garage door lift cable loosens as door reaches fully open height
Jeff Heuer
with a set that had previously been used in a friend's garage for only 5
years. We installed, them, wound them so that the door was balanced, but
then when raising the door by hand to check it's operation manually, one
of the lift cables loosens as the door reaches the full open height.
However the other lift cable remains tight and working properly? We've
tried adjusting the tension in the spring on that side of the door to no
avail? Can you tell me what might be causing this lift cable to loosen as
the door reaches full open height so we can fix it? I will call a
professional at last resort, but we've handled everything other than this
lift cable staying tight issue so far and would like to finish the job?
Thanks, Jeff
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Smitty Two
jheuer_at_iowa...@foo.com (Jeff Heuer) wrote:
> One of my garage door tension springs broke
> Thanks, Jeff
Two suggestions, Jeff. One is, question marks go at the end of
questions. Periods go at the end of statements.
Two is, stay off the suck-o site, they're engaged in viral advertising
of our little group, which we don't appreciate. This is USENET. Google
it and figure out where you really are, and how to get here without the
suck-o company.
mkir...@rochester.rr.com
Heuer) wrote:
> One of my garage door tension springs broke and I replaced both springs
> with a set that had previously been used in a friend's garage for only 5
> years. We installed, them, wound them so that the door was balanced, but
> then when raising the door by hand to check it's operation manually, one
> of the lift cables loosens as the door reaches the full open height.
> However the other lift cable remains tight and working properly? We've
> tried adjusting the tension in the spring on that side of the door to no
> avail? Can you tell me what might be causing this lift cable to loosen as
> the door reaches full open height so we can fix it? I will call a
> professional at last resort, but we've handled everything other than this
> lift cable staying tight issue so far and would like to finish the job?
There are two types of door spring systems. It would help if you
mentioned which type you have.
I have to assume that you have the type with the two springs on a bar
directly above the door opening.
The cables are not winding on the spools evenly. They should wrap a
single layer of cable on each spool. If you look, you will probably
notice that one spool has the cable wrapping on itself. This causes
the effective diameter of that spool to be larger, and to wind up
cable faster.
jeff_wisnia
> On Jul 22, 11:51 am, jheuer_at_iowabankers_dot_...@foo.com (Jeff
> Heuer) wrote:
>
>>One of my garage door tension springs broke and I replaced both springs
>>with a set that had previously been used in a friend's garage for only 5
>>years. We installed, them, wound them so that the door was balanced, but
>>then when raising the door by hand to check it's operation manually, one
>>of the lift cables loosens as the door reaches the full open height.
>>However the other lift cable remains tight and working properly? We've
>>tried adjusting the tension in the spring on that side of the door to no
>>avail? Can you tell me what might be causing this lift cable to loosen as
>>the door reaches full open height so we can fix it? I will call a
>>professional at last resort, but we've handled everything other than this
>>lift cable staying tight issue so far and would like to finish the job?
>
>
> There are two types of door spring systems. It would help if you
> mentioned which type you have.
>
> I have to assume that you have the type with the two springs on a bar
> directly above the door opening.
You may well be correct about that, even though the OP did say "tension
springs", not "torsion springs".....
But he also said "wound them"...
If they are tension springs then one of them may have "softened" or
stretched more than the other. Or, the friend's garage door may have had
a different weight than his and used different strength springs.
The first time I replaced the pair of tension springs on one of my
garage doors I used a bathroom scale with a simple wooden lever to
measure the weight of the door sans spring assist to determine what
strength springs to buy. (Some springs are color coded re strength but
my old ones weren't.)
I won't bet either way, though if they are in fact torsion springs the
OP might want to spend a evening or two reading Richard Kinch's epic
monolog about the subject:
http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm
Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.
Bryce
All of the torsion spring doors I have worked on used a solid shaft that
mount the springs and take-up pulleys. The pulleys turn in unison and
throwing slack at one end means unequal effective diameters ... unless
the OP has encountered a local variation in the value of pi.
jeff_wisnia
Or maybe somebody replaced one of the cables with one which wasn't quite
the same diameter as the other.
The thinner cable would get slack even if it wound in a single layer on
the pully. <G>
Twayne
>>
> All of the torsion spring doors I have worked on used a solid shaft
> that mount the springs and take-up pulleys. The pulleys turn in
> unison and throwing slack at one end means unequal effective
> diameters ... unless the OP has encountered a local variation in the
> value of pi.
Omigosh, I'll have to keep track of that! Good catch! What's the most
accurate way to measure pi anyway? My protractors always give me
somewhere between 2.5 and 4.5 on my half-inch diameter circles! The
stupid center keeps moving around!
< G >! :^}[
The Daring Dufas
Now, now, it's not polite to make fun of people.
We're not all rocket surgeons here.
TDD
merey...@gmail.com
mike
> On Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 8:51:37 AM UTC-7, Jeff Heuer wrote:
>> One of my garage door tension springs broke and I replaced both springs
>> with a set that had previously been used in a friend's garage for only 5
>> years. We installed, them, wound them so that the door was balanced, but
>> then when raising the door by hand to check it's operation manually, one
>> of the lift cables loosens as the door reaches the full open height.
>> tried adjusting the tension in the spring on that side of the door to no
>> avail? Can you tell me what might be causing this lift cable to loosen as
>> the door reaches full open height so we can fix it? I will call a
>> professional at last resort, but we've handled everything other than this
>> lift cable staying tight issue so far and would like to finish the job?
>> Thanks, Jeff
>>
>> -------------------------------------
>> St Louis Cardinals are the best
>>
>>
>>
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>> Delivered via http://www.thestuccocompany.com/
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>> alt.home.repair - 365228 messages and counting!
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>
> I need a hand with something. I have installed a new door, got everything set up as it should be, but for some damn reason when the door raises about halfway the cables want to come off the rollers. The cable winds perfectly on the roller until it just doesn't stay on, as if the cable is too stiff or somthing. This is stupid.
>
the cables to the point that they are still in tension in the up position.
If the springs are not matched to the weight of the door,
you're gonna have to live with a compromise.
Oren
>I need a hand with something. I have installed a new door, got everything set up as it should be, but for some damn reason when the door raises about halfway the cables want to come off the rollers. The cable winds perfectly on the roller until it just doesn't stay on, as if the cable is too stiff or somthing. This is stupid.
I'd say the best site about grange doors. He has a YouTube channel, a
BLOG and Tutorials. Some here says he takes calls, has parts, etc.,
etc.
<http://ddmgaragedoors.com/index.php>
Good Luck.