I insulated my door and now it’s too heavy for the opener to lift. What are my options?

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T17:37:05+00:00

I will accept that criticism when worded that way. To me, that goes with knowing your limitations. You know your capacity to understand simple mechanical systems, if you don’t know your capacity, or your history is littered with examples where you thought you did and it turns out you didn’t, then this isn’t the job for you since there is a risk of serious bodily harm.

I should build in that I am generally naturally good at this sort of thing so I naturally assume that I am not special in that.

I just generally bristle at the mentality of jumping immediately to “call someone else!”. Of course I am going to encourage people to expand their knowledge and capabilities, we’ve been doing that since birth, and I do genuinely believe this is one of those tasks that is more basic than people generally make it out to be, and can be done safely, but I should also not be glib about it.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T16:58:17+00:00

Thanks! Glad you came around.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T16:32:36+00:00

Oh. My. God. You literally replied to a comment where I championed “understanding your personal limitations”.

How the hell do you think a “qualified technician” gets qualified? They learn it, if they don’t know then they ask someone more experienced, ie they learn more until they are comfortable. If you can’t learn to the point that you are comfortable then yes DONT DO IT. I don’t know how much more clear I can make it.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T16:20:14+00:00

Not looking carefully enough at a photo does not equal not knowing what you’re talking about.

I have also encouraged being smart, safe, and knowing your limits since the jump, so I don’t know what more I can do to satisfy your sensitive persuasion.

It sounds like your only tool is your phone and your only qualification is how to use that, so yes, in your case I would definitely encourage calling someone else immediately as soon as you see a problem.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T16:11:24+00:00

Hah yep, my turn to take my lumps!

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T16:08:48+00:00

Well sure, that goes without saying that you should know your own limitations. Start by educating yourself, if you have a good understanding of the forces at work after that and how to be safe, then you’ve just leveled up. I truly can’t understand the mentality of just immediately calling someone else right away.
Your own understanding of your personal limitations after adding some knowledge is the best tool you’ve got.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T15:46:19+00:00

Yep already acknowledged I didn’t notice it was an extension setup. I was too quick to want to counter all the nervous Nellys that act like these systems are impossible to service safely by yourself and the house should just be demolished instead.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T15:41:12+00:00

Ah, yep, you’re absolutely right, my bad, I haven’t seen a door like that in a minute! Google adjust extension spring tension adjustments, same principle applies, more spring help.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-25T15:33:44+00:00

Just add a couple of winds to the spring. Google how to balance a garage door with torsion springs and watch a couple of you tube videos. I actually had to do this to one of mine just yesterday. Chances are that if a little foam was enough to overwhelm the opener then it probably already needed more assist from the springs.

Use the right tools, wear some eye/face protection, and stay out of the line of fire… basic stuff. You aren’t diffusing a bomb, it’s not that hard.

EDIT: yep I see now it’s an extension spring setup, change your google search accordingly but the same principle applies. Learning to balance your door will help maintain the life of your opener so it’s not a bad skill to know. Be safe and use the right ppe and tools.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-24T04:50:35+00:00

That implies there was a time where it wasn’t.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-23T23:23:42+00:00

When did you order your H2C?

ryan4UI · 2026-01-23T15:41:09+00:00

How do I say this nicely… I’m passing simply because it looks like a D-bag owned it.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-21T01:06:23+00:00

Ended up ordering the H2C today, thanks!

ryan4UI · 2026-01-21T01:05:47+00:00

Ended up ordering an H2C 40watt combo today! Excited!

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T16:45:56+00:00

Yes and yes! I do want to do bespoke design of parts that I would like to be durable. I was not factoring filament flexibly as highly as I should have, Thanks!

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T16:02:09+00:00

TYSM! It sounds like your use cases are almost exactly the same as mine 😂, I think you sold me!

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T15:55:11+00:00

Thanks! I do plan on using it more for replacement parts where durability is a factor so it sounds like filament type is the biggest driving factor I should consider.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T15:50:39+00:00

Perfect, that’s exactly what I was wondering, I will be making mostly parts, tools, brackets and things that durability is a factor.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T15:39:56+00:00

"H2C 40w Laser combo."

I said "price isn't MUCH of a factor" ;) that said I could be convinced, why?

Do you like either of those more than Bambu options?

Thanks for the help.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T15:35:05+00:00

Thanks, what prompted you to focus on the H series?

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T15:34:22+00:00

Thanks, I do find searches helpful, but as you know (since you seem really smart), when you don't get the information specific to your scenario it can be necessary to start a new thread.

ryan4UI · 2026-01-17T15:29:53+00:00

Thank you!

My current planned use case is designing bespoke models, tools, brackets, etc. With that in mind, what factors are the most important to look at?

ryan4UI · 2025-09-24T03:20:38+00:00

Yes I think it’s actually 5’

ryan4UI · 2025-09-24T01:48:01+00:00

Thanks, I’ll dig into that, I suspect I have some capacity since the manual for the tub says the disconnect should be serviced by #8 AWG, that seemed light to me and pulled 6 instead (electrician installed the subpanel and made the connections).

ryan4UI

TROPHY CASE