I have an up ,and over door with a tension wire on each side that rolls on to a cone spindle as the door is opened. there is a large spring across the width of the door at top that is rigidly attached to each end cone . One of the cables has snapped and I cannot see how a new cable can be secured to the plastic cone spindle as access is resricted by garage wall--I also do not understand whether each cable is separately tensioned and how to get them in balance when new cable is fitted. any guidance/ advice please?

Ian Matthews, May 2009

Rotten job this and you'll need a hand....you have to release the tension on the top spring by undoing an allen screw - but hold the tensioner itself at the same time or it will spin like hell. Then unscrew the top arm brackets and let the arm come down inside the garage to allow access to the cord coils. The coils are held to the shaft with a roll pin and I think the coils have to come off to secure the cord end. With the opener back in place and the door shut the cords should be nearly fully extended and equal. The spring then needs to be tensioned....you slacken the allen screw, turn the tensioner with a spanner as far as you can, hold it then tighten the screw - repeating this slow process until you get the tension you need. Good luck - it isn't rocket science and with patience you'll get there - but don't let the spring unwind itself, its under a great deal of tension.

John, May 2009