When the balance has gone
A roller door is held up by helical springs inside the drum. When they lose their setting the door tells you: it races up on its own, crashes down, needs a hard shove, or makes the motor groan. Steel-Line puts all of those down to a door that is out of balance.
The fix is a professional tension adjustment, followed by a balance check, and it is not a job to try at home.
Leave the springs and U-bolts alone
Steel-Line's tensioning advice is blunt: trying to tension a roller door yourself risks serious injury or death. Undoing the U-bolts on the drum can let the spring unwind and drop the door hard. If it slams or will not stay up, keep people and cars clear and tell us the job.
Guides, curtains and seals
A curtain that scrapes or jams part way may have a bent side guide or a damaged slat, and the door specialist can tell which. A curtain that has jumped out of its guide needs one too. B&D says not to lift a door back onto its guide rails on your own, because a spring or cable may also be broken.
Seals wear out quietly. Steel-Line fits a PVC weather seal in the bottom rail and offers a brush seal for the side guides, and both keep leaves, dust and rain out of the garage when they are in good shape.
Motors after a power cut
In a blackout, a motorised roller door stays where it is until someone frees it. Merlin's guide says to pull the red release cord down firmly once to free the door from the motor, and warns the cord will snap if you use it to drag the door. Merlin also says a door with weak springs can fall fast when released, so take care if the door is open.
If the motor still does nothing once power is back, check the remote battery and the wall button before booking a repair.
Repairs around Adelaide
A local brand
Gliderol is based in Holden Hill and recommends a service by an authorised Gliderol distributor or technician every 24 months on its residential roller doors.
Closer to the sea
Steel-Line says salt and sand speed up rust on springs and tracks, so doors near the coast need checking sooner.
Paperwork
If the repair needs a new power point, the registered electrical worker who fits it must give you an electronic certificate of compliance.
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Brush out the side guides and keep grease and oil out of them
- Check the remote battery and the wall button
- Note whether the trouble is going up, coming down or both
Leave to a door specialist
- Spring tension and the balance check
- Bent guides and a curtain off its track
- Motor faults and new seals
What we would do
Run the door once from the wall button and once from the remote, and write down what you see and hear. A door that struggles only under the motor points one way, a door that is heavy by hand points another, and the door specialist can come with the right parts.