Garage door cables usually wear off because of rust. So it is highly recommended to replace it with new Garage door cables and certified Garage door drums. Garage doors having front mounted with centre bearing plate with springs attached and has the cable drums inside the end bearing plates. Let see how to replace them
First unplug the power to avoid the garage door opener from running while working and also remove the centre arm from the garage door opener.
Remove the set screws on the winding cones and unwind both the springs to lose the tension. Count the number of quarter turns made by the winding bars across the cones.
The set screws on the cable drum have to be loosened first, then the drum has to me moved away from the end bearing plate. Remove the cable from the notch on the drum.
Leg bolts along the tracks have to be loosened and by sliding the track slightly, bottom brackets could be removed easily. Now we can completely remove the cable attached to the brackets. Bottom brackets have to be replaced only in pairs to make sure even cable length.
The process has to be repeated on the other cable drum also to make sure instability doesn’t occurs.
Install the new cable along with the garage door roller to the bottom brackets. The cable has to make its way behind the rollers vertically upwards.
Align the bottom brackets to its original position and tighten the fasteners on it. Track brackets has to be re-installed. Locking pliers, sockets of different sizes will come in handy to ensure hassle free service and repair.
Check whether the cable has any obstructions along its way to the drum. The cable has to be properly seated to the cable drum’s slot provided. The grooves has to be properly tracked by the cables.
Slide the cable drum against the end bearing plate and then tighten the set-screws on it (don’t over-tighten them).
Place the locking pliers to the shaft near the cable drum to hold still. The winding bars has to be completely inserted into the winding cones, lift the first one to make a quarter turn and insert the second winding bar to another cone. Repeat the winding process up-to the proper number of quarter turns reached which will be the number of counts made during unwinding. The set screws has to be tightened on the shaft. The second spring also follows the same spring winding process. The grips of set-screws has to be tested and tightened.
Remove the locking pliers. The clamps has to be removed one by one with proper guidance from another bystander. Test for balance by opening and closing the garage door.
If further tuning is required, re-clamp and re-lock the pliers. Loosen the set-screws on the shaft and provide firm grip using the winding bars. If the door was heavy to lift, tension has to be added to the spring say one half of tension at a time gradually. If the door was too relaxed, the tension has to be reduced.
Test for the balance again. Attach the centrer arm back and plug the garage door opener to the electric outlet.
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