Q: What do i do if my garage door opener is shaking really hard when i open the door?

A: When an opener shakes or vibrates really hard it is having trouble operating door. Or there is a problem with opener itself.

If the door is having trouble it could have a broken torsion spring (Torsion springs are tubular and attached to torsion pole that runs along entire door and located above door opening or at the back of the door next to the opener if you have one.) (Torsion springs are tubular and attached to torsion pole that runs along entire door and located above door opening or at the back of the door next to the opener if you have one.) and makes door very heavy and opener is not strong enough to open door. The door can also be rubbing against door opening when going up or down. Also opener could have a internal gear and sprocket about to give out. Screw drive openers can have a bent screw from being twisted by a previous door malfunction. When screw is bent it will make opener shake really bad.

First thing you should do is close door and look directly above it and you can look at torsion springs. If the spring or springs have a 2 to 3 inch gap in spring than it is broken and door is to heavy to lift. Call technician to replace. Disconnect opener from door with emergency release (emergency release: red handle and or red cord hanging about 1 to 2 feet long down from opener.) and open door manually and if springs are in tact the door should open pretty easy. if door is hard to open and gets easier as it goes up than it is probably rubbing against door opening. This means door track needs to be adjusted to free it up from rubbing. if screw has been bent than sometimes if opener is only a few years old than the screw rail can be replaced. Older opener rails are usually not available and need to replace with new opener unit. Internal opener issues need a technician to replace bad parts.

The most common shaking problems i have seen are from screw drive openers that have a bent screw and once they bend they can’t be bent back into shape and can shake opener pretty hard. All opener manufacturers have discontinued older parts so they can sell nore new units to public.

All of these issues should be looked at by a garage door technician. Trying to make adjustments yourself can make problem worse and more costly.