# Garage door problem - arm angle?



## samguan

I have a 8ft garage and the garage door has 3 32” sections... so it travels pretty high up... I’ve been trying to figure out what is going on with the two openers I installed. The problem is coming towards the fully closed position, I can still see a little gap underneath the door seal. But if I increase the travel more, the arm pushes the railing up making it bow.

Everything is installed to spec. Not sure why it’s doing that. Pushing down on the door to close the last tiny gap between the seal and the floor shouldn’t cause the rail to bow up... 

The arm that comes with the kit is too short, I’m only able to connect the straight and the curve arms using two consecutive bolts. see picture.

I’ve tried everything, extending the arm, readjust the garage opener level.. if I extend the arm, the rail bows even more before the door fully closes. I think the angle is not right... I’m not sure anymore, I’ve spend many hours trying different things.

Any suggestions??


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## Canarywood1

Any chance it's the wrong size door for your opening.


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## Gregsoldtruck79

Probably been done but I'll repeat..

Check the floor under the door for sags in the concrete. See where the door sits tight on the concrete without pressure. A gasket will only push down so much, to compensate for gaps created from a floor not being straight under where the door sits.


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## SPS-1

And if you disconnect the automatic opener the door will come further down ?

Sure sounds like something is blocking the door from coming any further down.

And you have not hit end of travel on the overhead rail, have you?


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## samguan

If I push the door down a tiny bit more then it’s fully closed. I can do that without disconnecting the opener. It’s not hitting the end of the rail, there is a stopper tab which I checked. If I really watch it close, as the pulley gets closer to the closed position, I can see the arm pushing up. According to chamberlain, if the arm angle is too step it will cause the rail to push down and bows the rail.. but I tried adding extension to the arm to make the curve part less steep, it made it worse...


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## samguan

Could it really be just the tiny extra force required to fully close the seal causing it to push upwards...


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## samguan

I have a 8ft extension kit so the rail is long and it flexes a bit as it’s multi-piece maybe if it was a solid piece, I wouldn’t see the bow.


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## Gregsoldtruck79

The way I am seeing your absolute vertical position of the connecting arm to the door from the opener drive latch when closed, I see no way it can maintain the downward pressure needed to maintain a tight door seal. I am thinking in terms of fulcrum here. 

Look at my garage door pic, the connecting arm is no where close to vertical, which allows it to still push downward even when the drive motor has stopped. Just throwing out thoughts here, some not worth having ...


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## samguan

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> The way I am seeing your absolute vertical position of the connecting arm to the door from the opener drive latch when closed, I see no way it can maintain the downward pressure needed to maintain a tight door seal. I am thinking in terms of fulcrum here.
> 
> Look at my garage door pic, the connecting arm is no where close to vertical, which allows it to still push downward even when the drive motor has stopped. Just throwing out thoughts here, some not worth having ...


So i tried extending the arm by using iron bar so I can have an angle on the curve part but made it worse... when the 3rd panel is on its way down, it bent the angle flat that I added as an extension... I really think this 32” panel is causing some awkward angle issues causing binding. Running out of ideas, tried everything.


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## SPS-1

If the rail is pushing up, there is an equal and opposite force pushing down on something. I suggest you disconnect the opener and check for smooth motion of the door, and that the opener can complete its motion with no load.


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## samguan

SPS-1 said:


> If the rail is pushing up, there is an equal and opposite force pushing down on something. I suggest you disconnect the opener and check for smooth motion of the door, and that the opener can complete its motion with no load.


i did and it works just fine but I do notice that at the end it takes a bit to force to close it due to spring... but spring too tight?


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## samguan

I think i might try a straight arm like this, what do you guys think? My garage door's track is pretty high up like the video. I might give it a try. The problem is that i can disconnect the pulley and open/close fully no issues

here is my garage before the installation:


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## hkstroud

I suspect that you need a longer arm, a much longer arm. Once the straight section of the arm goes beyond vertical it is probably putting a twisting motion on the moving mechanism and that twisting is what is causing the track to bend upward, not the downward pressure on the door.
I would first try lowering where the end of the track is mounted to the wall as much as possible to see if that made the door close completely.


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## samguan

hkstroud said:


> I suspect that you need a longer arm, a much longer arm. Once the straight section of the arm goes beyond vertical it is probably putting a twisting motion on the moving mechanism and that twisting is what is causing the track to bend upward, not the downward pressure on the door.
> I would first try lowering where the end of the track is mounted to the wall as much as possible to see if that made the door close completely.


The manual calls for 2” above the highest point of travel but even with that. There is still a lot of space between the rail and highest point of the door.... I can try that.

I think when the arm goes vertical, the doesn’t rotate anymore causing binding thus pushing down at the door causing the bow.

I’ve contacted chamberlain to see what they suggest and will see what I can do.


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## samguan

Ok I think I know what’s happening now. The arm is too short and too step, just before the seal fully closes, the arm becomes too short therefore not able to push down on the door and the spring force of the door pushes up directly on the rail because it’s so vertical, it pushes up with greater force. I will try with a longer arm but I might loose some range with a longer arm, I might not be able to fully open the door.

Or I can try to bring the header down a little.. that way I won’t loose any travel when it’s opening.


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## hkstroud

> Or I can try to bring the header down a little


Assuming that means lowering the the point where the track attaches to the wall, I would agree. 
Since the arm is attached to the very top of the door you should need the minimum amount of clearance for the door to clear the track as it rounds the curve.

I think I would lower the track to about 1" inch above the spring.


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## Gregsoldtruck79

My drive track is fastened to the wall header exactly 15 inches above the horizontal brace on the door. I know your situation is a lot different than my door, but it just seems to me if this number of 15 inches is not at least a starting point in the track/drive/door positioning.... the geometry of the door open height/ closing, is really going to be tough to get worked out in my opinion. 

The opener can be lowered by using a X configuration of slotted angle to get the desired opener height. JMO though, and good luck to you.


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## ron45

Maybe try dropping the front of the door opener until it shuts.


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## samguan

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> My drive track is fastened to the wall header exactly 15 inches above the horizontal brace on the door. I know your situation is a lot different than my door, but it just seems to me if this number of 15 inches is not at least a starting point in the track/drive/door positioning.... the geometry of the door open height/ closing, is really going to be tough to get worked out in my opinion.
> 
> The opener can be lowered by using a X configuration of slotted angle to get the desired opener height. JMO though, and good luck to you.


did you have to use an extension arm for that height?


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## samguan

ron45 said:


> Maybe try dropping the front of the door opener until it shuts.


Yes, I will drop it down, I still see a lot of clearance, I might drop it 2 inches and see..


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