how does one open a garage door manually.

[T2urtle]

i never installed it nor know much on the system.

But heres the thing i have 4 hours till work. I got in the garage fine but with my mother came in she opened it with the remote and i guess destoryed the cable on the right side.

The cable using the pulley. So now the garage door is stuck closed. well one side is open like an inch the one with the cable still in tacked.

I have a 00 craftsman unit. dated to the 2000.

its a chain driven, sectional wood door.

it looks exactly like this...

http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_L...arage_Doors-F2138.html

i pulled the rope and then i was hanging litereally from the red cable and nothing. but then again i'm only 160lb.

anyone can help please do.... i'll be going back and forth

 

[RGUN]

If the spring is broken, start doing push ups... because that door isnt coming up without some serious grunt.

 

[T2urtle]

the cable snapped, the springs are hanging pretty much.

I just called a couple of bigger buddies of mines.

 

[imported_wonderwrench]

So a cable broke not a spring. If so you need to call a repair man because that type door, with the springs over the door opening is very dangerous to work on without the proper tools and know how. If one of the 2 springs have broken you should be able to open the door but it will be very heavy and will not stay open by its self. You will need something to block it open.

Make sure that both cables are replaced and if the springs have never been replaced have them replaced at the same time. There are several grades of springs so make sure they use high cycle rate springs. Also the springs need to be sized correctly. If they are not they will not last as long. Many contractors use low cycle rate springs and do not use the correct size spring for the job. This makes their prices seem lower plus they will have the generic springs on the truck so it saves them time.

Good luck!

 

[spidey07]

There should also be a manual release hanging from the chaindrive that decouples the door from the drive train. But it sounds like you already pulled that, look at the arm that attaches to the chain drive, if that is decoupled from the chain drive then your door is free to move.

If you haven't got the arm that attaches the door to the drive chain you will never open that door. If the rope broke and it's still locked, call the support line of the opener. I'm serious, they should walk you through it.

 

[T2urtle]

thanks, i got it to open. everything was disengaged before i typed anything. But it took 2 of us to get it up about a feet or so enough to slide a tire under and then i used the jack as leverage. then 2 more came and we got it up and open. car is out and door came back down. looking at what needs to get repaired right now. I would say 2 cables for sure. saidly craftsman site doesn't show it. i'll look into the springs as well. Once i find a local place with these parts.

I was planning on getting one of those newer screw type ones 2 summers from now, i'll see how much the cables will run me first.. and then from there.

THANKS A LOT EVERYONE

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: T2urtle
thanks, i got it to open. everything was disengaged before i typed anything. But it took 2 of us to get it up about a feet or so enough to slide a tire under and then i used the jack as leverage. then 2 more came and we got it up and open. car is out and door came back down. looking at what needs to get repaired right now. I would say 2 cables for sure. saidly craftsman site doesn't show it. i'll look into the springs as well. Once i find a local place with these parts.

I was planning on getting one of those newer screw type ones 2 summers from now, i'll see how much the cables will run me first.. and then from there.

THANKS A LOT EVERYONE

I think you may be slightly confused, the door and the opener are two seperate units. The opener is a Sears model, the door is a "who knows" model. Sears.com will not have specific springs for your door, they only sell the opener. You will need to call a garage door repair person to replace the cable and or springs to make the door function properly. There is probably nothing wrong with your opener, it just cant lift the door without the assistance of the springs and cables.

You may already know all that, if thats the case I apologize, it was hard to tell from your OP.

 

[T2urtle]

hmm.. i might be confused. thanks for bring it up... well it might just be the door itself. sadly. I didnt have too much time to look at it. AFAIK, the cable runs along the rail, there are about 3 wheels over all and on one end its 2 heavy duty looking springs. The cable looks like it should be easily replaceable ONCE the door is up. Just need a body or two to support the two springs on that side. I'll take a look and talk to a couple people at the hardware store and see from there.

 

[The Stigenator]

pay a garage guy.. trust me!!!!

I had the spring break on me, there was NO way in hell i could have gotten that reinstalled. THe spring is the weight balance, it acts as a spring tensioner, the more spring load you put in the more counterweight it puts on the thing. The cables connect are part of the counter balance.. i think you will need the spring to be retentioned and cables put in.

call a professional.. get some quotes. I paid about 200 for 2 springs redone.

 

[T2urtle]

honestly i've taken about 2-3 looks at it. there seems to be nothing removing it. the cable routes like a rope around all pulleys and then gets screwed and tighted direct on the door.

there is no touching the big huge spring on the door. the springs i speak of are the rear ones, closes to the garage opener motor. they dont look like it gets pre-loaded tension of anysort. I CAN BE wrong of course. This cable seems easy from the get go, the torsion spring doesn't. Even tho its basic mechiniacs.


i'll call up some pros to see if they will charge me much.

Just wondering those torsion springs above the doors, if not broken or having any issues with it, would replacing it due to solely on age make any sense. to get my cable on i honestly thinking there is no need to even touch them.


2 summers from now i did have plans on re-doing the whole garage, well this summer was going to be organize and next summer will be new door, screw type opener and etc.


i'm only needing to replace these... http://www.farm-home.com/cgi-b...ISTRIB1972-9003~~~~~~~

 

[bruceb]

If it is just the back springs, that run along both
sides of the tracks, then you can easily change them.
You just need to know what size to buy. Most hardware
stores can tell by the size of the door ... or bring the old
spring with you. And replace them in pairs. You will need the
door in the UP poisition to install them .. same for installing
the new steel cables. If the spring is directly above the center
of the garage door and parallel to it, that is a Torsion Spring
and is extremely dangerous for a DIYer to work on as they
must be pretensioned with a special tool and a lot of care.

 

[T2urtle]

yea its not the torsion... its just the cable along the tracks. i haven't had time to make it out to the hardware store. The springs are still mounted to the garage. I'm going to bring the old cable so i can get the same diameter, looks like 5/16 but not too sure. the way it looks like it, i can adjust for slack so getting longer is safer.

 

[imported_wonderwrench]

Originally posted by: T2urtle
yea its not the torsion... its just the cable along the tracks. i haven't had time to make it out to the hardware store. The springs are still mounted to the garage. I'm going to bring the old cable so i can get the same diameter, looks like 5/16 but not too sure. the way it looks like it, i can adjust for slack so getting longer is safer.

You are telling us to different things. Either you have springs above the door opening or along side of the door tracks on the ceiling. Not both. The type with the springs above the door opening are near impossible to replace your self. Besides they are very dangerous to work on. The type that runs along the sides of the track can be replace by a home owner if they know how its done. If not get a pro anyway.

 

[T2urtle]

i have both... i have the torison above my door that looks like this...

http://www.truetex.com/gar886.jpg

and then i also have springs that are at the end of the rails that the door rides on. the spring should of been directly connected to the cable and all the pulleys. It might just be a extremely older design garage. because out of the whole neighborhood i'm the only one with a bricked garage with a sectional solid wood that thats about 2.5-3 inchs thick.


i just found something slimiar to my second spring...

http://static.howstuffworks.co...ir-a-garage-door-2.jpg

it looks like that but it sits at the end of the tracks with a steel cable and pulleys like picture.

 

[marvdmartian]

T2urtle, trust me when I say, get some professional help to get this repaired. It'll be worth every penny!

Those springs that help you open the door store an incredible amount of energy when the door's down, and working on that system by yourself, with only a little bit of knowledge, could be incredibly dangerous.

I remember years ago, when my dad was at work one night, and I was sitting (watching tv, whatever) in the living room, when suddenly I heard a snap-sproing-WHAM!!! out in the garage. The fastener that went from the spring to the mechanism that attached it to the door had broken, and with the door down (and the 1.5" diameter spring fully extended), that spring came flying back to where it was mounted to the garage (in this case, a 2x4 stubbed down from the rafters), hit it with all that stored energy, and snapped it off like it was a twig!! Good thing Dad was at work, as the whole thing then ended up on the garage floor, right where the car would've been (and where it would've made, no doubt, quite a mess of the car's finish, if not body work). Mom called Dad, told him what happened, and he parked outside when he got home. I asked him if we were going to fix what broke, and he told me no, he didn't even want to mess with anything with that much power, get a professional to do it!