The cables on your garage door are what transfers the energy from the garage door springs to the door itself. The system of pulleys and drums these cables run through makes this process possible by applying the right amount of tension on the lines whenever you use your garage door.
If one or more cables slips off one of the drums, your garage door will refuse to work properly or even at all. But why does this happen, and how do you prevent it from reoccurring in the future? How do you perform San Diego cable repair on a garage door cable that has come loose?
In previous articles, we explained how garage door cables work and how to determine if your garage door cables are at the end of their life. Now we’ll examine the 4 most common reasons why the cables on your garage door may slip out of place. Keep reading to learn more.
What causes a garage door cable to come off?
First off, it’s important to note that garage door cables and springs tend to be under an enormous amount of tension. Unless you’re absolutely sure you know what you’re doing (eg., you’re a trained garage door technician), you should always leave these repairs to the pros.
Here are 4 common causes of garage door cable problems:
1. Improper drums and cables
Using small cables with heavier doors can cause the cables to fray and snap sooner. Likewise, taller doors need longer cables and therefore need larger drums that can hold the full length of these cables.
2. The door has hit an obstruction
Modern garage doors are equipped with auto-reverse mechanisms and photo safety eyes that are designed to keep the doors from closing on people or objects below them. If these safeguards are faulty, or if the door is so old it lacks these features, it may hit an obstruction beneath it while closing.
In addition to damaging the lower sections of the garage door and whatever it collided with, this can also cause a cable on one side of the garage door to come loose.
3. Improper installation
Garage door springs have to be tensioned correctly for the size of the door they’re attached to. This is typically done during installation. Improper tension can cause the cables to jump off the drum (if the tension is too strong) or unwind from it (if the tension is too weak).
4. The torsion spring is busted
If your garage door uses torsion springs, it likely has one or two of them. If one or both of these springs snap, the cables will automatically lose tension and come loose. If the door was open when this occurred, it will come crashing down.
This is one of the reasons why doors with two torsion springs are considered safer than models with only one. If one torsion spring breaks, the other will be able to keep the garage door from falling long enough for the emergency technicians to arrive.
Who can I call when I need reliable San Diego cable repair for my garage door?
Has the garage door at your Morena property been malfunctioning lately and you want to have it examined by licensed technicians? Or perhaps you’re building a new property and you need an expert garage door contractor that can outfit it with a state-of-the-art garage door?
Here at Dlouhy Doors, we can meet all those needs and more. We’re a family-owned San Diego garage door company that boasts highly competitive pricing and over 40 years of experience. Contact us and get your free estimate today.