How to Balance and Adjust Your Garage Door
Over the past few years, the Do-It-Yourself movement has really allowed home owners
to take care of business themselves and save a little cash in the process. Technicians like me in the
garage door services industry applaud you for wanting to get down and dirty yourself. However, there are certain things you should know before taking on certain tasks like adjusting the balance of your garage door. The springs that hold your door level and control the way it goes up and down can be dangerous if handled the wrong way. That's why it's important to get the right information, to make sure you keep yourself safe and don't damage your garage door unit. Then you'd have to call me anyway, negating the reason you tried to do it yourself. Remember, these adjustments to your garage door can be simple and rewarding. But if, for any reason, you feel uncomfortable making them; there are many garage door repair services available to help you out.
Before you get started, you need to make sure that the balance of your garage door is the problem you're looking to fix. Sometimes garage doors rollers simply need to be lubricated or the track needs alignment. To make sure you're performing the proper maintenance, there are a couple of things to do first.
1. Close the garage door completely and pull the emergency release cable to disengage the opener arm from the trolley. By hand, lift the door to the half-open position, about 3-4 feet off the ground. A fully balanced door will hover in place in this position. If your springs need adjusting, it may drift a few inches in either direction.
2. Now, push the garage door completely open and let go of it. The bottom of the door should move above the opening and not drift back down. If your door slips back down in either the half-open or fully open position, the springs need to be tightened.
3. Fully close the door and let go. If your door is balanced, it won't lift off of the floor when you let go of it. If the door drifts open from the closed or half-open position, then your springs need to be loosened.
4. A properly balanced garage door comes to a gentle stop when either opened or closed. If you've found your door to still be in balance, press the wall button or your handheld clicker to reengage the arm to the lift system.
But, if you found your garage door to be drifting a bit in either direction there are a couple of easy steps to balance it. To adjust the balance of your door, you'll need a level and a ladder.
Now, a quick note about safety: Your garage door's springs can cause serious injury if released suddenly. Always make sure that the door is propped open and held in place and that the emergency release is engaged. Now, let's go on to balancing your door.
1. Once your door is completely open and you've engaged the emergency release, hold the door in place by attaching C-clamps to the track just underneath the door edge on both sides.
2. Make sure that the springs are fully compressed and remove them from the track.
3. If your door was drifting down or closing too quickly, then adjust the spring to the higher hole in the bracket. If it was popping open, then release it to a lower hole.
4. Close your door and check the level of it in several places. I recommend checking at 3 foot intervals all the way to the ground. This will make sure that your door comes down evenly on both sides.
5. If your door remains level, but opens or closes just a little too quickly or slowly, you can make finer adjustments with the lifting cable.
6. The cable is attached to the door and runs directly to a hook that's attached to the track support. Again, with the door completely open, detach the hook from the hook and either tighten or loosen the cable. This will help your door come to that gentle stop that we said was ideal.
Well, that's it. If you have any questions, or if something doesn't look right, call a technician. Most
garage door service companies will be happy to help you troubleshoot over the phone, and you'll still save the cost of a visit.
How to Balance and Adjust Your Garage Door
By: Brock Frye
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