Signs your garage door needs repair
B&D lists the signs of a broken spring: a loud bang from the garage, a door that suddenly feels far heavier or will not lift, an opener that hums or strains without moving the door, coils that look snapped or stretched, and a door that rises crooked.
When that happens, B&D says to stop using the opener straight away, because running it can strain the motor, the cables and the tracks. Leave the door where it is and describe what you saw and heard.
A door that has come off its track
A sectional door that jumps its guide rails can hang at an angle or jam halfway. B&D's advice is not to try lifting it back onto the rails on your own, since a spring or a cable may already have broken and the door could drop.
Roller doors show trouble differently. Steel-Line says a roller door that will not stay up, rolls up loosely, makes the motor strain, is hard to open or slams shut is out of balance, and a professional needs to reset the tension and check the balance afterwards.
Springs and roller tension stay with the professionals
Steel-Line says spring forces are roughly equal to the door's weight and let go violently if a wound spring breaks, and its instruction is not to attempt the repair. It also warns that tensioning a roller door yourself can cause serious injury or death. Never loosen the brackets or U-bolts.
Is it the opener or the door?
B&D's Smart Pro manual suggests disconnecting the opener now and then and moving the door by hand: it should travel smoothly and need no more than 20kg of force at the bottom rail. If it is heavy, rough or uneven, the door needs attention before the motor does, and it should not be used.
Steel-Line asks owners to test the reversing feature every month. With the door open, lay a 70 to 100 mm thick piece of wood flat in the door's path, near the middle, and close the door. It must reverse when it touches the wood; if it does not, book a repair.
Repairs around Ballarat
When a repair becomes a new door
Much of Ballarat is a Designated Bushfire Prone Area. If the door is beyond repair, mention the home's BAL so the replacement suits it.
Opener swaps and wiring
Energy Safe Victoria says a restricted electrical licence only covers like-for-like disconnecting and reconnecting. New wiring or a new power point needs a licensed electrician.
Older manual roller doors
Many roller doors are lifted by hand for years. If yours has become heavy or rolls up unevenly, ask for the tension to be checked when you book.
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Run the monthly reversing test with a piece of wood
- Clean inside the guide tracks every three to six months with a cloth, as B&D's manual suggests
- Swap the remote's coin battery, and keep spare batteries away from children
Leave to a door specialist
- Broken springs and frayed lift cables
- Roller door tension and balance
- A door that is crooked, jammed or off its rails
What we would do
Take a short video of the door opening and closing before you book. A bang, a jerk or a slow climb is far easier to show than describe, and it helps the door specialist bring the right parts on the first visit.