Garage won't open suddenly, but motor is fine

So I come home last night after a weekend away and suddenly my garage won't open up despite the motor, opener itself works fine. Weird thing is, I found the two cables loose on each side and even pulling the red latch to open manually feels like the door is stuck, strangely. Nothing in the way inside the garage or outside. Kind of baffled.















VIDEO CLIPS

Motor itself works
Video

Can't pull up door, struggles
Video

 

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Welcome to the forums....

 

From looking at your photos, it appears your torsion spring is broken and therefore no assist in opening door.

RR

 

I'm with RR. Your spring is busted. Thats about the only way the cables will loosen like that and meets all the criteria for your problem. A couple of hundred bucks repair by a Pro normally.

You can DIY if you are more advanced. You need to get the right spring for the weight of your door and you need to have or fabricate some tools as well as safety gear. 95+% of people shouldn't do it on their own.

 

Thanks guys for the responses. So, both strings? The black one in the middle (whatever it's called) seems intact and does work. I don't think I ever had the oldschoold coil springs that go all the way back of the rail though.

 

You don't have coil springs there..... you have a torsion spring. It's wound on an axle over the top of the door. The torsion spring keeps tension on those two steel cables. Since those cables have no tension on them... the spring is not working.

Without that spring the opener cannot open the door and for the most part.... you won't be able to open it manually either. The door will be way to heavy.

 

Do you have a picture of the whole spring? From your pictures, the spring definitely isn't keeping a torque on the rail.

1.) Spring is broke

- or -

2.) Two holding bolts at end of spring came loose

 

Yes here you go

 

Ya, all you need is a new spring and maybe a tetanus shot before you touch your old spring.

 

If you do not have proper tools and skill for the job, this is a case where a pro is worth their money. Probably cheaper than a trip to the emergency room.

 

You only have one spring. Did you not notice it's just now in 2 pieces?

It must have been in bad shape for a while. Notice how the part near the center still seems to be twisted? (the twisting yellow lines vs the mostly straight line on the other parts) Apparently it is so rusted together that when it broke, those coils didn't fully unwind, or have been so overloaded in the past they have lost all tension.

Call a repair company. You may be able to find a tag on the door somewhere and ideally you would call a company that deals in that brand, but any good company can do it.

 

I'll agree with the others. There is a point where it ceases to be DIY friendly, and this is it. I would not advise you to try and replace the spring. Have a competent garage door company come out and do it. Too dangerous.

 

In addition to spring replacement the pros will adjust the door. After they are done you will be amazed at how well the door will work with or without the operator attached.