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

On Apr 17, 11:17*pm, "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?

A door doesnt just go off track onless there is something really
wrong. I would get out a pro and find out why, but every pro ive had
out wanted to sell me a cheap door, and my door is probably the most
expensive and well made and perfectly maintained door ive seen, so
beware of what they try to sell you, best is get bids unless the guy
just shows you an easy fix, i would not mess with the big overhead
round wound springs that maintain torsion, the long spring going
lenghtwise with the tracks are less dangerous, but still can harm you.

On Apr 17, 11:17*pm, "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?

Is it off-track or broken spring? A broken spring can cause a door to
drop which might knock it off track. Getting the roller back in the
track is no big deal if there is no other damage.

I have repaired tension springs before and it takes care and time ---
You can get hurt. I WOULD NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO REPAIR A TORSION
SPRING!!! Those things store a lot of energy, can spring loose during
the repair and maim or kill you. An old co-worker who lost part of a
hand trying to do a torsion spring repair; and his son received
several stitches in his head from the same accident.

RonB

In ,
bob callaway typed:
Garage door is off track will not open or close
Is this a do it yourself job or should I call a repairman?

If you don't know, you need a repairman. IMO you've shown your
level of expertise by not describing which of several setups
you may have there, each requiring different things, all
dangerous at times. Get a repairman.

HTH,

Twayne`

bob callaway wrote the following:
Garage door is off track will not open or close
Is this a do it yourself job or should I call a repairman?

Is it a powered door?
If powered, does it have the coiled spring above the door or the long
springs on the sides?
Is it currently all the way up, all the way down, or somewhere in between?
How many rollers are off track?
Is it off track on one side, or both?
Is it a multi panel door or a single panel door?
Is it wood, or aluminum? (weight).
It would help if we all know the specifics before we make wild ass
guesses that don't apply to your situation.


--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

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?
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.
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.

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?
Hi,
Sounds like a spring problem or broken cable.
If you have proper tools and what you are upto
It can be DIY job. But to be on the safe side
I'll call for service. I did it once and next time
No.

"bob callaway" wrote in message
...
Garage door is off track will not open or close
Is this a do it yourself job or should I call a repairman?

The answer is yes, no, I don't know, definitely, and maybe. If it was mine,
and it was just a wheel off track, or something identifiable and DIY
fixable, I would do it myself. But you don't seem to even be able to look
at it and write down what you see so we can give you a reasonable response.

I'd vote for the repairman.

Steve

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 07:01:17 -0700 (PDT), RonB
wrote:

On Apr 17, 11:17Â*pm, "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?

Is it off-track or broken spring? A broken spring can cause a door to
drop which might knock it off track. Getting the roller back in the
track is no big deal if there is no other damage.

I have repaired tension springs before and it takes care and time ---
You can get hurt. I WOULD NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO REPAIR A TORSION
SPRING!!! Those things store a lot of energy, can spring loose during
the repair and maim or kill you. An old co-worker who lost part of a
hand trying to do a torsion spring repair; and his son received
several stitches in his head from the same accident.

RonB
I've replaced numerous torsion springs - you NEED to know what you
are doing, and to be careful. Many of the ones I changed were BIG
ones - on 10 foot wide, 12 foot high doors. (car dealer service bays)

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.
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.
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.

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"?

Since I haven't got first hand knowledge, I have to use some
qualifier. Either "It seems" or "I've read". I warned him. I'm not
his mother.

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?

Maybe, but what does it matter? What do you think the OP expects out
of 3 lines?

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.
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.

wrote:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 07:01:17 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Apr 17, 11:17 pm, "bob wrote:
Garage door is off track will not open or close
Is this a do it yourself job or should I call a repairman?

Is it off-track or broken spring? A broken spring can cause a door to
drop which might knock it off track. Getting the roller back in the
track is no big deal if there is no other damage.

I have repaired tension springs before and it takes care and time ---
You can get hurt. I WOULD NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO REPAIR A TORSION
SPRING!!! Those things store a lot of energy, can spring loose during
the repair and maim or kill you. An old co-worker who lost part of a
hand trying to do a torsion spring repair; and his son received
several stitches in his head from the same accident.

RonB
I've replaced numerous torsion springs - you NEED to know what you
are doing, and to be careful. Many of the ones I changed were BIG
ones - on 10 foot wide, 12 foot high doors. (car dealer service bays)

I used to have to rehang and reset the spring on one of two doors in the
condo I used to live in (sometimes on a monthly bases). They were
usually knocked off by ding bat drivers. Good thing we always had video
(not to mention the ID of the remote last used to open the door from the
receiver) so we could confront and at times charge the dopes for the repair.

In ,
typed:
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.

Educate me please: I'm reasonable.

Any installation I'm aware of, the door needs to be UP to
relieve the pressure on the springs. Disconnect the push/pull
connecton and slide the door the rest of the way back and the
cabling will hang loose for you to work on. When a door is
closed, the springs are under maximum tension. Otherwise they
wouldn't lift the door. And you'll never find an easy way to
work with tensioned springs - talk about cocking a door in the
frame!

What am I missing?

HTH,

Twayne`



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. 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.

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. ;-)

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.

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.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:30:10 -0400, "Twayne" wrote:

In ,
typed:
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.

Educate me please: I'm reasonable.

Any installation I'm aware of, the door needs to be UP to
relieve the pressure on the springs. Disconnect the push/pull
connecton and slide the door the rest of the way back and the
cabling will hang loose for you to work on. When a door is
closed, the springs are under maximum tension. Otherwise they
wouldn't lift the door. And you'll never find an easy way to
work with tensioned springs - talk about cocking a door in the
frame!

What am I missing?

Torsion springs are mounted above the door. With the door open you can't get
to them, so they have to be worked on with the door open and full tension on
them. That's why they're so dangerous. Better springs, but more dangerous to
work on.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:19:20 -0500, "
wrote:

What am I missing?

Torsion springs are mounted above the door. With the door open you can't get
to them, so they have to be worked on with the door open and full tension on
them. That's why they're so dangerous. Better springs, but more dangerous to
work on.

I think you mean closed, instead of "the door open".

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:29:33 -0700, Oren wrote:

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:19:20 -0500, "
wrote:

What am I missing?

Torsion springs are mounted above the door. With the door open you can't get
to them, so they have to be worked on with the door open and full tension on
them. That's why they're so dangerous. Better springs, but more dangerous to
work on.

I think you mean closed, instead of "the door open".

The second one, yes. Sorry, here is what I should have said:

Torsion springs are mounted above the door. With the door open you can't get
to them, so they have to be worked on with the door closed and full tension on
^^^^^^
them. That's why they're so dangerous. Better springs, but more dangerous to
work on.

In ,
zzzzzzzzzz 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`

In ,
Oren typed:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:19:20 -0500, "
wrote:

What am I missing?

Torsion springs are mounted above the door. With the door
open you can't get to them, so they have to be worked on
with the door open and full tension on them. That's why
they're so dangerous. Better springs, but more dangerous
to work on.

I think you mean closed, instead of "the door open".

No, he's right in what he said. In many cases too, you cannot
open the door and get sufficient room to use the winding tools
because the tracks are too short to allow it. And it's a bear
of a job to get the door raised with one spring broken.

HTH,

Twayne`

In ,
zzzzzzzzzz typed:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:30:10 -0400, "Twayne"
wrote:

In ,
typed:
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.

Educate me please: I'm reasonable.

Any installation I'm aware of, the door needs to be UP to
relieve the pressure on the springs. Disconnect the
push/pull connecton and slide the door the rest of the way
back and the cabling will hang loose for you to work on.
When a door is closed, the springs are under maximum
tension. Otherwise they wouldn't lift the door. And you'll
never find an easy way to work with tensioned springs -
talk about cocking a door in the frame!

What am I missing?

Torsion springs are mounted above the door. With the door
open you can't get to them, so they have to be worked on
with the door open and full tension on them. That's why
they're so dangerous. Better springs, but more dangerous
to work on.

Actually, after consideration, I'm going to say you're mostly
right about this. It's not unusual for the track system to not
allow sufficient movement of the door to the point where you
will have room to use the winding/unwinding rods to
wind/unwind the springs; it takes about 3' of space. The door
will often cock and jam istelf all the way up with a spring
gone on one side, especially if it's a wooden, heavy door,
should you try to manually lift it. IF it's light enough to
manually lift.
It's been years since I've touched one and that was back in
Chgo and a 2-stall wide door of my neighbor's. What we did was
unwind the spring on the good side far enough to let one man
be able to lift on the side with the broken spring and get it
to go smoothly. It took a man on the good spring side too,
since we relieved the pressure. And of course disconnecting
the opener from the door.
Another retired neighbor helped us and used to work for a
garage door installation company. He had us raise the now
basically unsprung door to its max travel and prop it safely
so it couldn't return. Then in about 5 minutes we dropped the
topmost casters out of the top door section and let the top
section hang down on its hinges, which let us move the door
far enough to be able to use the bars to finish putting the
new springs on. Normally both springs should be replaced at
the same time. We put the new springs on, approximately
equalized the torsion between the sides, and manually let the
door down slowly a step at a time using a come-along as a
safety wire. When it was down all the way we finished the
torsion settings, reconnected the opener and were done. Took
about an hour IIRC, with lots of talk & jokes as we went
along. Of course, we spent the previous evening for about 3
six packs planning it out.
Doing those adjustements when the door is down is scary
business; if you slip and lose a hold on one of those adjuster
bars it's going to become a missile if it comes out of the
holes made for it.
I have noticed recently that torsion sprung doors have
longer tracks on them; that's interesting.

For whatever reason it's not near as difficult to lift a door
with tension springs. It's easy to thread the wire so you can
pull on it to lift the door on the side where the spring broke
and just let the other side follow. You don't have to go too
far before the weight of the door gets really heavy though.
Come-alongs to the rescue again works well.
Personally I wouldn't touch a torsion sprung door at all
anymore but hey, I'm an old man now! They're just too danged
dangerous, door up OR down! I have replaced my own tension
springs twice over the years though without any problems. I
got the idea to use come-alongs from watching a garage door
repairman in Chgo changing some tension springs at a friend's
house.
Someone said torsion springs were "better" but I don't
really see it. They're more expensive, use practically the
same springs as on tension openers and are a lot harder to
work with. You don't get back any ceiling space because there
still has to be clearances for the tracks and the door to move
into when it's up. They also require a much stronger header
over the garage door since all of the torsion has to be worked
against in that one small area.

HTH,

Twayne`

On Apr 19, 10:29*am, "Twayne" wrote:
,
typed:



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

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

,
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,

Obviously (what a maroon).

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.

Huh? The door is connected together at the rollers. If they're out
of the track you're not likely replacing the spring. Maybe you would.

* *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.

I suggest you do the same. To replace extension springs (always in
pairs), one leaves the door in the *up* position, so that there is
little or no tension on them. They're a snap to replace since they're
not storing any (much) energy. This would be a good idea for a
torsion spring too, if not for the fact that the spring is not
accessible with the door up.

* *Don't do it; it's very dangerous and the springs can be
lethal.

Someone has to do it. It's easy to replace extension springs. The OP
didn't specify.

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.

If you're a moron, perhaps you'll squish the track. Sensible people
would grip the flats and not mess with the *ROUNDED* roller race.

* 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

I did. You just cannot understand.

discuss/debate, I think I'm through with resonding to you in
particular.

Good. I don't need an idiot. Bye.

On Apr 18, 6:52*am, ransley wrote:
On Apr 17, 11:17*pm, "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?

A door doesnt just go off track onless there is something really
wrong. I would get out a pro and find out why, but every pro ive had
out wanted to sell me a cheap door, and my door is probably the most
expensive and well made and perfectly maintained door ive seen, so
beware of what they try to sell you, best is get bids unless the guy
just shows you an easy fix, i would not mess with the big overhead
round wound springs that maintain torsion, the long spring going
lenghtwise with the tracks are less dangerous, but still can harm you.

"every pro ive had out wanted to sell me a cheap door, and my door
is probably the most expensive and well made and perfectly maintained
door ive seen"

OK, I'm totally confused. I'm not doubting what you're saying, I just
don't understand it.

If the door is "perfectly maintained" why are you having pros out? The
words"every pro" (at least to me) indicates at least 3 pros have been
out.

Why have you had so many visits from the pros for "the most expensive
and well made and perfectly maintained door" you've ever seen?

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.

Twayne wrote the following:
In ,
zzzzzzzzzz 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,

The purpose of the springs is to COUNTERBALANCE the weight of the door,
whether opening or closing.

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`





--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @