After years of use, your garage door spring will start to fail. That means you should replace the spring to avoid a total breakdown.
What are the signs of wear and tear? If you notice gaps in springs, sagging springs, difficulty with opening, and deep scratches, then it’s time for a replacement.
Failure to replace the door spring after seeing those negative signs puts an extra load on the door opener. That, in turn, weakens the motor and consequently increases the cost of repair.
Before you replace the door spring, it’s best to have an idea of the type of springs on garage doors. Nevertheless, the most popular garage door spring types in are extension and torsion models.
Do I have a Torsion or Extension Spring?
The first step to knowing what type of torsion spring you have is to see the springs’ location.
Torsion Door Spring
Most modern garage doors have torsion springs that are positioned in a horizontal manner above the door. To identify torsion type, first, close your door and gaze at the middle of the top. If the springs are on the sides, then you have a torsion spring. After discovering your garage door spring type, the next thing is to look for possible failure signs.
That means you should check for breaks, stretches, and gaps in the coil. Besides, if you heard a loud slam recently, there’s a possibility that your torsion spring snapped. Torsion springs hold lots of power which causes loud noise if they break.
If one of the two springs breaks, the other will not have enough power to hold the door. More so, it’s never advisable to use one spring on a two-spring garage door model. Once the torsion spring breaks, the door opener will hold the garage door. Of course, the garage door is too heavy for the opener, causing it to crash.
Extension Door Spring
These springs are placed at the corners, running parallel to either side of the garage doors. Upon closing your garage door, you can spot the extension springs suspended a bit above the door tracks.
Extension springs are found in smaller and lightweight doors. In comparison, torsion springs hold more weight than extension types. In that regard, you must combine extension springs with cables to make them safer. Meanwhile, extension springs cause severe damage when they break, except safety ropes are installed. That’s because the energy in the coils projects the spring at high speed.
Make sure you contact professionals when the spring and safety cables get weak. That said, Ed Garage Door Repair in Lynnwood, WA should be your first point of Call.
How To Know Your Garage Door Torsion Springs’ Dimensions?
Before you buy the replacement garage door torsion spring, measure the springs’ length and diameters (internal and external). Besides, try figure out whether to wound the door spring either to the left or right. But how can you identify your spring’s winding orientation? To know whether to turn the winding bars left or right, check the coils at the spring’s tip. If the turn is clockwise; then, it’s a left-hand winding; right if the coil runs anticlockwise.
Tools you need are:
- Tapes
- Broken torsion spring
- Calculator
- Garage door torsion spring winding bars
Follow these guidelines to take the measurements.
- Count 20 coils of the spring and with the tape, measure the coil’s length.
- Then, divide the distance of the turns by 20 to get the wire’s diameter.
- Be precise with your measurement and calculation to avoid buying the wrong spring size.
- Check the winding cone to find the spring’s internal diameter.
- Only measure the torsion’s spring length when it’s tension-free.
- Make sure you add the measurement of both sides of the snapped spring.
How to Measure An Extension Spring By Hand
- Close your garage door.
- Make sure the garage door motor is off and unplugged from the mains.
- Pull the release cord to free the garage door.
- Get one or two persons to help lift the door.
- Always lift from the side of the broken spring.
- If both springs broke, raise from the center.
- Clamp the garage door to keep it from closing.
- Climb a ladder to reach and measure the spring’s length.
- Since you need the door’s weight, slowly mount the door on the measuring scale.
Expert Workers And Credible Service Delivery
Irrespective of the door spring type you use, you must replace the spring immediately you spot any failure sign. Remember, your door spring won’t last forever; so, you should always have a maintenance plan. Like your car tires, you create more safety issues if all are not replaced together. If one of the garage door springs fail, you should replace both.
Hire Ed Garage Door Repair professionals to inspect and maintain your garage door springs. Before your door crashes down, creating property or life damages, call Ed Garage Door Repair professionals today. We have garage door repair experts in Lynnwood, WA who would come to your house within a few minutes of the service call.
