How Does Garage Door Weight Affect Manual & Automatic Operation?

Manual Operation

Manually opening a garage door is the act of opening a garage door by hand and not relying on the garage door opener. Most of the time people close or open a garage door by using a garage door opener. There are very few times someone lifts a garage door manually. However, when someone lifts a garage door manually, it is usually because the garage door opener is not working properly. When manually opening a typical residential garage door, the door weight must be properly balanced for opening and closing. The balancing actually affects operation more than the weight of the door itself. An individual should only have to exert a manageable force of about 10 to 20 pounds when opening a door. During closing, a proper balance should keep the door from closing too quickly. When a door is not properly balanced it can put people at risk of serious injury. Furthermore, if the door is not balanced properly and it closes too quickly, it can cause serious damage to the garage door.

Automatic Operation

A vast majority of the time we rely upon our garage door opener to open and close our garage door. Motor-operated residential sectional doors have to be balanced correctly as well. The doors’ balance is one of many critical factors to maintain safe and proper operation of the system. An improperly adjusted door and operating system can exert forces that could result in serious injury or death. There is a risk of a person being hit by the garage door or even trapped under it. When the operator is manually disconnected from the door, a balanced door reduces the possibility that the door might drop dangerously. In addition, a balanced door helps the door and operator to achieve an optimum lifespan.

Call us if you need someone to evaluate your garage door to make sure it is balanced properly. Our garage door repair company looks forward to working with you in the future.