Mobile Garage Door Repair Service
If you have ever had an automatic garage door opener (or even if you haven’t), surely you can imagine that issues can arise from time to time. One issue that can be troublesome is a garage door that refuses to stay open. Perhaps you are doing work in your garage, and want the door to remain open so that you can monitor your children, or just so you are not working in an enclosed space. The last thing you need to deal with is constantly pulling up a garage door that keeps slipping down the tracks. There are a few reasons this could be happening to you. Keep reading to find out some common causes of this issue.
Most times when this problem happens, the culprit is your garage door springs. The springs do the heavy lifting for the door, and the tension in the springs is supposed to keep the door held up. If you are dealing with a door that is slipping down the track, your springs may need to get looked at. The spring issue could have arisen due to various factors, such as:
If you are having issues with your garage door staying open, the first thing to check around for is a broken spring. Please bear in mind, you should call a technician to actually fix the problem. Just like electrical issues in the home, garage door spring issues can be dangerous and should be handled by a professional. Depending on your type of door, there may be multiple springs present. Take a close look and try to determine if you can find any separation in the springs. Some doors have springs on each side, so be sure to check all springs that are present. If you cannot find the spring, try opening the door. When the door is opened, that fully extends the spring. This will make it easier to see if there is a break somewhere. If your door uses extension springs, there is a built in safety mechanism in the spring system. The spring has a rod on the inside that prevents the spring from overextending too much. If this kind of spring is broken or damaged, the safety rods inside the spring will be visible to you.
Another reason your door could be given you problems is due to a lack of tension in the spring. Springs are imperative to ensuring your garage doors work properly. When the door is fully open, the springs are working at their maximum tension. This tension allows the door to stay up without falling down the track. One way to determine if this is the issue is to look at the garage door chain. If there is slack in the chain when the door is up, this points to a lack of tension in your springs. The chain runs between the bottom of the spring and your wall (generally). Instead of the chain being taut when the door is in the open position, the chain will have slack. To fix this issue, it is best to call a technician to help. It is very dangerous to work with garage door springs, and instead of taking an unnecessary risk you should call an expert to assist you.
Garage door springs are only manufactured to last a certain amount of time. This springs are operating at a great amount of tension, and are hefting a heavy load. The average garage door can be up to 250 lbs. So each garage door spring has a standard life cycle. This life cycle is generally 10,000 cycles for most standard springs. You can also purchase high cycle springs if you prefer. A garage door spring generally last 7 -10 years (depending on use). Your garage door spring can age prematurely if you are not employing proper maintenance procedures. Keep the springs lubricated (using a silicone based lubricant). If your area is going through a cold snap, some homeowners use a space heater to warm up the garage. This is because in extreme cold weather, the garage door springs are under extra stress and you would hear a loud crack - your garage door spring snapping. This is not much of an issue in Georgia, but it is another point to keep in mind.
There is a reason (outside of your springs) that your garage door may not be staying open. This can be due to the door actually reversing closed. This issue has the potential to be damaging, as your personal property can become damaged if this is happening. This issue points to a limit switch problem. If you are comfortable in doing so, you can adjust the limit switch yourself and see if this fixes the issue. The limit switch tells the garage door opener motor when it has “hit the limit” and should stop operating. This switch is sometimes set up incorrectly and will cause your door to reverse closed on you, or not open far enough to begin with. The limit switch is located on the garage door motor unit and can be adjusted. You may have to do several adjustments to find the right setting for your home. If you are not feeling handy, or do not consider yourself a DIY’er, a qualified technician should be called to help. Most reputable companies will offer 24/7 assistance and can easily help you fix this issue.