How to Balance a Garage Door: A Comprehensive Guide
Balancing a garage door is essential for safety and smooth operation. An imbalanced door can slam shut or open rapidly, posing a risk to users and damaging the door and its components. Balancing a garage door is a DIY project that can usually be completed in less than an hour, even for beginners.
Why Balance a Garage Door?
A balanced garage door opens and closes easily and remains in place when temporarily detached from its operating mechanism. An imbalanced door can lead to several problems:
- Safety hazards: An imbalanced door can close accidentally, injuring users. Heavy garage doors can also damage vehicles and property.
- Premature wear and tear: Imbalanced doors put extra strain on the motor and other components, leading to premature wear and tear.
Garage Door Types: Torsion Spring vs. Extension Spring
Before balancing a garage door, you need to identify the type of spring mechanism it has: torsion spring or extension springs.
Torsion Spring
Torsion spring doors have a single spring located above the door, running parallel to the header. Torsion spring doors can be difficult to balance and may require professional assistance.
Extension Springs
Extension spring doors have two springs located on each side of the door, parallel to the side walls. Extension spring doors are relatively easy and safe to balance.
Safety Considerations
Caution: Garage doors can weigh up to 200 pounds. Exercise caution and follow these safety guidelines:
- Unplug the garage door motor or turn off the circuit breaker before working on the door.
- Be aware of the weight of the door and seek assistance if necessary.
- Use proper tools and safety gear, including gloves and safety glasses.
What You’ll Need
Materials:
- Torsion spring winding bars (for torsion spring doors)
- Locking pliers
- Wrench set
- C-clamp or locking pliers
- Step ladder
- Indelible marker
- Gloves
- Safety glasses
How to Check If a Garage Door Is Balanced
- Check Door Movement: Observe the door as it opens and closes. If it moves slowly or hesitates, it may indicate an imbalance.
- Lower Garage Door: Unplug the motor or turn off the circuit breaker.
- Note Garage Door Halfway Point: Mark the vertical midpoint of the door frame.
- Disengage Emergency Release Cord: Pull the red handle on the opener rail to disengage the emergency release.
- Raise Garage Door to Halfway Point: Pull the door up to the marked midpoint.
- Release Emergency Cord: Let go of the cord. The door should remain in place for about a minute. If it slowly lowers or raises, the door is off-balance.
- Fully Raise Garage Door: If the door remains open after fully raised, it is not balanced.
How to Balance a Garage Door (Torsion Spring)
- Close Door and Turn Off Power: Close the door and unplug the motor or turn off the circuit breaker.
- Attach Locking Pliers to Torsion Tube: Clamp locking pliers to the torsion tube about 18-24 inches from the torsion spring.
- Lock Door in Place: Secure the garage door track with a C-clamp or second set of locking pliers to prevent accidental opening.
- Stand to the Side of Torsion Spring: Position the ladder and stand to the side of the winding cone.
- Loosen Set Screws: Loosen the two set screws on the winding cone using a wrench.
- Add Second Winding Bar: Insert a second winding bar into the bottom hole of the winding cone.
- Begin to Tighten Torsion Spring: Raise the lower winding bar a quarter turn at a time, then insert the other winding bar into the bottom hole.
- Tighten Torsion Spring Until Complete: Continue tightening the spring until the door remains in place midway up when opened by hand.
- Mark Torsion Tube: Add a mark on the torsion tube about 1/4-inch away from the end of the winding cone.
- Expand Torsion Spring: Pull the bottom winding bar toward you, then tap the winding cone to the side until the mark is reached.
- Tighten Winding Cone Set Screws: Tighten the screws on the winding cone to prevent slipping.
- Test Garage Door: Remove the winding bars and clamps, then open and close the door by hand.
How to Balance a Garage Door (Extension Springs)
- Open Garage Door: Unplug the motor or turn off the circuit breaker.
- Clamp Door Open: Secure the garage door track with a C-clamp or locking pliers.
- Adjust Extension Springs: Unhook one of the springs from the rear track hanger and reattach it to a higher hole. Repeat on the other side.
When to Call a Professional
If you are uncomfortable balancing the garage door or if the torsion springs are old or rusted, it is advisable to call a professional. Torsion springs are under a lot of tension and can be dangerous to work with.
Additional Tips
- For a 7-foot-tall garage door with a torsion spring, it typically requires eight full turns (or 32 quarter-turns) to bring it to the correct level of tension.
- Use caution when using winding bars and ensure they are pushed all the way into the winding cone holes.
- Tighten the winding cone set screws very tightly to prevent the torsion spring from slipping off the torsion tube.
