Garage Doors – Danger Lurking Unseen, But Testing and Adjusting the Door Opener Can Maintain Safety

Despite garage door openers being designed with improved technology and safety features, there are still several serious injuries reported every year. Many of these injuries are sustained by children. The price for the convenience of having an automatic garage door opener should not include any injury to a family member or neighbor. There is no reason injuries attributed to overhead doors should continue to take place every year with the current safety precautions mandated by law.
Until relatively recently almost every manufacturer of garage door openers recommended placing a block of wood where the overhead door meets the ground in order to test the automatic reverse settings. It is quite simple to get the door to reverse on this hard of a material. The major problem with this test is that a block of wood is much denser and harder than any part of the human Emergency Garage Door Repair Near Me body. Even with testing the automatic reverse feature using a block of wood can still mean that a child may easily be crushed to death or severely injured if he or she is pinned underneath as the door descends. Seeing eye sensors have assisted in diminishing the number of injuries annually, but does not eliminate every one and should not be a substitute for paying attention.
Most door installers and manufacturers of door openers now recommend that a softer item be used to test the reversing feature. A large full roll of paper towels or an empty box about the size of a cinder block are excellent items for testing to see if the settings are sufficient to minimize or prevent an injury by activating the automatic reverse. There is one catch to this test.
If the overhead door is newly installed then the installer should have adjusted the torsion springs. Even if the garage door was installed in recent years, the torsion spring or springs should be adjusted so that the overhead door is counterbalanced properly before the force settings are determined on the garage Dan’S Garage Door Repair Lubbock door opener. Garage doors which have been installed in years past need regular adjusting. Over time the steel of the torsion spring will relax. If the torsion spring is adjusted to the proper tension after the opener settings are finalized, the emergency reverse and closing functions will not work properly.
Occasionally a torsion spring can break. Should the garage door be of the variety with two torsion springs, both springs need to be replaced. Pairing up an old torsion spring with a new one is just asking for an accident. When a spring does break, it will probably be when the door is closing or already in the closed position. The tension is highest when the door is closing or in the closed position. If the door is in the process of closing, it will come crashing down. DO NOT attempt to “catch” or stop the door. Garage doors weigh several hundred pounds and serious injury will result if an individual is underneath the door.
Garage door safety is paramount and the door should be treated as if it is a piece of heavy industrial equipment. Children should never play with or around any garage door. Unless specifically trained to service overhead doors, a home owner should rely on a professional installer for all repairs having to do with any cables or springs. Serious injury may result if proper safety precautions are not taken.