What is wrong with my garage door?

[GarageDoor]

I am having problems with my garage door and was wondering what everyone thinks it could be.

It is a double door that probably weighs about 300 pounds but I'm not sure. It has a 1/3 horsepower Raynor opener on it. I have only recently learned that this opener is probably underpowered for this large door, but, this is the opener the builder installed on the house when it was built and it has always worked perfectly despite being a bit underpowered for my large door.

Anyway, I recently had some extra money and although the door was still working good I thought it would be a good time to put new springs on before they break as they have had many years of use on them.

I called a local professional company and they sent a guy out.

He installed the new springs and the first thing I noticed right away was that the springs were different then the ones I had always had on the door. These springs were much longer and thinner then the shorter thicker bigger springs my door had always used. I didn't think much of it though to be honest because I had requested top of the line long cycle springs so I thought this is why the springs look different then other springs I've had on the door.

He also upsold me on some new nylon rollers. He told me the door would be much more quite and last longer with the much smoother nylon rollers. I had always had metal rollers on the door and was a bit skeptical but I had to admit after he had installed them that they were very quiet and I actually liked the quiet and smoothness.

Anyhow, the job was done and he was in the garage showing me the operation of the door. It was disconnected from the opener at this point and he was moving the door up and down manually to demonstrate how well it was working. He then hooked it up to the opener, everything seemed fine and he left.

Anyway, the next day I opened the door and pulled my car out. The door opened great and I started to close the door. That's when it happened. A very loud bang came from the door and it stopped in the up position failing to close. The chain was banging very loudly as well because the after the loud bang the door jolted hard and the chain was banging. This caused me to believe possibly the chain was too lose.

I called the company back and told them I had heard a very loud bang and the door was stuck open.

The guy came back for free and tightened the chain and made some adjustments to the opener and told me that it was all fixed. The door closed just fine at this point and everything seemed okay.

The door was working fine and then things got crazy. Suddenly, late at night, I heard the door opening by itself! It was going up and down and getting stuck, totally on it's own.

I rushed out into the garage and unplugged the opener. The first thing I thought is that maybe a neighbor had my code? Even though it was like 3 AM and I doubted anyone would be opening their door.

This continuted for a few days where the door would open and close itself for no apparent reason. I even changed the code and it still kept doing it.

Finally, I decided to just stop using the door for now and unplugged the opener.

What gets me is I never really understood what went wrong.

What was the very loud bang I heard that jammed the door up and prevented it from closing? (the bang was really loud) Were the springs installed incorrectly? Are the springs the wrong type for my door? Could the loud bang have been coming from the opener instead of the door? did he damaged the track when he installed the new rollers? Are the rollers installed incorrectly? Is the gear on the opener broken?

Why did my door go so crazy? The opener was working perfectly before the new springs were put it. Never once making a bang. What are the chances that the opener broke exactly right after the new springs were installed? Highly unlikely I would think.

Why did the door start opening constantly by itself to the point that I had no choice but to unplug and stop using the door? What are the chances that the opener would suffer some type of electrical failure exactly right after I had new springs put in?

 

[vavet]

Are these torsion springs or extension (tension) springs? Torsin springs will be mounted on the wall above the door opening. Extension springs will be attached to the door and parallel to the horizontal portion of the track.

 

[Jlbc212]

It looks like you have torsion springs. The newly installed springs can look different from the originals and still be the correct springs for the door. The spring wire size, the spring diameter and length determine the spring's strength for a certain number of turns. The fact that the door worked well throughout it's entire up and down travel with the automatic door opener disconnected indicates the new springs are the correct springs for your door. As to what caused the loud bang, one can only speculate based upon the information given. I would disconnect the automatic door opener again to make sure the door still works well. A 1/3 hp automatic door opener is not unusual even for a double wide door. A properly balanced, well-maintained door requires only minimal effort to move up and down. The automatic door opener simply takes the place of a human opening and closing the door. The issue with the Raynor opener appears coincidental to the replacement of the springs and the rollers. It's like someone taking their car in for a brake job and now their windshield wipers don't work.

 

[csi123]

Did you try readjust the setting on the opener? It sounds like the opener is sensing too much force is needed to close and open the door and trying to reverse the direction. May be the guy changed them and made it too sensitive?

 

[jonshonda]

Cliff notes?

 

[driftpin]

Sounds like you have another service call on your hands.

If I heard "a loud bang" from my garage door, after seeing it was still on the tracks, I would look to see if the spring(s) had broken. It would sound like what you describe, almost like the 'report' of a rifle firing.

I was driving my truck down A1A which is the coastal road in Florida, and going over a set of typically-crappy roadwork that was like a roller-coaster, one of my front coil springs decided it had enough, and a loud 'crack!' announced the coil spring on one side in the front suspension had broken. It scared the &*^! out of me when it happened. I carefully pulled off the road to try to determine what had happened, and found the failed spring. Be glad the spring is contained, you could have been seriously-injured if it had somehow come-adrift.

 

[GarageDoor]

The are definitely torsion springs.

Thanks for everyone's help.

It makes me feel a lot better to know that different looking springs can still be correct springs.

I can safely assume that I have the correct springs.

The torsion springs are definitely NOT broken.

I did not try to make any adjustments on the opener itself, I just simply stopped using the door, vowing never to plug that opener in again and only operate the door manually if I have to until I have enough money to call another service guy, LOL

After all of this happened I did manually open the door one last time and everything did go okay. The door did not fly up on it's own or feel too heavy to open. It opened easy and smooth, went up all the way and closed with no banging noise.

I guess the only thing that makes sense is that simply be a coincidence the Raynor opener failed right after the new springs installed.

What could make an opener halt sudden during downward travel and make such a loud rifle like sounding metal bang? Could the gears be starting to strip? Could there be something wrong with the motor that it suddenly stops with a bang?

 

[Slednut]

I would check out the trolley on your door opener, it could be hanging up on the rail. When it does sometimes the chain slaps against the rail and can make a loud noise.

 

[DGersic]

The are definitely torsion springs.



Thanks for everyone's help.



It makes me feel a lot better to know that different looking springs can still be correct springs.



I can safely assume that I have the correct springs.



The torsion springs are definitely NOT broken.



I did not try to make any adjustments on the opener itself, I just simply stopped using the door, vowing never to plug that opener in again and only operate the door manually if I have to until I have enough money to call another service guy, LOL



After all of this happened I did manually open the door one last time and everything did go okay. The door did not fly up on it's own or feel too heavy to open. It opened easy and smooth, went up all the way and closed with no banging noise.



I guess the only thing that makes sense is that simply be a coincidence the Raynor opener failed right after the new springs installed.



What could make an opener halt sudden during downward travel and make such a loud rifle like sounding metal bang? Could the gears be starting to strip? Could there be something wrong with the motor that it suddenly stops with a bang?

Sounds like the opener is dead, but the door is fine. Without having heard the bang, and without being able to see the opener, can’t really diagnose it much beyond that.

Coincidences happen. I once pulled my wife’s car in to the garage to do a brake job on it. Finished up, and it wouldn’t start. Thinking it was a dead battery, I pushed it out to the driveway (one car garage) and jumped it. Nope. Dead starter. Replaced the starter, still wouldn’t start because the battery was also dead.

Humans look for patterns, and we sometimes create them where they don’t exist. Replacing the springs and rollers probably wasn’t needed, but didn’t hurt anything either.

You could try calling Raynor. Maybe they’ll have an idea.





Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

When torsion springs are replaced the door level can be altered. Accidentally. Once everything is sprung again the door may be a bit off level from where it was. It could be enough to cause a bracket to hang up on a part of the track and explain the bang when it released. The opener chain may also have been way loose to begin with and the hiccup with the door caused the chain to jump the sprocket a couple of teeth. The last issue of intermittent erratic opener action could be as simple as a bad wire or push button switch. Check the wire connection on the opener. Should have one pair of wires for the control station and one pair for the photo eyes. I have seen those wires chafed through and make contact when an interior door closed. Seriously. It could be a cracked circuit inside the opener also, but I would lean towards the wire or push button. The horsepower of the opener is ok. As was stated, a properly balanced door needs very little effort to open and close. The 3/4 hp opener was invented for the guys in the suburbs with ***** envy.

 

[rjn2649]

I once had a garage opener start acting real snaky on me...wouldn't let the door down all the way, opened and closed real shaky.
The shaft and bearing on the chain drive sprocket was badly worn. I guess because when the opener was installed the springs never were adjusted right and wore out the opener.

 

[Sine Swept]

After 5 years in my house I needed to have the door guys come out. He wasn't long pointing out all the things wrong with my door setup, which I had been using for years. The springs were installed backwards, some of the door hardware was installed in the wrong places and probably the best part was the rod for the torsion springs. The shaft wasn't long enough so it was extended with some metal conduit that was nut and bolted to hold it together.

I paid him less than $150 to fix it up.