Garage Door Cables

The cables of your garage door run along the ceiling through the springs of your garage door to reduce the safety risk if a spring were to snap. When the cables break, the springs pose a serious safety hazard. If the springs break and the cables aren’t in place to stop them from flying, the springs can cause bodily harm to anyone present, or they can damage your car, your garage door or other items in your garage.

Warning: Do not attempt to repair broken garage door cables!

Garage door cables store huge amounts of tension and should only be handled by a professional garage door repair specialist. The right tools and experience are needed to repair or replace garage door cables to avoid safety hazards, including serious injuries. That’s why you should always hire a professional when your garage door cables break.

What causes garage door cables to break?

Garage door cable problems are more common than you might think. While they are designed for durability, in some locations they’re highly prone to rusting, which corrodes the cables. Without regular maintenance, including cleaning and greasing all the moving parts that make up your garage door system, the cables can weaken, fray and eventually snap.

Worn out pulleys are another potential cause of broken cables. When the pulleys wear out over time, the cables can’t slide easily, and you’ll need to have the pulleys replaced.

If your garage door was installed with a torsion spring system, a cable could break if it was incorrectly wrapped up around the drum of a spring.

How can you tell if a garage door cable has broken?

There’s a cable on each side of your garage door, so if one cable is broken, you’ll notice your garage door is uneven instead of parallel to the ground. When a cable completely snaps, you’ll probably see the wire hanging loose from the ceiling near the garage door. 

Professional Help for Your Garage Door Cables

If you discover a cable has broken, stop using your garage door immediately and call iQ Garage Doors. We’ll repair it efficiently so you can go back to having a safe and functional garage door in no time. We can also set up a maintenance plan to keep your garage door in good shape and prevent small problems from turning into emergencies like cable snaps.