On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:29:11 -0400, "Twayne"
wrote:

In ,
typed:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:24:25 -0400,
wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 10:16:49 -0400, "Twayne"
wrote:

In ,
mm typed:
On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:17:22 -0500, "bob callaway"
wrote:

Garage door is off track will not open or close
Is this a do it yourself job or should I call a
repairman?

What they are saying is don't mess with the springs.
They can kill you, it seems. Post with more details if
you are still thinking of doing this yourself.

It "seems"? There isn't even an indication whether it's a
single or double door. Have you ever tried to lift a
garage door without the springs attached? A wooden or
steel door could kill you if it crashed down on you, or
take a foot or toes off real easy. Do you even know why a
door has to be open to install springs?

It does???
Many doors would be IMPOSSIBLE to replace the springs on
with the door open.

Maybe extension springs? Torsion springs would certainly
be difficult to replace with the door open. ;-)

Nuh, uh; both are full extended when the door is down. Also,
with a sectional door, the door is going to bow and flop down
like shutters if the springs are removed with the door down,
and worse if one end of a section is out of the track, it'll
completely fall to the floor.
Now that I understand you're only imagining things, I see
where you're coming from. I would suggest you go look at a few
different garage doors and watch how they operate. The
purpose of the springs is to LIFT the door, so what positions
could they be in other than extended? Same only more dangerous
for torsion springs over the doors.
Don't do it; it's very dangerous and the springs can be
lethal.


Any idea how to safely KEEP a door open while it's being
worked on or whether it will be necessary? There are many
dangers and safety methods that should be followed. Then
you're still left with the job of balancing the door
properly.

Vice Grips on the track by a set of wheels is a common way
to lock the door in place. With the door all the way up
there wouldn't be a lot of force on them.

That's one way some do it; and many that do it also deform
their track from the grips, or if/when the door should slide
forward and hit the vise grips, which are awfully easy to
dislodge when hit from the sides of the jaws. That's a poor
way to do it, and can cause damage to the tracks by bending
them out of shape; try it and see how poorly vice grips can
get hold of anything without crushing the edges of the track
or pulling the bottom into the raceway. Oh, you could leave
them looser, but then they can be more easily dislodged by the
inertia of a moving door.


No, most with experience are talking about a lot more
than messing with the springs, which is likely to be
necessary, depending on the actual state of the door. It
might be as simple as readjusting the tracks, but that
can be VERY dangerous if that door gets away from you and
wants to flail at the hinges on that side while the other
side is still captive (until it starts to fall, anyway);
then it may come completely out of the tracks. And if
it's s torsion spring type; well ... either way it could
get interesting if the springs were still attached.

Unless you have something meaningfuil and logical to
discuss/debate, I think I'm through with resonding to you in
particular.

HTH,

Twayne`

TENSION springs need the door to be open, which means the springs are
retracted - torsion springs need the door closed, which means the
springs are "loaded" - because they are above the door and impossible
to reach with the door open. They also wind OVER the "axle",
They ARE dangerous to work with if you don't know what you are doing.

I've likely replacesd a dozen of them, and adjusted several dozen over
the years.