Garage door cable came off the drum or snapped: what to do

A sectional door's lifting system has four parts that only work as a set:

• The springs on a shaft above the door store the energy that balances the door's weight.
• The drums, one at each end of that shaft, are grooved wheels that turn with it.
• The cables run from each drum down the side of the door to a bracket at its bottom corner. As the shaft turns, the drums wind the cables on and the door rises.
• The tracks and rollers guide the door up and across the ceiling.

Hydro Doors' Digidoor III manual sums up the result: a properly balanced door is held entirely by its springs, and stays put at any point when it's moved by hand. Both cables have to wind on evenly for that to happen. If one comes off its drum, that side of the door is no longer held up.

Roll-up doors wind their curtain straight onto an axle with the springs inside it, and tip-up doors use springs at the sides, so a cable off its drum is almost always a sectional-door problem.

1. Stop using the motor. Digidoor's and Gemini's manuals both say not to use the door when it needs repair. Driving a door with one cable off can twist it out of its tracks.
2. Don't touch the cable, the drum or the spring. The cable is held by the spring's tension. Digidoor warns that doors, springs, cables, pulleys and brackets are under extreme force and can cause serious injury.
3. Don't pull the manual release to move the door by hand. A door with a cable off is out of balance, and can drop or swing on the side that's lost its support.
4. Keep everyone out from under the door, and the car too if the door is open.
5. Take a photo of both sides of the door, the drums above it, and where the cable is hanging, and send it to us.

If the door is stuck open or the car is trapped inside, the 24/7 emergency repairs across Gauteng are for exactly that.

A cable stays on its drum as long as it's kept tight. Anything that lets it go slack, or pulls one side harder than the other, can make it jump the groove:

• The door came down on something. If the bottom of the door lands on a bin, a step or a bicycle, the drum keeps turning while the door can't follow, and the cable unwinds loose.
• A spring broke. With the spring's tension gone, the cable on that side loses its pull and can fall off. Check the springs before blaming the cable: see garage door spring broken.
• The door is binding in its tracks. A bent track, a worn roller or a loose hinge makes one side stick while the other keeps moving. Digidoor's manual asks for tracks to be secure, clean and correctly spaced, and for worn rollers, hinges and bushings to be repaired.
• The cable is worn or fraying. A cable that has been rubbing or rusting stretches and frays before it snaps. The makers ask for cables, springs and mountings to be checked often for exactly this.
• The door is out of balance. A door that has been running heavy or crooked loads one cable more than the other.

A cable that keeps coming off after being put back has a cause that wasn't fixed: usually one of these.

A snapped cable is more serious than one that has slipped off, because the door has lost its support on that side for good. If one side has snapped, the door will hang crooked or jam. If both have gone, the door is held only by the motor, the tracks and friction, and must not be moved at all.

We normally replace both cables together: they've worn together, and a new cable beside an old one leaves the door pulling unevenly. A broken cable is also a reason to check the springs, the drums and the bottom brackets, because whatever wore one cable through may have been working on the rest.

1. Secure the door so it can't drop, and take the tension off safely.
2. Find the cause: a broken spring, a binding track, worn rollers, a damaged bottom bracket or an obstruction.
3. Replace the cables, normally both, and refit them evenly on both drums.
4. Check the drums and springs, and replace any that are worn or damaged.
5. Balance the door so it stays put halfway when moved by hand, then test it on the motor and reset the motor's limits and force if they need it.

Typical market figures for this kind of work:

• Cable replacement: R700–R1 600 (published price lists of Gauteng installers)
• Spring, cable or motor component repair: R1 200–R4 000 (Handld); typically about R2 200 (Handld)
• Call-out and inspection: R450–R750 (published price lists of Gauteng installers); R350–R800 (Kandua)

Prices checked October 2026. These are the market's prices, not ours; with us, no call-out fee when we do the work. If no work is done, a R650 call-out fee applies. More on spring and cable costs is on garage door spring replacement cost.

Send us the photos and tell us whether the door is open or closed. We replace cables, springs, drums and rollers on sectional, tip-up and roll-up doors, balance the door, and check the motor that drives it. All our spare parts are genuine, and every repair carries our six-month guarantee on our repairs. Your exact price is set in a free quote before any work starts. No call-out fee when we do the work. If no work is done, a R650 call-out fee applies. More on the tracks and rollers is on garage door cables, rollers and tracks.