Garage door rollers

[DGx2]

Just bought a newly constructed home in Buttonwood. Noticed that the rollers on the garage door were not greased during installation. Does anyone know if this should have been done at install and/or how hard is it to lube them after the fact?

[redwitch]

Call home warranty -- they'll send someone out to do it. The less you do yourself during the first year, the better. That way, they can't claim you put the item out of warranty.

[graciegirl]

Just bought a newly constructed home in Buttonwood. Noticed that the rollers on the garage door were not greased during installation. Does anyone know if this should have been done at install and/or how hard is it to lube them after the fact?


Not to worry. Just call warrenty department and they will come and fix it.

[DGx2]

Graciegirl,
Thanks for the info.

[DGx2]

thanks also redwitch. you must be buzy this time of the year.

[dmorhome]

oil roller at bearing once a year and you will not have any problem .just a few drops per roller will do the trick.

[CFrance]

If you can't use WD40, what should you use?

[Joaniesmom]

OK. Here comes Mrs Duh.

I've lived in the same home for 11 years. Have a double bay garage door. Never oiled, WD-40'd, wiped, or in any other way even looked at the thing. Not even sure where all this equipment you're discussing is located. Have no trouble with it.

Now I suggest you all go to your neighborhood bookie and bet everything you own that the door will fall from the track and smash both of our cars to smithereens tomorrow morning. :) :) :) You can take that to the bank!!

[chuckinca]

If you can't use WD40, what should you use?

Silicon Lube Spray monthly.

(the coiled spring has a life of about 7 years under normal use - don't stand (or walk) under the garage door when it is being operated)


chuck

[l2ridehd]

The silicon spray is the correct lube. Another thing that should be done is to tighten all the bolts once or twice a year. You will always find a few that have worked loose. And replace the springs every 10 years. They say 7, but they will last 10. Easier to do it with a schedule then when they brake and crash down.

[alemorkam]

my door CRASHED down a couple of months ago when the spring let go. Been in the villages 9 years, bought the home new. He was one big crash.

[PaPaLarry]

Hello I'm Jereme with Garage Doctor of Orlando, the rollers now days are nylon and maintenance free well the ones i install are but anyways back to your question. The tracks don't need any grease!!!! the rollers are suppose to roll on the track not slide don't lube them or grease them but if you do or already have just don't use WD40 it removes moisture and will eventually cause the bearings in the rollers to dry up and not work properly. if you have any questions please call me at 407-796-2349
Can you use oil?

[graciegirl]

Hello im Jereme with Garage doctors of Orlando im now servicing your area, and after reading your post i wanted to advise you to not grease your tracks the rollers are sappose to roll not slid, and if you have already put lube on the track then wipe all the excess amount and never use WD40 it will remove all the moisture and eventually casue the bearings in the rollers to break down.. if you have any questions just call 407-796-2349

But if you are NOT the person that installed them, folks with new homes should call warranty so they will not void their warranty.

I think the person who installs all garage doors for all new homes for The Villages builder is Ro-mac.

Not trying to have you lose business but no use paying for something under warranty.

[Shimpy]

The silicon spray is the correct lube. Another thing that should be done is to tighten all the bolts once or twice a year. You will always find a few that have worked loose. And replace the springs every 10 years. They say 7, but they will last 10. Easier to do it with a schedule then when they brake and crash down.

I was told by a garage door repair man in S. Florida that the springs are good for so many openings, not a certain amount of time. Some tend to use theirs like me, all the time and never the front door. The springs he replace I figured had just made the number of openings he told me. I can't remember the number but mine only lasted me about 5 years.


I found this on Google:
Here is a simple explanation to explain how and why springs break. Take a piece of coat hanger wire and bend it in two. Now straighten it out, and then bend it in two again. Keep doing this. We all know that the wire will eventually break, depending on two things, How many times you wobble it back and forth, and the quality of the wire to begin with.
The same thing is happening to your door. Every time the door comes down, the spring winds up to full tension. Every time you open the door, the spring un-winds. All your doing is wobbling metal back and forth, just like the coat hangar wire.
This is a long winded way of saying, springs break because of the "number" of times the door goes up and down. (we call it cycles)
Springs are available in various calculated cycle lifes. Some of the builders grade doors that you would get in a new subdivision can be as low as 5 thousand cycles. Most new higher end doors have 15 thousand cycle springs.
Lets say you have the higher end springs, at 15 thousand.
If you have a door that goes from the garage into the house, then chances are, that is your main entrance way into the house, through the garage. If so, then it's not unusual for your door to go up and down a minimum of 10 times a day. Thats 3650 times a year, and at that rate, your 15 thousand cycles would be used up in just over 4 years.
If your garage is used for parking or storage and not as an entrance into the house, then the spring would last many years longer.
You can request springs that can be made with a calculated cycle life of 50-100 thousand cycles, but like anything else, the price will be commensurate. Some of the older doors really do have springs that lasted 30-40 years.
Keeping the springs oiled, or well lubricated so that the coils can rub on each other smoothly as the spring twists, will enhance the life of the spring. If springs are allowed to get rusty, then the springs will jerk and make a chunk-chunk sound as the door is being opened.
Bus driver is right on when he says the cold affects them. Springs that are close to the breaking point will be pushed to the breaking point by very cold weather. When the temperature goes real cold in December, we get a rash of calls for doors that won't open in the morning, all of them with broken springs. (steel contracts when it's cold, causing more stress on the spring)

Torsion springs are not something you want to fool around with. Next time to get a company to intall springs, get them to "up" the cycle life as high as they can. They have charts and graphs that allow them to do that.

I