- Wash your steel garage door with the same product you look after your car a couple of times a year this helps to reduce it fading in the sun. If you have a wood grain finish do not use a cream polish that will dry in the dimples
- Take the time to watch and listen to your garage door when it is opening and closing then if there is a change in the action or sound of the door you will notice it. If it goes slower than normal do the manual test below and get this repaired as it will be wearing out your door opener at a very rapid rate.
- Check when the door gets to the end of its travel in both directions that it stops without any force from the opener
- Pull the release, and open the door a couple of times a year manually this should be easy to lift and pull down again and be able to stop in nearly any position with out falling or rising. Think of it as if the power is out an elderly person should still be able to open the door to get her car out
SIMPLE MANUAL TEST (sectional door) Pull the rope and release the door so you can move it manually - Open the sectional door till the bottom of the door is at about knee height and let the door go - The door should stay where it is - if it falls to the ground it needs servicing Immediately - do not let it drop with a slam as this could damage the door. Failure to do this servicing work will result in excess wear and premature failure of the opener and the probability that your door will fail at the worst possible time (just when going on holiday or out) Due to it being out of adjustment and it will likely jamb in the half open position and will not be able to be moved. One of the ropes that lift the door is likely to come off when the door is open and will cause a catastrophic failure on the way down again completely Jamming the door usually half closed (to re-engage the door ensure the lever that the rope is tied to is pointing at the back wall and move the door back to the torpedo looking piece in the chain and it will lock it into the step in the torpedo)
Do not use grease or any automotive type oils on any part of your Sectional doors this is good for a short time till it gathers more and more dust and becomes so thick it will not allow the door to move freely and eventually stopping the door all together. Do not oil or grease the tracks the door has wheels not slides and the wheels need to roll in the tracks.
On A roller door Oil can have the effect of swelling roller door slides (on Older style doors) and can also gather dust over time and become very thick and sticky (on more modern style Doors) stopping the door from working and often this is impossible to get this oil out of the slide material ever again NEVER use oil or grease on roller door tracks
What NOT to do to your garage door If It is playing up
If Your Door is Playing UP
Do Not Keep pressing the button if something goes wrong with the door opening process (it is telling you something is wrong with your door)
Do Not oil and Grease everything especially not in the tracks (there are proper wheels in the tracks Not slides Lubrication is like putting oil on the road to make your car go better)
Do Not oil the pipe beside the chain on the opener (this will get sticky and cause problems in the future it is designed to slide dry)
Do Not attempt to fix the effect -There is always a Coarse and effect (If the door opener is failing More than likely the door is the problem)
Do Not turn up the motor force up without working out why You need to (Do the door service test in Helpful hints first the opener is designed to haul the door up)
Do Not pull the door opener to bits – DANGER there is a capacitor in there that could hold a massive charge for weeks even after being tuned off
Do Not think I will get that fixed one day – It is doing damage to the opener every time it opens
Do Not use the door opener with broken springs on the door (the springs do all the work the opener is not designed to work that hard and this damage may other things as well)
Do Not put odd springs on tilt doors (this will twist the door every time it opens and closes resulting in all the Door rivets coming lose and braking)
And the worst of all from years of experience
DO NOT get mates or relations to fix the door – Generally they will make it work for all the wrong reasons and it usually costs much more in the long term