garage door experts, cable is out of drum groove..

got a door that is working but the left side cable is out of the groove on the drum and this causes the cable to rub the frame because it winds up caught between the door and frame as the door is opened and closed instead of being off to the side or the door.

Im looking at it thinking I cant just loosen the drum set screws to get some slack in the cable so I can reposition it back into the groove because of the spring tension but how can I work around this?

use big vise grips on the shaft to lock it in place?

anyone had to realign a cable? all the info and tutorials Ive found are on replacing the cable.

thanks

 

Be very careful. That spring is under heavy load and can kill you. Make sure all tension is removed from the spring before you attempt anything. I know a guy whose business was ruined following a lawsuit where one customer sued him and won. The dudes face was almost ripped off after that spring unwound and caught him under the chin. He had called this garage door guy and asked for advice. Guy advised him how to unload spring tension instead of telling him not to do it himself.

 

Step one with a job like this, always, ALWAYS
set up the GoPro.

 

If you've got a wide enough door, you can put something about the size of a cinder block under the side that's jacked up and close the door on top of it. This will relieve the spring tension on the jacked up side when the door is closed, the door will skew in the track and the cable tension should be loose enough that you can adjust its path without touching the drum set screws. Get someone to pull down on the opposite side if need be to get the door askew enough.

I've had tensioning levers come flying out while adjusting the torsion. Not something you want to be in the way of. :down:

 

What's the worst that could happen

 

It can be done with the door open or closed. In either case you will need round steel rod the engage the spring spool in order to maintain control. If door is closed, spring is at max. tension. I prefer to do it with door open if possible. Using rod rotate spring spool till you have slack in the good cable, using second rod insert it into next open hole and then brace it against ceiling. This will hold spring while you unbolt cable spool on defective end. Once cable spool is loose, re wrap cable around spool, winding it tightly(use gloves). After the cable is re-wound on the spool, match the slack you have in the other side. Tighten spool bolts. Now you can release the spring spool by using the rods in reverse of the way you started. Roll door up and down and check to make sure both cables have equal tension. Repeat above steps till cables are equal

 

Dude. You have very little idea what you are doing. You are off to a bad start. DO NOT LOOSEN THE SET SCREW ON THE DRUM!!!

You need to unwind the spring before you do anything. If you look at the torsion spring it has a spiral strip around it. When first installed the spring had no tension on it and the installer drew a straight line on it with a grease pencil. Then as he tensioned it the line spiraled around with the spring. If you count the spirals you will know how many turns the spring was tensioned.

On a 18 foot residential door it's usually around 8 turns. You need to buy or make some winding bars. Some guys get away with using a screwdriver but if it slips out you can seriously injure yourself.

Please consult Youtube as I am sure someone has posted a DIY vidieo on torsion spring garage door installation.

Please untension the spring first or call a door guy.

 

I've worked on heavy insulated roll up reefer doors for years. You must lock out the spring first, taking the tension off the good cable...did i not say that? then proceed to work on the bad cable. IF you have no idea about how these things work,,, STAY AWAY. It's like working on your brakes for the first time, bad idea if you have no knowledge of it

 

If you don't know just by looking at it then don't touch it. No, they are not hard to work on but your insurance deductible is much more expensive than a service call.

 

Like most have said - call a pro. Worth the money.

 

sounds like a good plan there pickled egg! its not wide enough (10') but that gives me some idea what I might can do to fix it without screwing with the spring.

 

If the cable won't wind properly, either the cable, the drum or both probably need replacing. If you haven't worked with these torsion spring doors before, find someone who has to work with you. The tension on the springs is no joke and will take your arm/face/hand off if it gets away from you.

I've worked with live 480V and 15KV lines and live 100KW TV transmitters, and the first time I rebuilt my torsion spring garage door alone was much more frightening.

 

There are a few good YouTube vids on how to replace a garage door spring. Those will show you how to unwind the spring and all the other stuff. I highly recommend you buy a set of unwinders. It's worth the money to makes sure you don't get a screwdriver through the skull.

All in all, it's not hard. Do it sober. It ain't like mowing the lawn.

Edit: Here ya go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02KaMvcbuDc

 

Just had all this done yesterday actually, when our nightmare family trip to MI ended with a broke spring on our 60 day old house...

Anyways, really research before you do any of this. I don't F with garage doors and just pay someone. Guy that came out told me he's heard of people having springs through their arms, faces, torso's. I know personally of 2 people with them through their arms, no thanks.

Anyways, like stated, use huge strong vice grips on the side you AREN'T working on, then unwind BOTH springs, then fix cable on the issue side. Count turns on each spring and make sure to note it as they must be balanced correctly.

Biggest thing guy told me is use right tools/poles strong enough to hold the spring tension, screwdrivers not so much unless they are heavy duty. I watched him do everything super carefully just to learn more, but I still wouldn't mess with it.

Turns out the door had flexed inward and now must add a strut to the inside too. I could do it, but he said he'd handle it under the table for about what materials and fuel/time would cost me, so F it.

Good luck.

 

Sounds like a great employee.

 

I had the same problem a few months ago. I tried to get the thing back together, but quickly realized how dangerous it could become if I made a mistake.

I had the wife call someone out and it cost me about $100. Now it's done and warrantied.