Garage door cable comes off problems.

HiFiCanada

Caregiver
Garage door cable came off and I can't figure out why it comes off , it all aligns up good, was I ever mad:mad::rant:, had so many things to do , I spent two hours trying to get the cable to go on the pulley again. I had to use two big pipe wrenches and turn that heavy spring loaded shaft and get it turned back enough, so that the cable can go back on the pulley again.
I don't put the garage door all the way up to the top,because the cable on the left side will come off again, so I use a vise grip, to keep it from going all the way up, of course the vise grip popped off,and the door went all the way up and the cable came off.
Everything lines up and I just can't figure why it comes off, what would cause that.
 
If you have a torsion bar spring (across the front of the garage) you should not be tampering with adjusting it. People have gotten badly hurt from them. You really should hire a professional to look at it.
 
Just a suggestion: Go into a neighborhood where homes are being built and look for a guy installing garage doors. Or if you see one on the road, follow him until he stops. Either way, these guys are sub-contractors working on their own, and they will be happy to have side work. I paid a guy $80 to replace the spring on mine a few years ago. The company he sub-contracted for was asking $220 to do the same thing. They wanted nearly $100 for the spring, and he told me they sold it to him for $10. Took him 15 minutes on his way home one evening, and he pocketed $70, and I didn't get hurt by that dang spring!
 
If you have a torsion bar spring (across the front of the garage) you should not be tampering with adjusting it. People have gotten badly hurt from them. You really should hire a professional to look at it.


Really shouldn't be messing with anything having to do with a spring on a garage door. SUPER dangerous stuff.
 
Yep I wouldn't mess with it. Dangerous. I watched the guy work on mine and there's definitely a technique and a few tools needed to do it safely. My cable came off its pulley on one side, but was because the original installer didn't use big enough pulleys for a 10 foot overhead door, and he replaced them.
 
Torsion_Spring_Injury.262204923_large.gif


Could have just as easily been a face.

Pipe wrenches??? :nono:
 
HiFi, your cable is not leading fairly back onto the shaft (almost 95% of the cases I've seen). This is usually caused by uneven spring tension from one side to another.
Pipe wrenches aren't the best, you need rods that fit into the torsion spring retainer. The way this is usually done is to relieve both springs to zero tension and then set them both equally as if mounting the torsion sping shaft, initially. If you don't know the process, seek help.
 
I fix overhead doors on over the road equipment almost daily, and I've seen my fair share of cables break, retainers come off doors,etc. That is VERY high tension you're working with there..please be careful. Like westend said, pipe wrenches are a no-no. Along with the rods, make sure that they are SOLID rods that don't bend easily. You need good strong arms to move that spring around.. and the fact that you're standing on a ladder doesn't help the situation. I've seen guys fall off the ladder and that rod come flying out like a rocket.

All aside, if you still want to try and fix it, it can be done. What style torsion spring do you have? Is it a dual or single spring? if it's single and it's coming off, it's a simple adjustment, and can be done safely.
 
Yes- regardless if what you have to pay-it's better then the above picture- not to mention the pain and extra$$, and you will still end up needing a pro to do it.
Pound wise-penny foolish-well something like that...:thmbsp:
 
Call up your local garage door install to have it repaired, it will not cost you much and they have the tools to do it safely.
 
I fix overhead doors on over the road equipment almost daily, and I've seen my fair share of cables break, retainers come off doors,etc. That is VERY high tension you're working with there..please be careful. Like westend said, pipe wrenches are a no-no. Along with the rods, make sure that they are SOLID rods that don't bend easily. You need good strong arms to move that spring around.. and the fact that you're standing on a ladder doesn't help the situation. I've seen guys fall off the ladder and that rod come flying out like a rocket.

All aside, if you still want to try and fix it, it can be done. What style torsion spring do you have? Is it a dual or single spring? if it's single and it's coming off, it's a simple adjustment, and can be done safely.

Its a single spring, very old door and spring mechanism, I'll snap a picture of it in a day or so.

I got a story about this door, what are the chances?
I worked in a garage in 1969 and on, I remember the garage owners wanting to replace the door, so the mechanic took the old door and mechanism, as he was building a new shop for his dad.
12 years ago I bought this place that I live in now and it has a shop, it took about two years, but everytime I opened my garage door, I be thinking,"Darn, this door looks so familiar"
Well it turns out the I bought the place, which was owned by the mechanics dad years ago.

Way back in 1969, I have opened this same door 30 times a day to do oil changes and replace tires during my apprenticeship.
 
I took a few pictures of the garage door mechanism is there a adjustment for the left pully? That is the one were the cable comes off?


http://s1042.photobucket.com/albums/b425/ultracontrast/Garage Door/

Wow, that is old! (to me anyways), I would recommend calling someone..last time we had a cable come off on our big overhead door at work (16 ft door) it only cost a little over $100 through the door people. That's a big spring with a god awful amount of tension. I don't think this isn't something you want to try yourself..get help! If you do want to attempt this, here's some advice:

The side that doesn't have the bar..(where you can see pipe wrench marks) is usually where you would stick a bar in and relieve pressure off the spring. but there's nothing there!? I'm not sure how you would relieve tension, there's almost always holes in that aluminum block to insert pipes.

Everything I've worked on is newer than that. If you do find a way, Before you relieve pressure, you need to be sure that you keep some sort of tension on your cables, because they'll fall off if you don't. You don't need a lot, a vise grip GENTLY clamped on the cable works well. Once you relieve pressure you can then adjust the pulleys that the cable wraps on. it's probably falling off because the cable gets loose.. you just have to loosen the set screw (square head) on the one that's falling off and just give it a little turn to add some more cable tension. When you do that make sure the shaft doesn't turn too. then tighten the set screw back up nice and tight.. but not TOO tight and then slowly start putting the spring pressure back on. After you do that, test your door, to see if what you did helped. Some lube on that spring and rollers always helps too.
 
When I had my 10' overhead door serviced last time, the repair guy told me the best thing I can do myself is keep the springs lubricated with a spray oil or silicone spray. I take his advice and about once a year I lubricate the springs. I use a spray oil with Teflon in it.
 
Yea, that is a very heavy old wooden door, so the springs are much,much bigger then what is on the new aluminun doors.
 
If you are still trying to work on the door, you might want to check out this site: http://ddmgaragedoors.com/ especially http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/

No association other than being a happy customer. Lots of interesting information and warnings to help prevent you from doing something stupid if you want to DIY. :D However its hard to make things foolproof because fools are so darn ingenious! :D (Not aimed at any one in particular, myself included, just a general observation. I assume at some point we have all been there done that.)
 
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