If you own a garage door, it’s a pretty good idea to know how to adjust garage door cables. They are the flex muscles of your door — why that several hundred pound door seems like a pillow case of feathers when you open it.
What Does a Garage Door Cable Do?
Garage door cables are essential parts of a garage door that are central to its design and function. Your cables run through your garage door torsion springs, allowing them to do the heavy lifting as you raise and lower your garage door.
But there’s yet another important function of your garage door cables — safety! If your garage door has a spring failure, say the spring suddenly snaps, your cables will catch the spring in its recoil, avoiding potentially deadly bodily injury.
Garage door springs have a tremendous amount of tension in them. They are extremely dangerous. This is why you should never repair garage door springs yourself. Always leave garage door spring repair to a professional.
How to Adjust Your Garage Door Spring Cables
It’s not the easiest job in the book. If you aren’t handy with tools, save this one for the garage door repair professionals. You’ll need some wire cutters, a flat head screwdriver, C-clamps, and a step ladder.
First, separate your garage door opener from the garage door by pulling on the overhead release cord. Disconnect the electricity from the garage door opener as a safety precaution.
Attach your c-clamps to your garage door’s track right below the roller closest to the bottom of the door. This way, the garage door won’t fall down while you are working on this garage door repair.
Carefully disconnect the cord that runs around the garage door’s frame right above the doorway. If there is a lot of slack in the cable, use pliers to loosen the bracket holding the wire to the hook attached to the frame. Pull the cable through the bracket to tighten it. Reattach the wire to the wire frame.
Next, take a look at the garage door drum. This is what keeps your garage door balanced and leveled. The cables will wrap neatly around it. Check to make sure the cables aren’t unwrapped on either side of the door. Check the cables to make sure they are aligned. Finally, lower the door and reconnect the opener. Test out your garage door to see if it works properly.