On Jan 28, 12:47*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:08:04 -0800 (PST), BradMM
wrote:



Ok, I had a company come out and look at our garage door problem. *We
moved into this house almost three years ago and I installed the
opener on one of two wooden doors for my wife to use. *It worked fine
for 2 1/2 years but started getting cock-eyed as it went up and down
and would stop and change directions. *It's gotten progressively
worse. *I've posted this recently so this is a repeat.

Four possible problems:
1. *springs need replacing
2. *rollers need replacing
3. *garage/house has shifted due to drought
4. *some combination of the above

I got an estimate that seemed reasonable for replacing both the
springs and the rollers. *I had checked at Lowe's and even though they
had the right color springs, the guy who came out said the diameter
DID need to be the same and Lowe's were smaller. *So, it seemed that
even if I wanted to do it myself, I'd still have to order springs.

What shocked me was he also gave an estimate of replacing the door
completely and that cost was about the same as replacing rollers and
springs on the current door. *Problem is, the new door wouldn't match
the old so we'd have to replace both when one doesn't need it because
I open and close it manually. *90 day warranty on repairs, three year
on replacement.

I'm leaning toward just repairing the existing door and possibly still
doing it myself. *BTW, my current door has the parallel springs so
they are easy and relatively safe to exchange. *The new door that the
service guy proposed has torsion springs so I'm befuddled as to how
that can be the same cost as replacing parts on my existing door.

Brad

I guess I don't get why you are not doing the obvious. Unhook the
drive and put yourself in place of it and manually open and close the
door.

You'll be able to determine if the springs create enough
counterbalance. You'll should be able to tell if the two
counterbalance springs seem unequal. You'll be able to tell if
there is a specific spot in travel that is causing the bind. You'll
be able to *tell if the door gets out of square. Multiple observations
will track down the source.

Or you can do as the repair people want. You can replace everything
and thus automatically fix your problem without ever having to go
through the trouble of identifying it.

I have done the obvious (see above).

The very thing you said about replacing everything without ever
diagnosing the real problem is why I'm NOT having them do anything. I
can change our parts or even install a new one if needed.