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Garage door rollers allow your door to move smoothly up and down the tracks. However, if they are of poor quality, or you neglect their regular maintenance, your garage door is in for a rough and noisy ride. Here are some expert tips on how to keep your rollers in optimal shape. There are several types of garage door rollers. They differ in quality and maintenance needs.
TYPES OF GARAGE DOOR ROLLERS
- Plastic rollers are the lowest quality. They deliver adequate performance at best and are designed to last only a few years. Unlike other types of rollers, they do not have ball bearings.
- Steel rollers last the longest, sometimes upwards of two decades. However, their performance is not the best, and they are noisy.
- Nylon rollers are the quietest and offer the best performance. Depending on their quality, they can last between 12 and 20 years. Nylon rollers sometimes contain exposed ball bearings like steel rollers but can also have concealed or “sealed” ball bearings. Alternatively, some nylon rollers operate like plastic rollers and have no ball bearings.
Before performing any kind of maintenance on your garage door, it is important to cut the power as a safety precaution. Having the door open up while you are working on it could spell disaster, so make sure to unplug the opener.
You will also need to disengage the opener, which will allow you to move the garage door up and down manually. This makes for easier access to the lower rollers and lets you distribute lubricant as you go by sliding the door along the tracks. When in doubt, request a service call from one of our garage door technicians who have been trained extensively in safety precautions and can do the job right the first time.
GARAGE DOOR REPAIR – ROLLERS
Before you get rolling, make sure that your rollers only require maintenance and do not need to be replaced. Inspect each one individually and make sure none of them have cracks or missing chunks, are misshapen, or worn down. If any rollers need to be replaced, call the best garage door company in Alexandria – Next Day Garage Door – to help you as soon as possible.
Poorly operating rollers can cause opener parts to wear out prematurely and the garage door to jump the tracks. They also tend to produce unpleasant squeaking and grinding noises.
While maintaining your rollers is a simple matter of keeping them properly lubricated, you need the right stuff for the job. Too often, homeowners make the mistake of using an oil lubricant like WD-40. In reality, WD-40 does more harm than good in this case. It is a degreaser, and grease is just what your rollers need! Always use a lithium- or silicone-based grease to lubricate your rollers. When applying the lubrication, you will want to have a cloth handy to wipe up any drips. You may also want to put down a drop cloth or tarp to protect the floor of your garage from grease stains.
HOW TO APPLY LUBRICATION TO ROLLERS
- Lubricate plastic rollers by applying the grease to the outside of the roller and where the shaft meets the roller.
- Lubricate steel rollers by applying the grease to the ball bearings, which are found at the innermost part of the roller, where it meets the shaft.
- Lubricate nylon rollers with exposed ball bearings the same way you would steel rollers.
- Lubricate nylon rollers with no ball bearings the same way you would plastic rollers.
- Do not lubricate nylon rollers with sealed ball bearings. This type of roller does not require any maintenance.
- Lubricate rollers with a light touch, immediately wiping away any excess. Be sure to use the straw that comes with the spray can.
Garage door rollers should be lubricated about twice a year, or sooner if they begin making squeaking or grinding noises while the door is in operation. If you are unable to do this yourself, there is no harm in calling a local garage door repair company like Next Day Garage Door to help you.
Your garage door springs need periodic lubrication as well, but it is best to leave that to a professional garage door technician. The springs are under extremely high tension and pose a serious safety risk. Finally, you should not lubricate the tracks, or they will start collecting all the dust and dirt that gets kicked up over time. This will impede the door’s operation. Instead, you should wipe down the tracks with a wet cloth and, if necessary, a grease cleaner.
If you are in the market for a new garage door, Next Day Garage Door is here to help. We have a wide variety of different style garage doors to choose from and would be happy to help answer any questions you have about them. Next Day Garage Door prides itself on providing exemplary customer services.
We take every measure to ensure you are satisfied with all your garage door installation and repair needs and will do whatever it takes to earn your business and remain lifelong clients. We pride ourselves on being large enough to provide professionalism and reliability, yet small enough to provide personalized service. To discover more about how we can serve your needs, please visit our website, or call us at (571)-327-6285 or (301)-500-0475 today.
