Neighbour has remote controlled electric doors. The large tension spring on one side of a door has become detached (how, I don't know, but suspect a stray piece of timber became jammed in it. ) Now, how to replace it on its mounts ? At the top is a loop in the spring which sits in a fixed pulley on the edge of the door. At the bottom the spring is attached to an adjustable-length hook which engages in a bracket on the door frame. The c500mm long spring needs to be stretched about 100mm to reach that bracket but is mighty strong and even he ( a big lad) cannot stretch it a millimetre. There must be an easy, quick way to do it which the garage door installers use! Can anyone help?
pettal,
Sep 16, 5:23pm
cargo tie downs strops .
gunhand,
Sep 16, 5:25pm
Will the hook not adjust out long enough, then wind it back in? I could suggest how to stretch the spring but would take six pages to make sure you didnt kill ya self lol. Can you get a longer hook, then hook it on and do the nut up till equal with other side? Bit hard to say with out seeing.
intrade,
Sep 16, 5:27pm
get some instructions on how to install that garage door brand probably have to loosen both sides and inspect for damaged components
tmenz,
Sep 16, 5:36pm
On my door the spring is fully relaxed when the door is open - it is only stretched when closed - so open the door and you should be able to simply hook it on!
morrisjvan,
Sep 16, 7:04pm
as above ,with the door open, hook the spring on the top hook, hook a tie down through the bottom loop, wrap the loose end around your foot (wear some strong shoes !) several times , and with your weight on it you should be able to stretch it enough to hook it on.
dublo,
Sep 16, 9:22pm
Thanks for the replies. Gunhand: No, not enough length in the hook to wind the nut out far enough to engage the spring. I had thought of extending it - something to contemplate. Tmenz: When the door is open the spring is stretched even further! I know the house's previous owner had the doors' electric opening and closing mechanisms fitted and I wonder if that was done correctly. Will take another look at them tomorrow. Intrade: Good idea, will investigate more closely tomorrow.
gunhand,
Sep 16, 9:31pm
can u wind the nut all way back to start, hook something on it and spring, then wind that it in, rehook something shorter, remove longer item then rewind till eventually you can hook spring over the remove holder. I know what i m trying to say but hard to explain. You need two or three hook type things, or strong wire.
solarboy,
Sep 16, 9:50pm
Agree with that - mine's the same. Seems odd that the one OPs describing stretches more when open when the idea is for the door to get much of it's lift from the springs UNstretching.
A bit like letting the hose on a retractable reel slip through ya hand while it's rewinding, so it doesn't try to eat it. Gotta watch that last flick, or the tears will eventuate!
pettal,
Sep 17, 9:00am
Yep - spring should be at it's least tension in the door open position , use a tiedown strop to lift the top end of spring up to the door and with a large screwdriver manipulate it onto the door , then adjust the bottom screw/hook to the right tension .
dublo,
Sep 17, 9:29am
Thanks pettal, that sounds like the safest way to do it. Will try that!
dublo,
Sep 17, 10:49am
And just took another look at the door. The spring will need about 250mm of stretching to fit on its mounts. Then I found a label on one of the doors: they are Garador brand and the installing company still exists here decades on. My neighbour can get them to fix it, he can afford the cost! (This brand works differently from the usual tilting doors: at the bottom of each side are wheels which run in vertical channels in the door frames. At the top wheels run in horizontal channels back into the garage.) Thanks for all the advice, everyone - we will leave it to the installers to fix the fault!
mber2,
Sep 17, 12:59pm
Probably the best and safest way
mm12345,
Sep 17, 6:49pm
I've never seen that before - can you post a photo? My immediate thought is that if the bottom wheel runs up a track on the jamb and the top of the door gets pulled back on horizontal tracks by the opener, then you wouldn't want to park a car too close to it on the inside. Have seen some weird and wonderful things - but not that.
Correct, mm12345. He has to park his cars the best part of a metre inside to give clearance for the doors to open or close. Sorry, can't get in there today to take a photo.
lookoutas,
Sep 18, 6:04pm
Caught up with an old mate last week, and he sadly told me his wife had wrongly helped by closing the garage door on his back porch.
He's a real Pom from way back, so I think that's what he said. Something about Fokker aeroplanes too.
(This brand works differently from the usual tilting doors: at the bottom of each side are wheels which run in vertical channels in the door frames. At the top wheels run in horizontal channels back into the garage.) Sounds like my doors - I thought they were the usual type but it sounds like I'm out of touch with newer ones - mine are 25 years old - but clearance has never been an issue as we park a metre or two in from the doors for a bit working space in iffy weather. Manually operated but the springs are easy to remove/ replace if ever needed.
supernova2,
Sep 19, 10:41pm
Never even thought it would be one of those old things. My mates got one on his "back shed". Its lost a couple of the wheels so justs hangs on the axles now. An absolute pig of a thing to open and shut. And yep what a waste of space with it opening "in and up" rather than the later option where it opens "out and up".
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