How to fix a garage door cable (20 easy steps)?

For all those out there who have a garage to maintain must be familiar with the importance of the door of the garage. It is a great deal of hassle if the door does not open and close well in time. You can face the following problems if the door stops working at its best:

• The inconvenience you will face as a result of the issue is one of the least consequences
• If the garage door has broken loose and is just hanging around, you may have an accident too
• In case, there is a delay in the opening of the garage door while you are going to park in your car, you may bump into it thinking that it will open well in time as usual.

Cause of the malfunction of Garage door:

Well! The door basically works well only if its cable is tightened and placed in the right prescribed manner according to the manufacturer’s instruction manual. However, if the door of your garage is not working, it does not mean that you have to rush to the technician or have to call for help in any case.
Yes! You can even fix the garage door cable yourself. Now if you are wondering how to do it, here are some techniques to do it, but before we go further to the actual steps of fixing the thing, let us have a look at how does the cable work.

The function of the garage door cable:

The cable works at its best to make life easier for you so that you can park in your car safely and you do not have to worry about your vehicle being stolen or damaged. Here is how it works:

• The cable works as a safety measure inside the machinery of the garage door.
• The cable passes through the torsion springs
• It carried the weight of the door at each opening and closing.
• If you have placed the cable right in its place during the process of installation of the garage door, it will not harm you even if it breaks loose.
• However, if there is a difference in alignment of the cable and the garage door, then it will surely a cause of an accident in the event of its breakage.

How to fix the cable?

Once you decide to fix the garage door cable yourself, you need to first jot down the tools and the equipment you should have within your arm’s length so that you can reach out to them if and when required. So, here is a small list of tools you might need along the process:

• Stepladder
• Vise-grip
• Screwdriver
• Gloves
• Helmet
• Wire cutters
• Pliers

Once you have collected all the necessary items as a prep for the process. Now, you can follow these simple steps to fix the issue in the cable of your garage door yourself without calling for help:

1. First of all, if your garage door is automatic, you need to switch off the power supply to avoid electric shocks while you have started working on the door.
2. Now, make sure that the door is opened all the way. You can do it with the help of the clamps installed on the track so that the door remains in the open position and you can work without worrying about anything. Stand on the stepladder to ensure that the door reached the top of its height. You should not take any risk about this particular step of fixing and replacing the garage door cable.
3. Before you decide to remove the cable already broken but still in there, you have to remove the tension in the torsion springs of the garage door with the help of the plier. In fact, these are the springs that are responsible for the smooth working of the door and they are installed with the required tension.
4. Do not try to remove the cable without removing the springs as it may expose you to the most dangerous accidents.
5. You can use the vise-grip clamp so that you can firmly grip the shaft and you can easily rotate the shaft to loosen the cable.
6. Be very careful about rotating the shaft more than just necessary, otherwise, again you will have your garage door opening and closing way faster than essential.
7. Once you are done with the release of the tension of the springs of the cable, now you can proceed further by detaching the old cable at the base of the garage door. You can use the wire-cutter her so that you do not hurt your hands while detaching the cable.
8. Go on slowly at this point of time, so that you can remove it completely from the drum.
9. If you have a standard 7-feet door, you will have to have a replaced cable of length 8 feet and 6 inches.
10. So, now you have to replace the new cable so, that you can have your garage door in working order once again.
11. You will see a tip or a clamp on one side of the cable. This end goes around the drum and you have to fix the tip firmly inside the drum.
12. You should observe a loop on the other side of the cable, this end will go to attach with the door.
13. Tightly wrap the tipped end around the drum according to the instructions given in the manufacturer’s manual. This will help you to keep the cable tight to the extent as prescribed. If you wrap it tighter than necessary, it will also make the door malfunction.
14. You can keep your one hand as you wind up the cable around the cable to ensure you are doing it right.
15. Check the right length of the cable until you can reach for the other end of the cable.
16. Now pin up the other end to the base of the garage door.
17. Then you can use your vise-grip once again just to turn the shaft so that the cable is tightened to the required level.
18. Once you have done this much, now you need to check again the drum. Yes! It may happen that while you were attaching the other end to the bottom of the door, the cable might have gotten off the drum.
19. If the cable is still wrapped there firmly, you can now try to close the door by removing the clamps which were holding the garage door open.
20. Do not let it fall down fast, do it slowly so that you can see if the cable can perfectly carry the weight of the door and if the door is working properly on its own.

Maintaining the Garage Door:

However, it is recommended that you take proper maintenance of your garage door so that the cable does not get damaged or broken in the first place. Here are some things which you can do at a periodic basis to avoid the troubles when it comes to the malfunction of the garage door.

Inspect the springs:

You can replace the springs of the cable off and on. For this, you need to keep an eye if the springs are getting rusty now and then. You need to replace them before they get completely rusted and cause any damage to the functioning of the garage door. In case, you think that you cannot handle the situation, you can call for assistance also, from some experts dealing with such issues.

Check the safety eyes:

Similarly, you can check the clarity of the safety eyes. Sometimes, they get dirty and even a layer of dirt may get settled on them, which might be one of the reasons for the malfunction of the cable and ultimately, the garage door might stop working as usual.

Door Safety limits:

There is always a safety limit in the garage doors, you have to check if the safety limits are working in their place. The function of the safety limit is to stop the door from opening and closing more than the prescribed limits. So, if there is an issue with the safety limits, it will come down to the tension in the cable springs and it will, in turn, hinder the working of the garage door.

Now, with all these steps, you can avoid the malfunctioning of your garage door in the first place, and in case, you still have some problem with the timing of closing and opening of the garage door, you can surely check the cable of the door. You can even replace or fix the cable if it is damaged or broken by following these steps. After doing everything, if the door is still not working, you can simply call for help, no matter, which part of California, you are located, you can contact us in Brea, CA and Orange, CA in addition to many other locations within the city. Our experts will serve you to the best of your satisfaction in no time.