Whether it’s getting the kids to school, leaving for a dental appointment or heading out for well-earned recreation, the tasks of daily living demand a reliable garage door. More than a convenience, your garage door is an essential part of your home security. A close look at your garage door reveals a surprisingly complex system and a compelling case for Garage Door Masters when you need repairs or service.
Springs: Coiled Energy
Garage door springs perform the balancing act that enables easy operation. As with all springs, your garage door springs store potential energy in their coiled state. With a garage door, that coiled state occurs with the door closed. As you raise your door, either manually or with a motorized opener, the springs uncoil. The torque supplied by the release of the spring’s stored energy minimizes the effort needed to raise the door.
All springs eventually wear out and fail, so it pays to know the symptoms of a broken torsion spring:
- Slack Cables: Properly calibrated garage door springs maintain tension on the cables with your door fully raised. If you observe slack in one of your cables, this indicates a problem in the torsion spring assembly.
- A Crooked Door: With a broken spring, one corner of your door may ride low. If not addressed promptly, this situation causes considerable wear to other components and may necessitate extensive garage door repairs.
- Rapid Descents: A broken spring may allow the door to lower too rapidly in the closing cycle.
- Partial Openings: A door that opens a few inches and stops indicates stress on the lifter motor, another indication of a broken spring.
- Noise: A worn spring can fail at any time, and hearing a loud bang from your garage may be the unsubtle signal for a spring replacement.
DIY Spring Replacement: Don’t Do It Yourself
Even with a relatively lightweight door, coiled garage door springs store enormous energy. That energy makes a do-it-yourself spring replacement a hazardous — and possibly fatal — endeavor. Avoid the emergency room and leave the task to Garage Door Masters, your San Antonio garage door repair resource. Your technician can also ensure that the new springs match your door’s weight, thus heading off future maintenance and safety issues. If your door has two springs, it’s wise to replace both assemblies.
Cables: Always Under Tension
Your garage door cables work in tandem with the springs to make raising and lowering the door a safe operation. On doors with a torsion spring, one end of the cable attaches to a lower door corner, then winds around a drum mounted near the door’s upper corner before finally connecting with the spring. The cable coils the spring as your door descends and releases tension with the door’s elevation. As with the springs, cables eventually wear out and fail. An inspection by Garage Door Masters, the choice for garage door repair in San Antonio, can head off cable failures before they happen.
Tracks: A Well-Traveled Path
Located on each side of your garage door, tracks are the metal channels that guide your door on its daily up-and-down journeys. When these tracks fall out of alignment, noise and excessive roller wear may result. In the worst circumstance, your door’s rollers may jump one or both tracks and leave your garage portal impassable.
Causes for misaligned tracks include:
- Vehicle Contact: A seemingly innocent bump with a vehicle may throw off the track’s alignment.
- Your Home’s Settling Process: As houses age, their frame elements shift by tiny increments every year. Because the tracks connect with your house’s frame, a few years of shifts may cause alignment problems.
- High-Speed Winds: Pressure on your door from wind gusts may contribute to misalignment.
- A Long Duty Cycle: If your door has gone without service for several years, normal activity may lead to misalignment.
Owing to the units’ size, track alignment is a painstaking process. Garage Door Masters, the San Antonio garage door repair specialists, have the know-how to safely and efficiently put your door back on track.
Rollers: Essential Contact Points
A typical four-section residential garage door comes equipped with five rollers on each side. These rollers slot into the tracks’ channels to enable the door’s smooth up-and-down movement. The rollers function as a team, and a failure with one roller may lead to cascading problems. A safe and simple inspection can highlight roller failure. Run your door through several cycles while carefully observing the rollers. If you spot a roller temporarily freezing, it’s time for new rollers.
Attempting to service the rollers yourself may result in pinched or severed fingers, a price too high to pay when garage door repair in San Antonio is a phone call away. Your Garage Door Masters technician can spell out replacement roller options appropriate for your budget and duty cycle.
Sensors: Mission-Critical Safety
The sensors with your garage door opener system are a vital safety measure, and federal law has mandated the devices for three decades. The sensor system halts and reverses your door’s descent if a child or pet wanders into the door’s path while it’s closing. With those stakes, it is imperative to keep your sensors aligned and functional. You’ll find the sensors on each side of your garage door portal, 6 inches above the floor. Testing the system is easy; with your garage door open, set the door in motion and then move a broom between the sensors. If your door does not immediately halt and reverse, it’s time to consult a San Antonio garage door repair technician.
San Antonio Garage Door Masters: Your Best Move
Courtesy, promptness and quality workmanship are the foundation stones of Garage Door Masters. We’re into our third decade of providing garage door repairs, installation and service to residential and commercial customers in the San Antonio area. Our fully licensed and insured technicians are available 24 hours a day and every day of the year. Along with San Antonio, we serve Boerne, Cibolo, Schertz, New Braunfels and other nearby communities. We invite you to call us today.
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