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BroughdaleGarage Door SpecialistsOpen 24/7 (226) 781-8703
Two coiled steel cables with loop and stop ends on a workbench. — Garage Door Cable Replacement, London

Springs · London

Garage Door Cable Replacement

There was a sharp crack from the garage, and when you went to look the door had dropped on one side and jammed. A length of cable lies coiled on the floor by the bottom roller.

In plain words

A cable visit runs in a set order. First the opener is disconnected and the door clamped so nothing can move. Then the counterbalance is unloaded so the drums, cables and bottom brackets can be handled calmly. The old cables come off, the drums and brackets are inspected, and new cables of the correct specification go on. Both sides are tensioned evenly until the door sits level, then the springs are wound back to the turns the door height calls for. Finally the door is balanced by hand, the opener reconnected and its travel and reversing checked. You are shown the finished door working before the technician leaves.

Sound familiar?London

The call
Standing inside with the door closed, you notice the cable on the right side near the floor has gone fuzzy. A handful of broken wires stick out like a bottle brush and the steel underneath is brown.

NextHow the visit goes

Garage Door Cable Replacement · London

How the visit goes

Hands driving a screw with a yellow cordless impact driver into a perforated steel track beside a white garage door panel. — London
  1. Scene 1

    Bottom brackets and the pin the cable rides on

    The bottom bracket in each corner anchors the cable and carries the bottom roller, and it lives in the wettest, saltiest spot on the door. The technician looks for bending from an impact, corrosion around the cable pin and the fasteners into the section, and a roller that has seized or lost its stem bearing. On many doors these brackets have tamper-resistant fasteners because they are under load whenever the springs are tensioned, so they are inspected as found and only removed once the counterbalance is unloaded. A bracket that is bent or rusted through is scheduled for replacement in the same visit so the new cable has a sound anchor.

  2. Scene 2

    Balance, travel and the opener

    With the springs wound and the clamps off, the technician lifts the door by hand. It should rise with light effort, hold still at roughly waist height, and settle to the floor without slamming; that is the balance test, and the spring turns are adjusted until it passes. The door is run through several full cycles by hand while the cables are watched on the drums. Then the opener is reconnected, its travel limits and force settings are checked against the newly balanced door, and the reversing test with a block under the door and the photo-eye test are carried out. You see each of these done.

  3. Scene 3

    A door that runs level and quiet

    The first thing you notice is a door that rises squarely, with both bottom corners leaving the floor together and the top section staying flat as it turns into the horizontal track. The bottom seal meets the slab along its whole length, so the draft and the strip of daylight at one corner are gone. The opener sounds calmer, because it is moving a balanced door rather than dragging a crooked one, and it stops reversing for no apparent reason. If you lift the door by hand with the opener released, it moves with light effort and holds where you leave it. That is what a correctly cabled door feels like.

In the van

  • Track clamps or locking pliers
  • Clevis pins and cotter pins
  • Cable drums, matched pair
  • Containment cables
  • Bottom brackets with cable pin

What shapes the quoteBroughdale Garage Door Specialists

One cable or the pair
Cables are normally renewed together, and the quote reflects two cables and the work of setting both sides level. Where one side was recently replaced, that is discussed on site.
Door height and lift type
Cable length follows the door height and whether the hardware is standard lift, low headroom or high lift. Taller doors and high-lift conversions take longer cables and specific drums.
Oversized, commercial or high-lift doors
Doors taller or wider than a standard residential opening, or fitted with high-lift hardware, use heavier cables and drums and take longer to set up, which the quote reflects.

FeesSame any hour

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(226) 781-8703

Homeowners ask

What is the cable drum, and when does it need replacing too?

The drum is the grooved wheel on each end of the torsion shaft that the cable winds onto as the door opens. Its grooves guide the cable in a single layer and its shape sets how the door is balanced through its travel. A drum is replaced when the grooves are worn or cracked, the cable slot is damaged, or it has spun on the shaft and scored it. Drums are changed in pairs.

Can a cable be too long or too short for the door?

Yes, and both cause trouble. A cable that is too long runs out of drum groove and starts a second layer over the first, which wears it and throws the balance off near the top of travel. A cable that is too short leaves the door hanging out of level or the drum without a secure wrap. The correct length comes from the door height, the drum and the lift type, so the technician measures rather than guesses.

What happens during the visit?

The opener is disconnected and the door clamped. The technician identifies the counterbalance type, inspects both cables, the drums, brackets, rollers, track and springs, and explains what is found. The springs are unloaded, the old cables removed, new ones fitted and set so the door is level, and the springs wound back. The door is then balanced by hand, the opener reconnected and its safety features tested while you watch.

Londoninformation

MiddlesexOntario

Town
London, Middlesex
In business
31 years
Hours
Open 24/7
Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

2021 census: what it means at the door

Every square is one home in a hundred.

  • 52 in 100 homes · older homes
  • About 52% of homes in London were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Original openers in older neighbourhoods often predate photo-eye sensors and rolling-code remotes. Bringing one up to date means a quieter motor, sensors that stop the door for a child or pet, and remotes that cannot be copied from the driveway, all installed in a single visit.
  • Single-detached houses make up about 49% of homes in London (2021 Census).In mixed neighbourhoods, noise matters differently from one address to the next. A detached house with a bedroom above the garage and a townhouse with a neighbour through the wall both benefit from a belt-drive opener and nylon rollers, and we explain the difference either way.

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile

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On-site assessment

Request a visit.

There was a sharp crack from the garage, and when you went to look the door had dropped on one side and jammed.

(226) 781-8703, open 24/7.