How To Deal With An Unbalanced Garage Door

A poorly balanced garage door can be a bear to open and close. The strain of an unbalanced garage door can add unnecessary wear and tear to your garage door opener, shortening not just its lifespan, but also the lifespan of other garage door components. The following offers a step-by-step guide for bringing balance back to your garage door.

Recognizing the Warning Signs

You might have noticed your garage door opener having a harder-than-usual time opening or closing your garage door. In some cases, your garage door could appear crooked as it closes or opens. Your garage door may even open or close on its own if it's disconnected from the garage door opener. If these issues are happening, then you're likely dealing with a balance issue.

You can test your garage door using the following instructions to confirm it's having balance problems:

• Pull the garage door opener's emergency release handle to disconnect the garage door opener from the track.
• With the garage door opener disconnected, stand near the middle of the garage door and carefully lift it until its half-way open.
• At this point, let go of the garage door and observe its movement. If it doesn't move at all, the garage door is perfectly balanced and requires no adjustment. If it slams closed or shoots open, then it'll need to be adjusted.

Readjusting the Garage Door with Extension Springs

• Pull the emergency release handle to disconnect the garage door opener.
• Position your step ladder in the middle of the garage door. Carefully lift the door open and rest the door on the step ladder. This will help relieve some of the tension on the extension springs.
• Locate the last roller on the garage door tracks on each side of the door. Attach locking pliers underneath each roller. This will prevent the door from falling down if the step ladder is accidentally removed.
• Attach locking pliers onto the extension spring safety cable on each side of the door.
• Locate the S-shaped hook on the angle bracket. To balance the garage door, you'll need to move the hook into one of the many empty holes on the angle bracket. If the door is sinking shut, move the hook towards the garage door frame to add tension. If the door is floating open, move the hook back from the door frame to relieve tension.
• Test the garage door after every adjustment. Once the door is properly balanced, remove the locking pliers and move the step ladder out of the way. Test the garage door's balance one last time before reconnecting the opener and emergency release mechanism.

Readjusting the Garage Door with Torsion Springs

• Make sure the garage door is closed and the garage door opener unplugged or disabled. Be sure to pull the emergency release handle to disconnect the garage door opener from the track.
• Position your step ladder so that you can reach the torsion rod and the adjustment cone on the outer end of the spring.
• Stop the torsion rod from turning by placing a pair of locking pliers vertically on the rod. Make sure the handle rests against the wall or the door header during the adjustment.
• Insert a winding bar into the bottom-most hole on the winding cone. Keep a firm grip on the bar as you loosen the lock nut on the winding cone.
• After loosening the lock nut, insert another winding bar into the hole above the current winding bar on the cone. If the door is sinking shut, lift the winding bars upward by a quarter-turn to add tension to the spring. If the door is floating open, remove the bottom-most winding bar while the other bar is in place and insert it into the top-most hole on the cone. Carefully lower the winding bar by a quarter-turn to relieve tension from the spring.
• For each quarter-turn, tighten the lock nut and test the garage door. Continue adjusting the springs until the garage door is balanced.

Once it's balanced, tighten the lock nut for a final time before removing the winding bars from the winding cone. Remove the locking pliers from the torsion rod and test the door one more time before reconnecting the garage door opener and its emergency release mechanism. For more information, contact a company like Crawford Door Company.