Telltale Signs Of An Unbalanced Garage Door
When the garage door is working it is easy to assume that it is one simple operation and even forego maintenance schedules since it looks infallible. However, this is not true since the working of the garage door is quite a complex mechanism with several interdependent parts. When there is a problem with one area it easily affects the rest and causes malfunctioning. One of the major issues associated with garage door operation is imbalance. An unbalanced garage door is as a result of a malfunctioning springs system. In a garage door, the torsion springs act as a counter balance to the garage door’s weight making it easy to move the door up and down.
In case of an imbalance, it means either the springs are too strong or too weak. When they are too weak they are not providing enough tension to counterbalance the weight of the garage door. This makes the garage door heavy and places more strain on the garage door parts since they are forced to carry more weight than they are supposed to. In the case of the springs being too strong it means they are exerting too much tension on the garage door thus making it to fly open. This places too much pressure on the garage opener leading to premature failure of the parts inside like the electronic parts, the gears and sprockets. An unbalanced door poses great danger since it can lead to injury and damage on property. It also compromises your garage door security and can easily turn to an inconvenience when it is difficult to operate.
You need to be in a position to detect early signs on an unbalanced door to prevent risks of accidents and further damage to other door parts.
These are the five major signs of an unbalanced garage door:
1. The door looks uneven when closing or opening:
This is the first obvious sign and you can tell by the door leaning on one side during operation. It means the door is relying heavily on one side and sustained pressure which comes from regular use can cause the door system to snap suddenly.
2. Difficulty in operations:
An unbalanced door can prove difficult when closing or opening often necessitating manual work. Even this it can be difficult or pose problems like either flying open or starting to close itself after you have opened it. The later scenarios pose a huge hazard to your family and property.
3. The door makes loud noises when in operation:
While strange noises may indicate other problems if the parts are not lubricated, when this is discounted, the only other issue would be door imbalance. The noises are caused by the opener since it is experiencing added strain to just get the door up and down.
4. The door is bent out of shape and it is not as a result of a dent:
An unbalanced door causes the door panels to flex and buckle while moving up and down over time. This results in the bends and if unchecked they can prove costly to repair.
5. The door will not open:
This happens when the effect of the imbalance have worn out major parts and the door has become too heavy for the opener to move it at all or other internal parts have been damaged as a result of the imbalance.
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