How to Repair a Garage Door

According to a 2007 survey of Natural Resources Canada, around 3.5 million Canadian dwellings have a garage. Modern market trends dictate the fashion of electronic garage doors. However, like other regularly used items, they aren't durable.

Automatic garage doors are generally reliable, but some weak points tend to malfunction. Complex repairs of automatic gates require comprehensive diagnostics, identification, and elimination of faults. But there are a couple of solutions for basic malfunctions, some of which you can apply yourself. For others, it's better to contact a technician who can fix all errors and problems and return the door to working condition.

The Garage Door Stops or Doesn't Work

A common fault with garage doors is incomplete opening or closing. The main problems faced by garage door owners include the following:

• malfunctions in the electrical network;
• malfunction of engines and amplifiers;
• system overload due to land subsidence or other reasons.

The troubleshooting process should begin with the door closed, if possible. Then, inspect it and switch to manual control by turning off the automatics. Next, try opening and closing the door. It should not move from the position you stop it in. If the door moves and is excessively light or too heavy to lift, the likely cause of the problem is a broken spring. Replace it, and the problem will go away.

The Drive is Active but Doesn't Raise the Garage Door

The garage door mechanism may appear to be working properly, but it will not execute any commands. If sounds are coming from the power source for the door and you are assured that there's a connection with electricity, the problem hides somewhere else.

A common issue of such a breakdown is a blocked mechanism. The first step is to check that all moving parts are free of foreign objects that would interfere with the usual door operation. Good advice is to check the gate for the presence of metal transmission joints.

Another reason for malfunction in such a situation may be the spring crash. In this case, the load from lifting and lowering is on the engine. Having worked for a short time at its maximum capabilities, its productivity decreased, and the gates stopped opening at all.

The Drive and Door Don't Function

In some cases, all mechanisms cease to work. Then, the goal is to find a part of the entire structure where the problem arose. For this, you need to open it manually and find out which part is not working - the automation or the gate itself. A simple problem can be a motor breakdown or a snapped chain or belt. In that case, it's better to leave the garage door repairs to a technician.

Noise and Vibration Occurs when Opening and Closing

Vibration and squeaky sounds are widespread problems that occur regularly with almost every garage owner. The cause of the problem is worn fastening devices, such as nuts and bolts, and lack of lubrication. By tightening these details and lubing the roller, the problems should disappear.

Torsion Spring Rupture

The average garage door goes up and down around 1,500 times annually, and there's only so much the torsion spring can handle. Failure of this unit will result in the garage door not opening. The right option to eliminate this problem is to change the old spring. Such a difficulty does not arise often, but it causes a fair amount of trouble.

The Problem Is in the Details

The variety of problems that can occur is not limited to those above. Garage doors can have unique operating and breakdown characteristics. Other options include:

• garage doors do not close completely;
• combustion of the capacitor and smoke in the power unit as a result;
• problems with lighting.

Garage door breakdowns happen even to very thrifty owners. Often, such small problems can be solved on your own, and this guide may come in handy. However, it's always a better option to entrust the repair of complex or incomprehensible elements to professionals