Ah well, just a thought to save a bit of money!.

Thanks both :-)

I buy spray grease in 4/6 tin multipacks, invaluable for all sorts of jobs.

MIL's garage door has broken, it is the old type with a sprung bar along the top on the inside, with two spindles either end with wire cables running to pins on the actual door (cable has broken on one side).

Found a kit on t'internet and ordered it, but I'm wondering if the copper grease I have in the shed would be suitable to re-lubricate everything?. If not, what kind would be best?

Thanks

Fitted one of these repair kits years ago.

Depending on which repair kit you have purchased, if its the type that requires you to tension the spring then my top tip is when you tension the spring make sure you have an assistant & also make sure there isn't anything valuable behind the door in case you slip which can result in tools firing towards the back wall as the spring releases.

Yeah I was planning to rope in eldest son Lee. But I was hoping that as one side is not broken, it would maintain the tension of the sprung bar. So (in theory) if the open garage door is held so both sides at same height, it should(!) just be a case of replacing the broken spindle with the new one and hooking the wire on to the pin (new pins and circlips including in the kit) on the garage door. Then repeating on the other side, simple!

Just to clarify, the kit I have bought doesn't include the sprung bar along the top, just the spindles, wire, pins and fittings.

Edited by badbusdriver on 20/08/2023 at 17:59

Assume you haven't googled how to do it?

I'm not going to try describing in detail the method but you do it with the door closed. You'll see there are flats on one end of the spring for a spanner. This is to to adjust the tension. Turn it slightly to put a little slack in the good cable and put something like a drill bit in the hole adjacent to the flats to hold the tension temporarily. Replace broken cable and carefully release the drill bit.

My door (Wessex) has a sticker on it regarding maintenance. 3in1 for all pivot points and rollers. You don't grease the side guide channels as the guide pins have small rollers on the ends (which require the 3in1).

I haven't yet Chris, but I was planning to. That was just my guess from looking at it!

Hey ho!

I just used LM grease on the vertical runners and every couple of years give them a spray of WD40, the same as the spring.