How do you know it is time to repair or replace your garage door cable?
Here are some questions you should consider.
- Is the cable showing any signs of wear and tear?
- If the answer to the above question is yes; does it affect the normal operation of the garage door?
- If it is highly likely that the old cable is the reason for the garage door mishaps, then it is the more reason you need to replace it.
Replacing a garage door cable may seem a piece of cake, but without the technical know how you might end up doing more harm than good. Below are the essential steps one should follow promptly in order to replace or repair a garage door cable successfully.
- Requirements
- Gloves, ladder and safety glasses
- Wrenches, ratchets and sockets
- Winding bars
- A vice grip or alternatively locking pliers
- Replacement cables
Garage door cable replacement procedure
Step 1
First, you will have to disengage the garage door so that you can manually open or close it. You will identify a red rope with a handle that is usually placed at the top rail or near the opener; pull it and you are good to go.
Step 2
Then you will open the garage door and use the locking pliers or the vice grip below the roller to safely hold it as you replace the cables. You will need two locking pliers as you have to lock the rollers on both sides.
Step 3
At the centre of the garage door locate the screws on the garage door springs and loosen them. While on this process, insert the winding bars to prevent injuries. You will continue loosening the screws until all the tension on the spring has been released.
Step 4
You have to ensure that all the tension has been released before proceeding further, take note that some garage doors come with two spring and both have to be loosened. If everything is right, then using the wrench, loosen the screws on the cable drum which is located at the left side of the garage door. Open it up and eventually remove the entire cable from the drum. The removal process is half way through – just at the bottom of the garage door, find your ratchet and the correct size socket to unscrew the base bracket from the jamb bracket. Then remove the remaining part of the garage cable from the bracket.
Step 5
Before returning the bottom bracket back to its position, install the new cable just as the old one was running. Then thread the cable form the bracket up to the cable drum, ensure to do this on both sides of your garage door. Ensuring that the cable winding is not overlapping, insert it into the cable drum. Wind the cable onto the cable drum then slide to the bearing plate and turn it clockwise until the cable is tight enough.
Step 6
While holding the cable, take the vice grips or the locking pliers and place it on the metal rod on the wall to hold it in place. Do this on the other side of the garage door too. Now using the winding bars, increase the tension on the spring slowly at ¼ turns.
Step 7
Now you can safely remove the vice grips from the rod and then reengage your garage door. Lift your door until you hear two clicks meaning it has fitted in its rightful place.
The above are the steps taken to repair or replace a garage door cable, if you find it a bit tedious, you can always sought help from garage door repair companies taking advantage of the garage door special offers.
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