On Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 2:26:30 PM UTC-5, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:52:02 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

One of the side cables on my garage door snapped last night. Single width,
wooden door. Youtube shows at least 3 different methods for replacement.

This one is done with the door in the open position. The torsion spring is
not released and nothing is taken apart or even loosened. Since my GDO
will open the door even with the broken cable, this seems like the easiest
method. Having the door open makes accessing the bottom cable attachment
very easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzsQuFj5ygU

This video shows it being done with the door closed. The torsion spring is
adjusted a tiny bit to remove the tension and then the cable hubs are loosened
on the shaft to allow the cable to be installed. Getting to the bottom
attachment requires the removal/loosening of some parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WpHlhb6ENA

This video shows it being done with the door closed and the torsion spring
*completely* relaxed before the hubs are loosened and the cable installed.
Again, getting to the bottom attachment requires the removal/loosening of
some parts. Afterwards, the torsion spring has to be wound back up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJToxdUt560

Can anyone see any reason why I shouldn't use the first method which seems
like the quickest and easiest? Why play with the spring and/or loosen the
cable hubs if it is not necessary? I know that I might have to adjust the
hubs afterwards if the new cables (I'll do both) aren't the same length as
the old ones, but isn't it worth giving the first method a try?

Thanks for any advice you have to offer.


My vote is for the first video. The guy IS an expert and has been
around for ages. Danny D. used and posted the web site some years
ago. http://ddmgaragedoors.com/index.php

Danny communicated with him via E-mail and got great support and
needed parts.

YMMV

I used the method in the first video, after verifying with a local
garage door firm that that method was safe. I ended up having to change
the bottom bracket also. It was an old fashioned bracket that had an
enclosed pin for the cable, meaning that the bracket had to come off in
order extract the pin. Then the cable had to be attached to the bracket,
then the bracket remounted on the door.

That meant that the method in the first video couldn't be easily employed
with that style bracket. Since the bracket was pretty rusted anyway, I bought
a bracket with an exposed pin from the same firm that I bought the cable and got the advice from.

The cable is on and the door works, but it still needs to be leveled. The
new cable is definitely tighter than the old one on the other side. I'm
going to change the other side tomorrow, which may level out the door. If
not, the same guy has video on how to level the door.

BTW...the guy at the garage door shop was a little surprised that the
GDO didn't have any trouble operating the door with only one cable. He
said that they usually rack and get jammed in the tracks. Lucky for me
that didn't happen. Opening the door allowed me to change the cable
without having to unwind the spring.