Garage Door / Opener trouble

[Art Mulder]

Just wondering if anyone out there has a better idea on this than I do...

I have a wooden garage door - it is 16' wide, by 7' tall. I'm betting that it is 22 years old, same as the house (we've been here 8 yrs). The springs were replaced just 2 years ago, since one broke. (yes, both springs were replaced). It has an old "Stanley Delux" opener attached to it.

Yesterday, the opener started having trouble with the door. It would start to close the door, but would get jammed up at the last 14-16 inches and start giving a shuddering/grinding noise. The door would shake, and inch downward, before the whol thing would stop.

If I disconnected the opener, I could open and close the door, without any noticeable "catching". I did notice that some screws had fallen out of the ends of the horizontal metal brace that goes across the door at the midway mark, so I replaced those and also tightened down the loose screws on the top metal brace. No change.

I tried greasing up the pole that the traveler for the GDO rides upon, but that also didn't make a difference. Those stanley tubular poles come in three pieces, and I've always found them a bit flimsy, they flop around a bit in use. I thought that in my last house also. I tried the grease, because it was right near one of the joints where it was seizing. Doesn't feel rough though, so that may just be a coincidence.

The opener has no trouble opening the door, it just can't close it. It also will run back and forth with no problems with the door not attached.

At this point, I'm thinking that the problem must be the opener, but I'm wondering if I might be overlooking something.

Even that doesn't really make sense. Why can the opener push the door 90% of the distance? It really does not feel to me like the last 15" of travel are any tougher than the rest for pushing the door.

anyone got any ideas?
thanks
...art

[Kent Fitzgerald]

It really does not feel to me like the last 15" of travel are any tougher than the rest for pushing the door.

Those last few inches are actually the toughest for the GDO, because it's pushing almost completely perpendicuar to the axis of movement of the door. Sounds like the GDO is just plain getting weak with wear. Having spent a few years nursing along my ailing GDO, I'd advise you to be smarter than me and just get a new one.

[Bob Childress]

Especially a wooden door. Those things weigh a ton (figuratively speaking, of course). :) Your GDO might be able to push one of the new lightweight metal doors, but I suspect it has about given up the ghost. FWIW I have found Liftmaster to be a great GDO at a reasonable price.

[Chris Padilla]

Along with wear, the adjustment for when the GDO thinks the door is fully closed may need, uh, adjusting.

I'd say it is time for a new GDO and I'd highly recommend the Wayne-Dalton I-Drive if you have space for it. It bolts right on the header above the garage door and to the torsion bar/spring. Wait, you don't have one. Hmmm, is it time for a new metal-insulated GD? :) Anyway, do a search on the I-Drive...I love having the GDO out of the middle of the garage!

[Art Mulder]

I'd say it is time for a new GDO and I'd highly recommend the Wayne-Dalton I-Drive if you have space for it. It bolts right on the header above the garage door and to the torsion bar/spring. Wait, you don't have one. Hmmm, is it time for a new metal-insulated GD?

Chris... what do you mean? Of course I have springs. Two of them. It's your basic overhead sectional door with two springs on either side of the center mounting plate.

As for Wayne-Dalton... I'll look. I've heard the name many times over the years, but I don't think I've ever seen it in the stores around here. I wonder if it isn't marketed into Canada that much.

Follow-up question... I see 1/2HP openers and 3/4HP openers. Would I need a 3/4HP since I've got a pretty wide/heavy door? I would have thought that the spring should make up for the weight.

...art

[Ben Grunow]

try helping it along with your hand in the problem area. If the problem goes away then you know it was the GDO that caused it.

[Art Mulder]

Just confirmed this morning that the opener is definitely the problem.

Upon advise from another forum, I tried stopping the door at the halfway mark: Lots of grinding, and the opener did NOT reverse. Toast.

However, with all of this, I've been looking a lot closer at the door itself, and am not impressed with the number of loose screws I found, and the deterioration of the wood, and so I'm giving some serious thought to replacing the whole kit-n-kaboodle.

Now - I don't use the garage as a shop (that is in the basement) and there is no room above the garage. So is there any reason to put in an insulated door?

[Don Baer]

Art,
I went through the same process you are going through in my last house. I finaly found out that I had a major problem with the hardware that support the door. The hindges were just worn out and by replacing the GDO with a bigger one I just made the problem worse. I finaly ended up replaceing the older flat panel door with a rool up door.

[Bob Childress]

Certainly not for heat retention. But it does make the door operation quieter. That's why I got an insulated one. Otherwise, makes no never mind which one in oyur case.

[Chris Padilla]

Chris... what do you mean? Of course I have springs. Two of them. It's your basic overhead sectional door with two springs on either side of the center mounting plate.

As for Wayne-Dalton... I'll look. I've heard the name many times over the years, but I don't think I've ever seen it in the stores around here. I wonder if it isn't marketed into Canada that much.

Art, there are at least 2 (maybe 3) styles of GD opening "helpers". Some have springs on either side of the door with large hinges (usually for one piece doors like I used to have) and some have torsion bars with springs built in that are tensioned appropriately for the weight of the door.

I neglected to note that you were in Canada so I'm unsure of the availability of Wayne-Dalton GDOs there. But, regardless, check them out and see if their I-Drive system will work for your style of GD hardware. Their system is a bit more money but well worth it IMO for getting the GDO out of the middle of the garage (I was always banging plywood sheet into it).

[Andy Hoyt]

If the added cost of an insulated door is not objectionable, then I wholeheartedly endorse getting one. And mostly because one never knows what kind of project or shop relocation concept could rear it's head in the future. Might also have some (albeit minor) value if you ever choose to sell the house.

[Randy Meijer]

Don't know if this applies to your situation; but it would be worth checking out. My garage door started doing something similar so I removed the cover on the opener and discovered that the drive gears were so worn that they were not driving the chain properly anymore. Couldn't believe the gears were made out of plastic...... probably nylon, actually. Bought a set of replacement gears from the Internet for 20 bucks and am now back in business for another 12 years, hopefully?? Randy

[Ken Garlock]

A couple thoughts, they may have been mentioned above and I overlooked them.:confused:

First, the GDO is not a substitute for a correctly balanced garage door. You should be able to disable the GDO and raise and lower the door manually(by hand.) If you cannot lower the open door and stop it half closed/open and have it stay there, then you need to adjust your spring tension. Adjusting a door spring is not something for the inexperienced to attempt. There is a lot of engergy stored in the spring and you can get hurt.:eek: The springs need to be tensioned equally.

Second, if you are thinking about replacing the door, do buy a well insulated door. A well insulated door is spelled 'Overhead Door Company.'

[Frank Hagan]

My LOML and I are looking at new garage doors, and of course they have to be the sectional type, and also must look like old fashioned carriage house doors because, heaven knows, people care what their garage doors look like. :rolleyes:

My cynicism melted away when I saw some carriage house style doors ... I really like the looks of them. I'm going with the insulated variety because I use my garage as my shop, and the cleaner back side to the doors will be easier to keep clean.

Then I noticed that the cheapest bid is as much as I paid for my first new car back in 1974. Yikes!

We have trouble with our current GDO, but is actually the beam sensor at the ground level that we think is the problem. If we hold the button down all the while it is closing, it will close fine. With the door open, you can see the sensor blink every so often, so there's some problem there.

[Art Mulder]

Just in case anyone is curious... The opener WAS the problem. I just finished putting in a new Sears (Chamberlain) opener, and it works just fine. Much quieter also, even though it is the basic bottom-of-the-line-unit, than that umpteen year old Stanley.

So hopefully we'll get a few more years out of the old wooden door.

...art

[Mark Rios]

WTG Art. It's nice when things work like we want them to.