Garage door drums are a very important component of your garage door system. To start let’s look at the entire system and what each part does. The springs are the counterbalance for the weight of the garage door. The springs provide the strength to actually lift the garage door. As discussed in other articles, the spring needs to be the proper size so that the garage door will be balanced. If the spring is too small, the garage door will be very heavy. If the spring is too large, the door will be too hot and will try to fly open and can be very difficult to close. A properly balanced garage door should feel like it weighs only 5-10 pounds and can be easily opened with one hand. In a torsion spring system, the spring is mounted on a spring bar on the header above the garage door opening. The spring bar is held in place by a center bracket and bearing and an end bearing plate on each end of the garage door. There could be two or more center brackets and bearings if three are more springs are needed. The garage door drums are mounted on each end of the spring bar to the inside of the end bearing plate. The cables then wind around the drums and are attached to the bottom bracket on the bottom garage door section. While the spring provides the counterbalance/strength to open the garage door, the drums and cables do the actual lifting.
Garage door drums should be replaced if there are signs of damage like cracks, pieces broken of the drum or if the drum appears to be warped. I recommend that the garage door system be inspected at minimum once every year. These yearly inspection will help identify weak, damaged and failing parts. Drums require a close inspection because, sometimes the damage is not noticed when you just glance at the drum. Since the drums and cables do the actual lifting, they need a careful inspection for damage.
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