You might not think about them, but garage door parts are essential for the health and safety of your home. To maintain a working entrance, you should have these pieces checked out regularly. Faulty parts can make the door malfunction, working more slowly and/or loudly than it should.
Springs
Springs are one of the most essential garage door parts. Without them, the hatch will not open. Torsion springs provide the needed lift for the entryway. Eventually, these helical springs may break, making it hard to open or close. You may also have extension springs. These run vertically alongside the hatch. As with torsion springs, they provide the primary lifting force. Your system will have either torsion or extension springs, with torsion springs being the more common of the two.
Rollers and Tracks
Other essential garage door parts are the rollers and tracks. These pieces guide the entry hatch as it moves up and down. The rollers are the small wheels that run along the side of the panels, and they move on the metal rod tracks that extend from the floor to the ceiling. The tracks control the rollers as they move up, guiding the door into place.
Panels and hinges
When you think of garage door parts, often-overlooked pieces are the panels. That is because most people think of the system as one piece of vinyl or wood. In actuality, several long panels connected by hinges create each entry hatch. The total number of panels is dependent on the size of the opening; typically, you have around six to eight. These individual panels allow the system to roll up in an arch. The hinges allow the panels to move independently of each other.
Motor and Controllers
If you are like most people, you have an automatic opener. This equipment makes it easier to get in and out without having to get in and out of your vehicle. The motor is the brain of the operation. It calls to life all the moving parts. The motor is typically a quarter, half, or three-quarter’s horsepower, which is too small to move the heavy door on its own. The springs are still the muscle behind the operation.
If you have an automatic opener, then you have a remote. The system usually has a wall-mounted controller and individual controllers that you can keep in your car. The wall-mounted button wires directly into the motor head. The individual controllers use radio transmission to tell the motor when to initiate.
Safety Sensors
If something is in the way, safety sensors in the automatic opener keep the panels from closing. It is a necessity for those who have small children and animals so the heavy hatch does not accidentally injure them. When something breaks the beam, the whole mechanism reverses course and goes back up. In most cases, if the motor head includes a lamp, the light flashes to indicate something is wrong.
Many garage door parts keep your entryway working for you. Regular maintenance ensures that the system works properly.
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