Your garage door chain is loose and doesn’t know how to tighten it? To be honest, it is one of the common problems with the majority of chain drive opener-operated garage doors.
As there are vibrations from the motor and the door itself has a decent weight, the garage door chain becomes quite slack at one point.
So, to fix the issue, you will need to tighten the garage door which is also essential garage door maintenance work.
Now, if you don’t know how to tighten the garage door when the chain is loose, this article will tell you everything you need to know. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
How to Adjust the Chain on a Garage Door Opener
Needless to say, a loose garage door chain is pretty noisy and will reduce the overall efficiency of the whole system. When it comes to tightening the garage door chain properly, you need to follow some steps which are discussed below.
Step #1: Disengage the Opener
You can initiate the process by adopting some compulsory safety measures. First of all, you need to close the garage door. Then, you must disconnect the power supply in the garage door. If you don’t know how to do that, just check the ceiling outlet.
In most cases, the power supply connections will be there. Besides, checking out the owner manual will give you some idea about it. Without any doubt, you must disconnect the power source to ensure your maximum safety.
Otherwise, a serious injury can occur to you if the garage e door suddenly begins to open during your work. Now, it is time to disengage the garage door from the opener.
However, the disengaging method can be different based on your garage door type. For instance, if you have a square rail opener, you should manually pull down the red-colored release rope.
But, in the case of a T-rail opener, you should pull the manual release rope down and back for detaching the garage door from the opener.
Step #2: Locate the Adjustment Bolt
At this point, you need to take a stepladder. Climb it and notice the trolley assembly very carefully. You will find a bolt on one side. It is a 5-7 inches long threaded fastener and there should be two nuts screwed.
One nut is for locking purposes and another one is for adjusting. To separate both of the nuts, there will be a divider.
Typically, you will get the locking nut closer to the opener. If you tighten the adjustment nut, there will be more tension in the garage door chain.
Step #3: Make Necessary Adjustments in the Nuts
This step is quite important. Firstly, you need to loosen the locking nut very slightly. To complete the task, you can use an adjustable or half-inch wrench.
Then, you should work on the adjustment nut to tighten it. As a result, overall tension in the chain will be increased. If you own a square rail, you should tighten the chain until it sits at least a quarter-inch above the rail.
On the other hand, if you use a T-rail, the chain should be at least half-inch above the rail. However, don’t over-tighten the chain. Otherwise, you will end up breaking the chain rollers prematurely.
You should try to leave the chain slightly loose instead of fully tight. When the chain is adjusted to the right amount of tension, you should tighten the locking nut.
To complete the task successfully without any hassle, you must use two wrenches to work with both of the nuts simultaneously.
Step #4: Re-Engage the Opener
In this step, you should reconnect the power supply and then re-engage the opener. To do that, you should pull the manual release rope back toward the opener.
Continue the process until you notice that the trolley is snapped back into place. Alternatively, you can simply re-engage the door, by opening it with the wall button.
Step #5: Perform a Test
Actually, by this time the major tasks are done. All you have to do now is perform a test. You should open and shut the garage door several times to check whether the problem is fixed.
If you feel that the chain is still knocking against the rail, the adjustment screw should be tightened up slightly more.
For a better understanding, you can check out this video below.
That’s it. If you follow all the steps carefully, you will be able to tighten a loose garage door chain very easily. However, if you are not confident that you can complete the task, you can always hire professionals.
Importance of Garage Door Maintenance
There is no denying fact that the garage door is one of the most important parts of your garage. Because it gives you easy entry into your garage. When you face any issue with your garage door, particularly the door chain, it is frustrating.
To avoid any unexpected situation with your garage door, you should always do maintenance work regularly. There is no doubt that a garage door needs to be maintained properly.
Otherwise, it is a very common phenomenon that you will find the garage door chain loosen. Because daily use of the door, there can be a negative impact on the useful life of the chain.
Now, if you find chain quite loose, don’t panic. The issue can be solved very easily when you follow the above-mentioned steps.
Wrapping Up!
A garage door chain plays a very important role if you need to access your garage very frequently. But sometimes you may notice that the garage door chain is loose. In that situation, you should keep calm.
Tightening up a loosened garage door chain is not rocket science. Just follow the steps I mentioned very carefully and you will be able to fix the issue without any hassle.
