The garage door cable is an essential part of your garage door system.
If you discover a problem involving the cable, you will need to perform the repairs or contact an overhead garage door service for help. If the cable is broken, ask your technician if he provides garage door cable replacement services.
If, however, it looks like you may be able to fix the problem yourself, consider taking a look at the tips below.
Here’s how to repair garage door cable.
How To Repair Garage Door Cable
If your garage door cable is worn out or broken, it’s important that you replace it as soon as possible. The first thing to be done is releasing the tension from the cable. Turn off your garage door opener and open the garage door fully. Place c-clamps under the door on both sides, to ensure that the garage door will stay up.
Once you have done this, it’s a fairly simple job to unhook the springs and remove the broken cable from them. Install the new cable, and hook the springs back onto your garage door. Then, you can remove the C clamps and turn the garage door opener back on. This will allow you to test the door, to ensure that everything is installed correctly.
It’s vital that you open the garage door fully to do this repair. You need to ensure all tension has been released in the springs. If it’s not, then you’re at risk of injury when you attempt to unhook them. Ensure you do this before you attempt the repair.
Garage Door Safety Repairs
Replacing your garage door cable isn’t the only way you can keep your garage door safe.
Repair the springs: As well as the cables, you’ll need to repair the springs on your garage door. This is vital, as broken springs pose a real danger to you, as noted above. This is a job that is often best left to the professionals, but you can handle it yourself if you’re experienced. Remember, if one spring needs to be replaced, it’s best to replace them all so they’ll wear evenly over time.
Adjust the garage door sensor: The garage door sensor at the foot of either side of the garage door tracks is responsible for making sure the area is clear before allowing the garage door to close. This helps prevent damage to belongings and, more importantly, personaly injury to people. Every now and then, the garage door sensor may fall out of alignment, in which case you will need to perform adjustments. Here’s how to tell if your garage door sensor is bad.
Test your garage door opener: In the same vein, you need to be sure that your garage door opener’s auto-reverse feature is working. To do this, place a piece of wood in the path of the door, and attempt to close your door. If the feature is working as it should, then you’ll see that the door will reverse back up before it hit it. If it doesn’t, try cleaning the photo eyes, or adjusting the auto-reverse settings as laid out in your manual.
Check your garage door tracks: The tracks are what your garage door travels on, and they need to be in good working order. If they’re bent or dented, the door may not open as it should, or worse, even jump the track entirely. This can happen more easily than you’d think, so make sure you check them regularly. You can gently hammer out less serious dents, but in some cases, you will need to replace them.
A Note On DIY Repair
As with most garage door repair jobs, cable repair is something you can do yourself. To be able to do it though, you need to be confident in what you’re doing and have the right expertise. If you’re a seasoned DIY expert and are feeling confident, then you can absolutely handle this repair yourself.
Some homeowners won’t feel that confident, however. It’s intimidating doing your first garage door repair, and maybe you’ve never done anything like this before. You may also be worried about safety, as the cable is designed to keep your garage door safe to use. In these cases, if you’re at all unsure, then you need to call in a professional to help you with the repair. This will bring you peace of mind, as the engineer will have done this many times before.
Why Your Garage Door Cable Is Important
What is the cable on your garage door for?
It’s actually in place to make another aspect of the door safe. The springs on your garage door are there to give your door the tension needed to open when needed. They do the job well, but over time they will become worn out. Most garage door springs are rated for a certain amount of garage door opening cycles, and after that, they will begin to wear.
The problem with worn-out springs is that they pose a real safety hazard. When they are worn out enough, they will snap. When this happens, they have real force behind them and so can cause a lot of damage. This can be a serious dent in your car or even serious injury to yourself. As a matter of fact, many homeowners report a snapped spring sounding as though a firecracker has gone off in their garage.
The garage door cable is there to ensure that this doesn’t happen. It is slid through the middle of the spring and acts as a safeguard. If the spring does break, then it will slide harmlessly down the cable, rather than out into the garage. This is why it’s so important that your cables are in good condition.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to repair garage door cable related problems, you can move forward with confidence. However, if you’re not comfortable performing the repair, you may want to consider contacting a pro garage door service company for help replacing garage door cables.
Your garage door cables are more important than you’d think, so you need to take good care of them. If they’re broken they need to be replaced as soon as possible. Release the tension in your door springs to replace your cables, and you’re ready to use your garage door again.