Garfield Heights is an inner-ring suburb on Cleveland's southeast side, next to Maple Heights and Valley View. Much of its housing dates from the city's growth in the 1920s and the years after World War II, so many homes sit on compact lots with small garages, frequently detached, whose doors have seen decades of use.
If you are reading this with a broken door in front of you, skip the general overview. Below is a symptom-by-symptom guide: what each failure looks like, what is safe to do and what to leave to a technician.
Spring broke: loud bang, very heavy door
A torsion spring usually breaks with a sound like a gunshot in the garage. Afterward, the door suddenly feels far too heavy to lift, or the opener raises it a few inches and stops. You may see a visible gap in the spring coils on the bar above the door.
Leave the door closed and do not try to open it with the opener. Spring replacement involves releasing and rewinding stored energy, and a mistake during that work can cause severe injuries. If the door is stuck open, keep cars and people out from under it until a technician arrives.
Cable snapped or hanging loose
The lift cables run from the bottom corners of the door up to drums at either end of the spring shaft. A frayed or snapped cable makes the door hang crooked, with one side higher than the other, and it can jam in the track.
Cables often fail because the bottom bracket rusted, the door hit an obstruction, or a spring broke and the cable unwound. Stop using the door. Replacing cables, drums or bottom brackets means unwinding the springs completely first, so leave it to a technician.
Door off track
A door can come off its track when a car bumps it, a roller breaks, the track bolts loosen or a cable fails on one side. You will see rollers outside the track, a twisted or tilted door, or a gap between the door and the frame.
A door that has left its track can shift or fall without warning. Unplug the opener so no one presses the button, keep everyone clear, and do not try to force the rollers back in; the springs and cables still hold their load.
Opener stopped working
Some opener problems are safe for anyone to check before calling.
- Is the opener plugged in, and does the outlet have power? Reset a tripped breaker or GFCI.
- Are the photo-eye sensors at the bottom of the tracks aligned and clean, with both lights on?
- Is the lock or vacation switch on the wall control turned on?
- Do the remote batteries need replacing?
- If you hear the motor but the door does not budge, or the door feels unusually heavy, stop and call for service.
Older detached garages and salt
Many detached garages in the area sit behind the house on narrow lots, with older doors and openers that predate current safety sensors. Salt dripping off cars eats at the bottom brackets and lower track, which is a common cause of cable failure. Inspecting those corners each spring, and replacing rusted brackets early, heads off many midwinter breakdowns.
Last updated by the American Garage Door Team.