When to replace a gear on your garage door opener

Keeping your garage door balanced is very crucial to making sure all of its parts are doing their job. An unbalanced garage door causes stress on the garage door parts thus wearing out the garage door opener gears.

Most often the easiest way to determine if your garage door opener may need a gear replacement is when engaging the garage door opener, you hear a humming sound, but the garage door doesn't move. 

Another way is to open the cover on the garage door opener and if you see shavings like the picture below, you need new gears. 

Check with your manufacturer and ask if the new part is under warranty. 

Once you have determined you need new gears, turn your attention to see if the garage door is balanced. Unhook the garage door from the opener by pulling on the red cord hanging from the rail about 1-2 feet from the door. Manually lift your garage door somewhere between your knees and your hips. If the door rolls all the way down or rolls all the way up, your garage door is not balanced. Contact a professional for further diagnostics. ​