Your garage door, part by part: which parts actually break
A plain-language tour of the parts of a garage door and which ones wear out, with what is safe to look at and what is a job for a technician.
You're standing in the garage looking up. Something is making a sound it didn't used to make, or something stopped moving the way it used to move, and you're trying to figure out which part of this assembly is giving out. There are more pieces up there than you remembered. The spring, the cables, the rollers, the brackets, the opener: all connected, all under load, and you're not sure where to start looking.
Not sure which problem this is? Start with our page on a garage door that is off track.
Start with the names. Most garage door problems get easier to think about once you can point at the part that's failing and call it by what it is.
The five systems that make up a door
A residential garage door isn't really one machine. It's five overlapping systems that all have to behave at once.
The counterbalance system is the springs, the cables and the cable drums. Clopay, a door maker, says torsion springs are mounted above the door on a metal shaft, are wound up when the door is closed, and unwind as it opens, releasing energy to lift the door's weight. Clopay says steel cables run along the sides of the door and carry that energy, pulling the door upward. The anatomy lab walks through this visually if you want to see the geometry.
The track system is the metal tracks up each side of the opening and back along the ceiling. The rollers ride in them. Clopay says the standard track has "a gentle curve that lets your garage door open and rest parallel to the ceiling."
The panel system is the door itself: the sections, the hinges between them, and the bottom seal. Clopay says the hinges "connect the door's panels and play a big role in how the door bends as it opens and closes."
The drive system is the opener: the motor unit, the rail or shaft, the trolley, and the arm that connects to the door. The opener is not what carries the weight. Clopay says the springs "do the heavy lifting."
The safety system is the photo-eye sensors near the floor and the auto-reverse built into the opener. Both come up again below.
Where doors actually break
No door maker or trade association we checked ranks these parts by how often they fail. The part they single out is the spring: DASMA's opener safety guide warns that "Springs are under high tension" and says only qualified people should adjust them.
Springs wear out on a count. A standard spring is rated for about 10,000 cycles, one cycle is one full open and close, and at four cycles a day that is about seven years (IDC Spring, a spring manufacturer).
This is the part of the article where the sentences get short. Do not adjust, wind or remove a spring. Clopay says springs are "under extreme tension, and even a small mistake can cause serious injury or property damage," and that the winding cones on a torsion spring are "best adjusted by professionals." Call a technician.
If you want a longer spring life, you can ask for a higher cycle rating: IDC Spring, a spring manufacturer, says certain wire types can offer 25,000 cycles or even 50,000. IDC Spring says those are worth considering if you expect to use your door for 15 years or more. Ask the technician for the cycle rating in writing.
Rollers wear too. Replacing rollers is a job for a technician. Amarr's owner's manual (PDF page 5) says to look over the rollers and hinges for signs of wear, and that "a trained garage door technician must replace these items."
Cables are a job for a technician. If a cable looks frayed or has come off its drum, leave it alone and call a pro. Clopay, a door maker, says to "leave garage door cable replacement to the professionals."
The opener is not built to lift the door on its own. Raynor, a door maker, says the opener motor is not designed to lift the full weight of the door without the spring, and that running it with a broken spring can burn out the motor or strip the gears. If a spring breaks, do not press the remote or the wall button. Call a technician.
Brackets are a job for a technician. Clopay warns that "the bottom brackets on all garage doors must not be removed while the door is under tension." Do not unbolt them.
The bottom seal is the one part here you can replace yourself. Clopay says most seals need replacing every two to three years, depending on climate and use, and Amarr says around two years or more with proper maintenance. Clopay says it is time for a new one when the seal is "cracked, crushed, or no longer springing back into shape." If your door has a retainer, Clopay's seal guide says to slide the new seal into place, and calls most seal replacement projects "DIY-friendly."
The sensors sit low, near the floor, and federal rules require the opener to reverse within 2 seconds of contact with an obstruction. If the door won't close and the opener light is blinking, check the sensors. Clopay, a door maker, says that when the photo eyes are out of line or blocked, the door stops before it reaches the floor and reverses, and the opener light blinks on and off.
Why springs break more often in winter
The maintenance that actually matters
A door that is out of balance makes the opener work harder: Clopay, a door maker, says spring tension that is too low or too high strains the system and leads to unnecessary wear, and to call a professional to correct the balance rather than fix it yourself. Balance is the foundation. Lubrication is the maintenance.
Lubricate the hinge pins and steel roller bearings every 3 to 6 months, or as needed for usage and climate. If your rollers are nylon, Clopay says not to lubricate them at all. Clopay names silicone or white lithium grease; use the type your own door maker's manual calls for. Leave the spring and its hardware to a technician. Clopay says WD-40 and oil-based lubricants should be avoided because they draw dirt and dust, which causes premature wear. And do not lubricate the tracks. Clopay says to wipe them with a damp cloth instead, because lubricant there makes the rollers work harder and strains the opener.
If you'd rather have someone else check the door and you live in or near St. George, Utah, Garage Door Pros (our affiliated installer) offers a free garage door safety inspection that it says covers a balance test, a spring tension check, a track and roller examination, the reverse mechanism and the sensors. For Las Vegas homeowners, A+ Garage Doors (our affiliated installer) handles garage door repair in Las Vegas and garage door repair in Henderson, including spring and cable work.
You can also walk through the parts-and-failure logic visually in Maya: Garage Door Tech Decoded.
The diagram in your head should look like this: a spring overhead that does the lifting, two cables that work with the spring to lift and lower the door, rollers and hinges that wear, an opener that suffers when the springs go out of balance, and a pair of sensors near the floor that make the door stop and reverse when something is in the way.
A worn or broken spring is not only a spring problem. Clopay, a door maker, says it can put added strain on the cables, the rollers and the opener. If a spring breaks, leave the door alone and call a technician.
