Garage door blues

DaveRichardson

northGAcock said:

John, I have been fighting with mine lately myself. I think I finally have it working right. Mine was a simpler fix....but getting them d@mn little lights at the bottom to line up ain't always easy. 

My trick - a Laser pointer......  You can see that on the other side of the door gap.  I just taped it on top of one of the units and then taped the botton down so it was "on".  Then the adjustments were so much easier!

Eggcelsior

I lubed up all the articulating areas and the springs after seeing this. Man, what a difference! Only bad part was me being super impressed with it that I sent a before/after video to my wife. The act did not garner the enthusiasm it had me, let's just say.

YukonRon

Anyone use White Lithium Spray?

Eggcelsior

YukonRon said:

Anyone use White Lithium Spray?

That's exactly what I used. Picked it up at autozone on my way home from work. WD40 offers it in their "specialist" series, but I kept away from that do to issues I read about the integrated spray straw. Plus, that fancy can added 2 bucks to the price compared to the one I bought.

YukonRon

Eggcelsior said:

YukonRon said:

Anyone use White Lithium Spray?

That's exactly what I used. Picked it up at autozone on my way home from work. WD40 offers it in their "specialist" series, but I kept away from that do to issues I read about the integrated spray straw. Plus, that fancy can added 2 bucks to the price compared to the one I bought.

WD40, seems to me, to be something that needs to be done on a regular schedule for maintenance. The White Lithium, seems to me to be a very good solution to long term maintenance using it every few years or so. Our garage door, is very, very old, with  the opener using 70's technology and materials. It seems to be a pretty good solution.

lousubcap

Dang @YukonRon - you may be beyond the outer limits of opener door life.  Enjoy the longevity.  

Jeepster47

YukonRon said:

Eggcelsior said:

YukonRon said:

Anyone use White Lithium Spray?

That's exactly what I used. Picked it up at autozone on my way home from work. WD40 offers it in their "specialist" series, but I kept away from that do to issues I read about the integrated spray straw. Plus, that fancy can added 2 bucks to the price compared to the one I bought.

WD40, seems to me, to be something that needs to be done on a regular schedule for maintenance. The White Lithium, seems to me to be a very good solution to long term maintenance using it every few years or so. Our garage door, is very, very old, with  the opener using 70's technology and materials. It seems to be a pretty good solution.

One other inexpensive upgrade is to replace the door rollers with nylon ones if you have steel ones right now.  Pull the brackets off the door one at a time, clean them well, lube with White Lithium, and reinstall them.  NO NOT take off the bottom bracket ... the one with the steel cable attached ... that won't go well.  On my doors, I was able to unbolt about four feet of the bottom track and twist it off of the roller.  The roller could then be replaced with the door bracket in place.

Eggcelsior

Jeepster47 said:

YukonRon said:

Eggcelsior said:

YukonRon said:

Anyone use White Lithium Spray?

That's exactly what I used. Picked it up at autozone on my way home from work. WD40 offers it in their "specialist" series, but I kept away from that do to issues I read about the integrated spray straw. Plus, that fancy can added 2 bucks to the price compared to the one I bought.

WD40, seems to me, to be something that needs to be done on a regular schedule for maintenance. The White Lithium, seems to me to be a very good solution to long term maintenance using it every few years or so. Our garage door, is very, very old, with  the opener using 70's technology and materials. It seems to be a pretty good solution.

One other inexpensive upgrade is to replace the door rollers with nylon ones if you have steel ones right now.  Pull the brackets off the door one at a time, clean them well, lube with White Lithium, and reinstall them.  NO NOT take off the bottom bracket ... the one with the steel cable attached ... that won't go well.  On my doors, I was able to unbolt about four feet of the bottom track and twist it off of the roller.  The roller could then be replaced with the door bracket in place.

Also, get the closed bearing nylon rollers, not just the plain nylon ones.

theyolksonyou

Thanks for posting John. Just lubed all my doors. Major difference in the basement with the screw drive opener. 

Legume

I've been using this for several years

http://blastercorp.com/mobile/Garage-Door-Lube.html

It has worked really well and doesn't gunk up.  We did replace the rollers after about 12 years and it made a big difference as well. 

johnkitchens

theyolksonyou said:

Thanks for posting John. Just lubed all my doors. Major difference in the basement with the screw drive opener. 

I am here to help! I wish I had done mine before.

They haven't been lubed since they were installed in 08! I have another garage with doors that have been up since 14. I need to lube them. 

johnkitchens

Legume said:

I've been using this for several years

http://blastercorp.com/mobile/Garage-Door-Lube.html

It has worked really well and doesn't gunk up.  We did replace the rollers after about 12 years and it made a big difference as well. 

I am going to order a can of that. How often should I be lubing the springs and rollers?

chuckytheegghead

Lube the doors when you are changing the batteries in your smoke detectors or more frequently if you so desire. 

JRWhitee

I have had mine replaced twice in 25 years. I think I paid $150 or so to have someone replace it. I have the number if you need it.

JohnnyTarheel

@johnkitchens @Legume  
Thank you fellas for this topic and your input. I bought the Blaster Garage Door Lubricant at Home Depot today. WOW is the difference after spraying rollers and track on my garage door. It goes up and down so much smoother and quieter. 

johnkitchens

Mine will be coming in later this week. I should be good for a while. The repair guys lubed my doors, but I am going to start doing it on a schedule. 

RRP

I had posted early on in this thread, but didn't add a comment to put a value on the DIY aspect. Just this past December I received a solicitation from the company which installed ours a couple years ago. For a mere $100 they would come out and lube everything! LOL sure you will...

GATraveller

Guess the springs on my doors are hurtin' for a squirtin' - thanks for the heads up. 

Lit

I changed out both of our chain drive to belt drive. My daughter used to run outside when I came home now she doesn't know I'm home until I open the door to walk in the house. Great upgrade for the price.

bgebrent

Holy ****, this hasn't been fixed!?!?  Move back to America 

Canugghead

Thanks @johnkitchens for this wake up call thread Just serviced the two single doors, picked two spray cans from my assortment of oil/grease - penetrating type for rollers, tracks, cables and springs; non-dripping white lithium for overhead I-bars and bicycle chains. Also adjusted chain tension. Wow, what a difference!

NPHuskerFL

@Canugghead Lube crazy i see. 

Canugghead

@NPHuskerFL why not, just need to do it every 1/4 century