How do I Repair a Cable for a Garage Door?

While it is the largest moving component of your house and can comprise over 40% of the front part of your house, you probably do not give your garage door any thought. Whenever you are in the planning phase of a brand-new garage door you select colors, windows layout, or panel systems.

When everything is set, however, you can expect the garage to move upwards or downwards as you require it to. If you pull the car into, then getting it out and opening the door for you to perform some spring cleaning. When there is a problem on doors, it will become harder to open the door.

Garage Door System Parts

Garage doors can be as heavy as 400 pounds! This is the reason they’re so difficult to move when there’s something not right. Due to this, the garage door systems contain much more than the garage doors and tracks. Torsion springs, extension springs, and cables along with garage door wiring are the final pieces of the entire system.

If any of these parts stops functioning properly or suddenly gets damaged, the door could stop working or operating. No matter what the case, these doors will be not functional until that component is repaired or replaced. There are some fixes that are simple but other repairs to garage doors require the attention by a skilled professional.

Each component has a distinct reason for each. The tracks help in keeping the door in its position. The springs aids in lifting the door’s weight and garage door openers raise everything with the push of a button. The cables that connect to the garage door as well as the cable drums function as a backup if an event occurs to the springs.

Purpose of Garage Door Cables

The cables, which are positioned on either side of the door utilized with both torsion and extension springs. These parts assist in moving the door easily up and down. If one cable is damaged, it can put tension on the other and eventually cause it to break as well.

The cables are connected at the base of your garage door, and the drum is located at each end of the shaft for the torsion spring. When the torsion spring rotates the drums in a circular motion, the cables wrap around or are unwrapped around the drum and the door is lifted or closed. The spring will begin to wind up when doors are opened and unwinds when the doors are raised. Thus, aiding in the movement that the doors carry.

Like we said earlier, if any of the cable breaks, the door doesn’t raise in a uniform manner, and put stress on the other cable tracks, and the rollers of the door. Although a significant amount of pressure is present in the torsion spring as well as the door itself is quite heavy, replacing the cable is quite safe and straightforward.

Replacing a Garage Door Cable

Before you remove the damaged cable, place the door back in its open position and lock it in its place. This can be accomplished by attaching vice grips to the track just beneath the roller at the bottom. Or, you can install a scaffolding or ladder under the door to stop the door from getting moved.

When the door is secured, take the cable off the floor of your garage door and the drum (unravel the cable). Attach this new wire to your drum according to manufacturer’s instructions. Then make sure you ravel the cable and connect the other end to the peg on near the top of the door.

The new cable and the old cable may not exactly match. Therefore, it is recommended to replace both cables in order to make sure they’re of equal lengths. Alter the length of the cable, but this involves using your torsion spring. If you don’t have any experience using the springs, we would suggest calling Little Rock Garage Door Repair.

Binding of a Garage Door After Opening

Scroll to Top
[xfield_phone]