When was the last occasion you completed routine precautionary maintenance on your garage door or your garage door opener? Although your garage door opener is a huge benefit and works well, just about all house house owners take it for granted. Most people use their garage to enter and exit their homes. In addition almost everyone has a garage door opener that they use to open and close their garage doors. That makes your garage door and its opener a very important part of your home. Just like all mechanical devices there comes a point in time when your garage door opener will not work. Unfortunately it will in all probability occur at the most annoying time. That is why a little preventive maintenance can be a great way to make certain that you see problems with your garage door before something breaks. When you think about it, your garage door opener and springs are amazing inventions. Together they can raise a 450 pound door at the touch of a button. Even more amazing is that if there's something in the path of the door's travel, it will stop and reverse on a dime. Do you have children around your home? Are they inquisitive? Be carefull not to let them turn their questioning nature toward the operation of your garage door. A child repeatedly pushing a wall button or remote for a garage door can stress the door and the opener enough to cause it to fail. Here are some ideas that will help you maintain your garage door in excellent shape. Semi-annually, you ought to disengage the automatic opener while the door is closed. This can be done by pulling on the red rope or pull rope. Do a balance test. Open the door approximately half way. Then let go of the door. First, it should be easy to pull the door up. Secondly it should stay at the half way position when you let go of the door. If it doesn't meet the aforementioned criteria, you may have an impending cable or spring malfunction. Observe your garage door's rails and the chain or belt on your garage door opener. Check to see if the rails are parallel and that they are free from debris. See if there is any evidence of wear on your opener's drive belt. Belt replacement is easily and inexpensively done by garage door companies. Oil all metallic parts two times a year with a proper metal lubricant. The same applies for weather seals. Make sure to make use of a silicone based oil. This will add years of worry-free operation to your garage door. Do a reversal test. Make certain that the reversal mechanisms of your garage door opener are working. Since 1996, all garage door openers are equipped with two safety systems. The primary one is a photocell system that will stop and reverse the motion of the door whenever a person or an object passes through the light beam. The second system will stop and reverse the door automatically if it senses any resistance while the door is closing. You're finished! The whole inspection process shouldn't take any more than just a few minutes. Isn't it nice to be ahead of the maintenance curve and know that you've done everything you can to anticipate garage door problems? Check this out. helpful resources
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