What to Do if Your Garage Door Cable Snaps
Automatic garage doors feature cables on each side to lift and lower the door with ease. These cables are robust, but wear and tear can eventually take their toll, causing the cables to lose tension, fray or snap. Several things can go wrong if you put off garage door cable repair or if you attempt a DIY fix-it job. To help you avoid further damage or personal injury, follow these tips for what to do if your garage door cable snaps.
Understand Garage Door Cables
Your garage door features different cables depending on what types of springs it uses.
- Lift cables are found in garage doors with torsion springs. In this configuration, the cables are attached to the bottom corners of the door and routed to the torsion springs located above the door.
- Retaining cables are found in garage doors with extension springs. In this scenario, the cables are located inside the springs, which run vertically along the left and right sides of the garage door. The purpose of retaining cables is to prevent the springs from flying across the room if they break.
Both are heavy-duty twisted cables consisting of several strands of galvanized wire. They usually operate for years without incident, but problems such as faulty bearings in a pulley, excessive moisture near the bottom of the garage door or poor track alignment may accelerate wear, rust and corrosion. With routine visual inspections, you may be able to prevent a fraying cable from snapping.
Avoid Using the Door & Call for Service
A broken cable causes extra tension to transfer to the other cable, placing tremendous strain on it. This can make the garage door lift unevenly, causing it to become crooked and unbalanced. Therefore, if your garage door is squeaking, shaking or operating strangely, this could mean a cable has snapped. Refrain from using the door again until a professional can take a look.
If your garage door is stuck open with a broken cable, this leaves your home exposed. To prevent this, you need to cut the unbroken cable so the door will lower, securing your home until a professional can take a look. A garage door repair technician would replace both cables as a precaution anyway, so this won’t increase your repair cost.
NOTE: Use extreme caution when attempting this, and make sure several people are there to assist with lowering the door slowly and carefully once the cable is cut.
Leave Garage Door Cable Repair to a Professional
We highly recommend hiring a professional to perform garage door cable repair. Thousands of non-professionals are injured every year from attempting to repair broken garage doors. If you don’t have knowledge and experience with garage door repair, don’t put yourself in a potentially life-threatening situation—contact a professional to perform a safe, reliable repair on your behalf.
The repair will also include an inspection of the garage door’s overall performance. If the technician finds problems that could lead to excessive cable wear and tear, adjustments can be made to prolong the life of all door components.
Contact the Overhead Door Company of Fort Wayne for Garage Door Repair
Whether you suspect a fraying garage door cable or the cable has already snapped, call the Overhead Door Company of Fort Wayne right away for a diagnosis and repair. Our technicians have the know-how to determine what’s wrong and get your garage door operating smoothly again. No matter the problem, we promise to deliver a premium garage door repair at an affordable price.
Contact us online or call (260) 205-8509 today to schedule garage door cable repair in Fort Wayne or surrounding cities!
