Garage Door Troubleshooting Guide

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed after discovering your garage door won’t open or close? You can’t lift the door? Take a deep breath and relax. We’re here to help. Most times, a faulty garage door is due to a broken or damaged spring.

Garage Door Spring Replacement – Garage Door Spring Repair

There’s no single part on your garage door and garage door opener that is more important to the raising and lowering of the door than a garage door spring. They become weak over time and break because of age and usage. Garage door springs come in different sizes depending on the size and weight of your garage door.

If the wrong size spring is installed, your door won’t function properly. Your garage door may be unbalanced, which could cause it to slam to the ground or not open all the way.

Broken springs are serious; don’t hesitate to call your garage door professional if you have questions or need assistance.

When to replace your springs

You’re due for fresh springs if you try to open or close the door, but the door will not move, even if everything sounds and looks like it’s working. There are two different springs used on garage doors:

Torsion Springs

We attach torsion springs just above the closed garage door. They’re wound and under tension. Torsion springs are not fully extended the way extensions springs are when the door operates.

Torsion springs cost more but last between 15,000 and 20,000 cycles, whereas extension springs last up to 10,000 cycles.

Torsion springs keep a controlled, steady motion when the garage door opens and closes. A lasting result of the controlled motion is the ability to keep your door in proper balance.

Doors can come with one or two torsion springs. If either spring is broken, the garage door opener may struggle to lift the weight of the door or fail to open the door at all.

If a spring is broken, call a professional for service as these can be very dangerous to work with. Don’t try to open the door until a professional comes to inspect it and replace the springs. Springs can only be used for a certain number of open and close cycles, and over time they will eventually break and need replacing.

The size of the spring(s) you will need is dependent on the weight of the garage door with all the components installed.

Overhead Door Company of Huntsville™ will replace both springs when one of them breaks. Springs typically have the same life span. Only replacing one spring at a time is not only a safety concern but not cost-effective.

When a torsion spring breaks, it doesn’t fly off.  You may hear a loud bang, but the spring stays on the shaft.

Extension Springs

Extension springs are above the upper tracks on both sides. When the door is down, the springs extend, and when the door is up the springs contract.  Extension springs fully expand and contract when operating an overhead door. Extension springs can cause a jerking motion. There might be a lot of tension when you first open the door, but then once the tension is gone, the door can fly up at a much faster speed.

The jerking motion from the extension springs can leave your door needing adjustment. When a door is out of alignment or needs adjustment, it has a tendency to wear or even cause damage to other parts of your garage door.

When one spring breaks, one side of the door gets pulled upward more quickly than the other. This imbalance may make your garage door lift crookedly. 

If these tension springs or cables break, you might find that your garage door closes really fast, often with a loud bang when it hits the ground. This is very dangerous, as there is nothing preventing the garage door from crushing something that might be below it. It’s best to call a garage door professional as soon as you can to have them come out and repair these cables or springs.

Extension spring systems can be a challenge to balance, especially if only one spring is replaced. These springs stretch as the garage door is closed and loosen as the garage door opens. In most instances there is a second cable on each side that attaches to the track then runs through the center of the extension spring and then attaches to the track support brackets. These cables are safety cables to keep the spring from flying apart and damaging property or hurting people or animals if the spring breaks. Without these safety cables, if the spring breaks, it can cause major damage and or injury. We find extension springs primarily in older homes.

Once the springs break, more tension is put on the door cables, and they will often break next. When these cables break, they will snap and forcibly fly out like a broken rubber band. This is very dangerous, as there is nothing preventing the garage door from crushing something that might be below it. It’s best to call a garage door professional as soon as you can to have them come out and repair these cables or springs.

Refrain from parking your car in the garage until you repair the garage door. Additionally, try not to open and close the door while it’s in this condition. With a large amount of force coming from the springs or cables, the broken springs and cables might damage your vehicle or other property in the garage as well as cause serious injury. It’s especially important that you and your family stay away from these cables or springs until everything is repaired.

Torsion Springs vs. Extension Springs

We can assist you with converting your extension springs to torsion springs. Extension springs require more parts. When you have more components involved, more things can go wrong. For example, extension springs have sheaves and require a longer cable. Torsion springs are easy to lubricate and maintain, whereas wear and tear can take place on the additional door parts needed with extension springs.

Using torsion springs results in less wear on your garage door operator. Torsion springs allow your overhead door operator to do its job without unnecessary wear or requiring more power to function when compared to extension springs. In other words, your operator doesn’t have to work as hard to open and close your door because it has a better balance because of the more controlled motion that occurs. This can result in you experiencing fewer problems with your operator, and it performing better and lasting longer for you.

When our team from Overhead Door Company of Huntsville™/North Alabama™ sell and install a new garage door for a customer, they almost always use torsion springs. This also applies to selling and installing a commercial door for local businesses. There are only rare circumstances that would ever lead us to use extension springs, such as very low headroom and the inability to use a rear torsion spring for the door.

In a garage door, the torsion spring is above the door which serves as a counterweight, may be broken. If the door system operates with two springs, sometimes only one is usually broken.

If you have an extension spring system, in which the springs are above the horizontal rails, one of the two springs may be broken.

The other possible cause is that one of the lifting cables is broken or on the verge of breaking.

An unbalanced garage door can be a significant problem for your garage door operator. For those who regularly use the door, this can be an unpredictable danger that lies ahead.

To help you recognize the signs of an unbalanced door and safely perform your at-home balance test.

Garage Door Balance? What is it? 

In a garage door that’s balanced, its weight is evenly managed by the tension of the system’s springs, making the operator’s job of leading the door up and down the track easy.

In a garage door that’s considered unbalanced, either the springs aren’t providing enough tension to counterbalance the weight of the door, or they’re exerting too much. In either of these situations, the added strain gets placed on the opener. If left without the attention of a professional for an extended period, an unbalanced door could cause the opener to fail prematurely, causing a spring or cable to snap.

Symptoms of an Unbalanced Garage Door 

Garage door looks uneven while opening or closing – If your garage door looks uneven while it’s opening or closing or appears slanted, there’s a good chance that it’s out of balance. This unevenness is a visual sign of the internal strain happening inside your garage door’s system. The correct amount of power isn’t being transferred to all parts of the door, causing one side to be higher than the other.

The garage door takes longer to open or close. –  Without the correct amount of push or pull to move the door, the unbalanced door will take longer to open or close when you push your garage door remote.

Garage door makes strange sounds when opening or closing – A balanced garage door should be relatively quiet when traveling up or down the door tracks. Added strain on the opener can cause an unbalanced door to be noisy as it fights to raise or close the door.

The garage door won’t open. – When your unbalanced door becomes very unstable, the door may become too heavy for the opener to move, leaving you stuck with a door that won’t budge.

Performing an At-Home Balance Test

Because the balance of a garage door can shift over time and with heavy use, you should check your door seasonally to make sure it’s operating with the right balance.

Follow these steps:

1. Close the door from inside the garage.

2. Detach the door from the opener.

For a belt- or chain-driven opener that operates on a square rail or screw-driven opener, pull the manual release rope straight down.

For a belt- or chain-driven opener that uses a T-shaped rail, pull the manual release rope straight down and back toward the motor unit.

3. Move the door manually to the open and closed positions.

It should move freely. If the door sticks, apply lubrication to the rollers and hinges as indicated in your owner’s manual. If this doesn’t correct the issue, or the door is too heavy to move, seek the help of a garage door professional.

4. Lift the door by hand to the halfway point and carefully release it.

The door should remain in place, supported by the springs. There may be gentle movement in one direction or the other.

If it slams shut or opens forcefully, the door is out of balance.

5. If the tested door is balanced, reattach the door to the opener.

If you have a belt- or chain-driven opener that operates on a square rail or screw-driven opener, pull the manual release rope down and back toward the motor unit.

If you have a belt or chain-driven opener that uses a T-shaped rail, pull the manual release rope straight down and activate the opener. Your door will reconnect automatically.

If your garage door fails the balance test, call us immediately to schedule a service call.

Failing door sensors normally mean your photo eye is out of alignment.

These twin sensors usually sit near the bottom of your garage door, less than 6 inches above the ground. They face each other, sending a signal across the length of the doorway to determine whether there is anything in the way of the closing garage door.

If your garage door opens but doesn’t close, or closes, and then reopens with no obstructions in the way, there’s a good chance that your door sensor is malfunctioning. Typical causes involve either a dirty lens or a photo eye misalignment.

It may require a new set of garage door sensors.

Rollers connect the panels to the track, allowing them to move freely.

There are several factors that determine how long your garage door rollers can last, including how often you open and close your door, the climate where you live, and how they are maintained.

A track guides the rollers in the correct path. Years of operation can put these out of level, resulting in noisy and slow operation of your garage door. Bent, misaligned, or rusted garage door track.

If your garage door track is out of alignment, it can be a serious issue. The metal track your door runs on needs to be aligned properly in order for your door to move. If you see gaps between the rollers and rail, or bends in the rails themselves, you have a problem. The heavy weight of the door can compound these issues and make them worse until it becomes dangerous to operate your door.

If the door won’t move at all because of an alignment issue, then this problem isn’t one that you should try to tackle yourself. A garage door professional will have the equipment needed to realign and repair your garage door safely. Additionally, if the track misalignment is beyond repair, a professional can install a new garage door track for you.

If you notice bent, disconnected, or rusted track or the garage door makes an excessive amount of noise or shaking while in motion, you are probably in need of some repair.

In most garage door openers, there’s a default setting to tell the garage door how far to close. This can be improperly set upon installation, or slowly drift away from the original setting.

If the setting is too high, the garage door will stop short of the actual ground. If your settings are too high, the door will hit the ground before the opener thinks it should and assume the door is hitting something in its path. It will then automatically reverse to prevent crushing whatever is beneath it.

If the setting is too low, the garage door will think it’s hit an object when it’s actually hit the floor. Either way, there needs to be an adjustment to the travel limit setting. Different models of openers have different means of achieving this.

The garage door opener comprises the motor assembly and the motor gear. The garage door spring does the heavy lifting, leaving the motor to be the brains behind the entire operation. The average garage door opens 1,500 times per year. Over time, the garage door opener will just stop. There will be no audible snap, no dangling parts, no signs ahead of time. We repair all brands of existing openers.

Garage door openers are fairly simple mechanisms that last a long time. The average lifespan is 10 to 15 years. It is, for this reason, our trained technicians will determine when your garage door opener is not fixable and will advise when a new garage door opener is needed. The age of your garage door opener should play a part in your decision to replace it. If it’s only five years old, you should be able to go with residential garage door opener repair.

If your garage door opener is over 15 years old, it’s most likely time for a replacement.

Though this problem might seem obvious, it shouldn’t be overlooked. If there’s something blocking the door from closing all the way, a full closure will be impossible. Check your garage floor and the surrounding areas for any objects or debris that might be causing the improper close. You may also want to check the tracks, and the garage door itself.

If your garage door doesn’t open, but the opener motor runs for just a few seconds and then shuts off, the garage door itself may have been locked manually. If you’ve checked the door springs and the track for obstacles, and those things appear to be fine, check to see if the lock on the door is engaged.

Quite a few garage doors come with manual locks, especially older models, for added security for your house. These manual locks are often found in new model garage door openers as well.

If you can hear your garage door motor running for what seems like the full amount of time it normally would take to open or close the door, but the door doesn’t move, chances are the disconnect switch has been enabled.

Every garage door opener comes with a disconnect switch in case you lose power. This allows you to open or close the door manually so your car isn’t stuck in the garage until the power comes back on.This switch is usually attached to a rope that can be pulled or a knob that can be turned to disconnect. This switch can accidentally come unhooked, causing the door to be disconnected from the motor.

If you lose power and use the disconnect switch, you must reattach it to use your garage door motor to open and close your door again.  It will be easiest to reattach this hook when your car is not in the garage, as you’ll need to place a step ladder underneath the motor to reach it. Open the door all the way and then reattach this hook. Then try opening or closing the door again with your transmitter, and you should be all set.

A possibility—although an unlikely one—is that if you have an opener manufactured before 1993, one of your neighbors might have the same type of device (using the same wave frequency) with the same transmission code.

Maybe a new battery is all that is needed for the transmitter. Sometimes a power surge can cause strange behavior.

A panel is the term used for the individual pieces that make up your garage door itself. Impact can damage these or weather. Replacing a panel can vary in difficulty based on the design, size, and material of your door. An Overhead Door specialist can help to determine the best course of action.

Open your garage door manually. To do this, pull back on the emergency cord to deactivate the motor. To re-close the door, pull the cord forward, making sure that the carriage assembly is properly engaged.

If it’s a broken garage door spring, a teenager that has just backed into your garage door, or a new garage door that’s on your wish list, call us today. We offer same-day garage door repair service and convenient in-home same-day estimates for new door sales.