Military wives have a saying (and yes, I mean wives, and I make no apologies for being sexist) that when your husband goes away, that’s when the kids get sick, the car breaks down, and the dog dies. Usually within three days. Though it’s been known to happen within 24 hours. Not that I would know this.
I don’t have a dog, the kids aren’t so much as sniffling (knock on wood), but the garage door did break this morning while I was trying to get my son to an appointment, so I guess that counts.
Anyone Know How to Fix an Automatic Garage Door? It started up fine, then stopped halfway, the engine all a whirring-whirring like a stopped up vacuum. I clicked the engine off, pulled the handle-thingy that hangs from the ceiling, and manually pushed the door the rest of the way open so I could pull the car out, then coaxed the accordion sections back down to the ground, inch by inch.
I’ll be parking out in the driveway for now, thank you very much.
My goal is to get this fixed without paying anyone to do it. It may be possible to figure it out on my own; I’ve also thrown out a couple of lifelines to some friends who are a bit more mechanically inclined than I. Which isn’t, admittedly, saying much. That’s why I have a husband. But I’m hopeful.
I had a full day with appointments and field trips and kid schlepping and friend’s book signing (more on that tomorrow) and there’s nothing that needs to be done today that can’t be put off until tomorrow. If anyone has any ideas on where to start, I’m a willing audience.
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Couple of thoughts:
1. Post on Craig’s list-mention the deployment and ask for assistance on the opener.
2. If you have a local base-post it on the bulletin board-either electonic or cork board-and you should get some responses.
Sometimes, you just need to hit the reset button.
chris p
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jolyn Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
I appreciate your tips. I would just put out there that I would not be comfortable advertising on craigslist that my husband is gone and then inviting a stranger into my home. I did have a friend (and her husband) come and help me look at it, to help verify what I thought I had figured out (a defective gear). I’ll be posting an update soon!
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Did it work?
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Is the weather getting colder where you are? This may be just coincidence (but I dont believe in coincidence) but I stopped to listen to a home radio show on Saturday and they talked about when it gets cold, you need to grease/oil/lubricate your garage door when it gets really cold.
I listened to the whole talk (even though I dont have a garage door!)
[Reply]
jolyn Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:16 am
I do believe you are affirming everything I believe about writing this blog.
Yes, it has been very cold, and recently it “warmed” a bit (up from the teens). Greasing the chain was exactly what The Hubs suggested when I told him what happened. I will hopefully get a chance to deal with it this afternoon, once my little guy is in school. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me about what you heard. I’m sure I’ll be posting an update to let you know!
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