How to Adjust Garage Door Cables – A Guide
One of the vital parts needed for the safety of a garage door is the cables that help in the movement of the doors. Garage door cables carry the weight each time you lift the door up or lower it down. They balance the weight of the garage door by holding the tension in the torsion springs on which they run.
Apart from this, the garage door cable steps in when the spring breaks and there is recoil. Without the cable, your springs may fly or fall off and the door may come crashing down suddenly. Avoid these mishaps by maintaining the cables of your garage door from time to time.
The experts at Thrifty Garage Door are good at adjusting your cables with perfection and precision. Here are a few more things to know before you adjust a garage door cable.
First, let us start by knowing where the cables are, in your garage door.
Depending on the spring they use, garage door cables are of 2 types and can be found in 2 locations.
The first type is the lift Cables which use torsion springs. These cables are located at the bottom of the door. They use torque to raise and lower the garage doors.
The other type is the Retaining cables with extension springs. These cables run along the sides of the garage door. They prevent the extension springs from flying off if they break.
Garage door cables are twisted strands of thick galvanized wires. They are prone to wear and tear, rust and corrosion. These damages occur due to both repeated usage and external surroundings. If you inspect and repair garage door cables on a regular basis, your garage door will work for years without any problem.
Call garage door repair experts for inspecting and repairing garage door cables. Only they can do the adjustment for your garage door cables with precision.
7 Steps to adjust your garage door cables
If you are a DIY person and want to adjust your garage door cables on your own, here is how you should do it.
- Set up your tools
You would need a step ladder, 2 C clamps, screwdriver with a flat head, pliers, wire cutter etc.
- Get the garage door ready for work
To do this, pull the rope attached to the door opener. This will release the door opener from its drive chain. Now, the garage door is ready for lowering. When you lower the door, you will see that there is tension in its springs. Release this tension by lifting the door.
- Fix your garage door in place using C clamps
Fix 2 C clamps to the track of the door beneath the rollers. These clamps will hold the door in place while you work. If you do not fix the clamps, the door might come crashing down.
- Disconnect the cable
The cable runs across a frame around the garage door. One end of it is fitted to a spring or hook attached to a frame near the doorway. The other end is wrapped on the rollers.
Disconnect the wire which you can see in the frame with holes. Now you will reconnect this wire to one of the holes so that the wire is not loose.
- Loosen the brackets
Next, use pliers to loosen the brackets holding the wire. Now, you can pull the cable wire through this and tighten it. While doing this, be careful not to loosen the bracket fully as this might tangle the cables.
- Adjust the cable tension
Loosen or tighten the cable wire to adjust ist tension. Reattach the wire to the frame using the hook. Test the working of the garage door and adjust the cables accordingly. Too much loosening or tightening will not do. This garage door cable adjustment has to be done accurately.
- Final checks
Check the drum where the cable is wrapped to check the balance of the garage door. See if the cable is wrapped neatly around the drum and if both sides are aligned. Now, remove the clamps and plug the opener. Test the garage door for its smooth operation. Your garage door is now good to use.
Adjusting garage door cables is a laborious task and must be done right. Only garage door repair experts can handle this with ease and efficiency. Call Thrifty Garage Door Repair in Vancouver, BC for adjusting the garage door cables and do it safely and securely.
