be stupid (like me ) and start buying replacement parts you don't need.

The last time I had a door with those symptoms, it turned out to be a worn out gear in the opener. So if this door checks out but it still won't go up all the time, you might want to pop the cover off of the opener and see if there is a pile of white plastic dust inside. This could be your problem. More info here. For whatever reason, my opener didn't develop this problem until it was 20 degrees outside!


I also had a problem with low-quality rollers that I ASSumed were OK. I unbolted a couple from my door (it only takes 30 seconds) and rolled them in my hand. I couldn't believe how bad they were. Might be something else to look at if the door feels like it's binding when you operate it manually.

 

[DC73]

Had a problem one time with a sticking garage door. What solved it for me was to loosen all the hinge bolts, roller bolts, and track bolts. I then ran the garage door up and down several times. I gently closed it manually and then re-tightened all the bolts. Your mileage may vary.

Good luck.

DC

 

[CharlestonJoe]

Thanks again everyone!
Crazy day, but I got some pictures, but I didn't have time to mess with the door.

model info;


adjustments


spring adjustments right side


left side is missing and perhaps broken?


close up

 

[upndown]

Joe, that's a Wayne Dalton torque master system. The smaller doors have only one spring. The right side with the counter is the winding side, the left side is just a dummy to hold the tube in place.

Again start by trying the door on manual.

 

[CharlestonJoe]

Thanks upndown, I have tried it in manual and it works pretty good. It will close all the way in manual, the trigger finger on top of the screw rail needs adjustment for the door to close 100%. Its set to stop the door just as it barely touches the concrete. The house is an elevated house the only "closed in" side is the garage door side and the opposite wall, the two other walls are lattice panels with a concrete pier every so many feet, so as far as the door closing super tight is not a concern, as the weather can just blow in through the lattice.
I have not tried adjusting the up strength, one of my concerns is the door stopping once its all the way up. The trigger finger near the motor doesn't seem to work. The door bypasses it and lightly bounces off the rubber stop at the end of the screw track, up against the motor. If I crank up the up strength will it slam against the rubber stop before stopping itself? I am stopping back by there today and may have time to mess with it.
Side note, my youngest son is in the hospital, he fell out of a tree in the front yard, came inside then a minute later passes out scaring the **** out of my wife and I. She panicked, called 911 and went to the hospital via ambulance, he came back too within seconds, I think he just jarred the **** out of something, maybe a concussion even though he didn't land on his head , the hospital decided to keep him overnight to observe him/ collect insurance money (in my opinion). I'm not saying he shouldn't have went to the hospital, I had him loaded in the truck and ready to go, but she insisted on 911, the hospital is only 15 minutes away for crying out loud.

 

[upndown]

As far as the up limit switch, make sure the set screw is tight. Also do a visual check, the white plastic actuator is connected to a metal finger, those sometimes break off.

If it continues to bypass that switch and bang into the motor head, it will wear out the Carriage (black plastic piece that travels on the screw) causing more problems.

Hope your son is OK!

 

[HoosierMark]

I had a similar experience with a jack shaft opener and the door. It would start to close and stop. It did this about 3-4 times in the morning and then finally close. Called the installer since doors were only 4 months old. He lubed it up with very thin lublircant and said that should do it. It has taken care of it. I asked about using white grease or something and he said no, to use thin lubricant as the thick stuff gets dust in it and gums up.

 

[logical]

With my screw drive Overhead Door brand DC openers, any issues were always solved by lubing the center track that the lift arm trolley rides on. In winter, the lube was thickening and gumming it up. I'm out there a lot more this year and keep it heated to 55 vs my usual 40 degrees and haven't had the issue this year.

Its the underside of the rail that needs lube on mine. Clean all the old gunk off with solvent and apply some slippery stuff.

 

[CharlestonJoe]

Thanks again everyone!
I almost hate to admit it but it turned out to be a simple adjustment of the up strength. It was at the lowest possible setting! Of course I didn't check this until after the rails were cleaned and re-lubed and even the springs got adjusted.

My son update, he spent 2 days in the hospital, they ran all kinds of test and x rays, they didn't find anything alarming. So he's back home

 

[Rookie2]

Good to hear your son is ok !

 

[upndown]

Joe, glad to hear Everything worked out for you!!