BOING! (garage door spring broke)

Two days ago, I noticed my garage door opener was making a funny noise whenever the door opened. Well, just a few mins ago, I went into the garage to get something and noticed this.



These springs always break when you don't expect it.

Anyone hade a garage door spring break recently ?

Re: BOING!

Not recently but yes. Ever see the non motorized side springs go? Yikes!:huh:

Re: BOING!

Beamhead said:

Not recently but yes. Ever see the non motorized side springs go? Yikes!:huh:

Click to expand...

If you're talking about extension springs; those things whip around like crazy when they break. Don't want to be in the way. :duck:

Replace both of them at the same time to keep the tension the same, if not the door will twist and cause more wear with one side being stronger than the other.

Yes I have been through several door springs :wave:

Later
Kelly

I used to work for a garage door company and have probably changed hundreds of those springs. The place we bought a few years ago had an oversized (16'x 11') garage door on the garage/shop and unfortunately the hack that installed it used undersized springs. Typically I have one spring (of the pair) break every other year, unfortunately due to the physics of temperature and metal stress, they always break in the winter when its cold. Not a big deal for me, a quick trip to my previous employer, $30-35 cash, and about an hour or two of my time and I'm back in business (I still have all the tools I need for a spring job).

If the door was opened and closed several time with a broken spring, your garage door opener might have been damaged too. It looks like you have a Genie screw drive opener, and the part that breaks or wears out is the soft metal carraige that rides along the screw. It only costs about $20 IIRC and is pretty easy to replace. I often replaced the springs and repaired the opener at the same time since people would continue using the opener with a broken spring.

-Keith

I've replaced a couple of them in my homeowner career. I borrow the rods used to tighten the spring from a friend.

Greg

Sway said:

Replace both of them at the same time to keep the tension the same, if not the door will twist and cause more wear with one side being stronger than the other.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but whoever told you that was full of crap if they were talking about the kind of springs in the picture above. The reason you want to change both of the torsion springs when one breaks, is that springs are rated for a certain amount of "cycles", one cycle being up and down. If one spring broke, the other one probably will as well within a year or less, and you'll have to pay a lot of money for another service call to replace just one spring. IIRC our typical charge to replace one spring was around $120, and to replace two springs was $150 for a residential door. Most of the labor is the same for one or two springs.

There may be some truth to your statement if you are talking about the older style extension springs on a garage door (the kind that stretch instead of twist), but those are getting rarer and rarer. Those could be quite dangerous too, I've seen them go through walls and tear up cars pretty bad when they've broken, there are reports of people being killed by them if they were in the wrong place at teh wrong time. We always recommended converting to torsion springs which were a lot safer, more reliable, and weren't that expensive.

-Keith

You can make the "rods" from 1/2in rebar by filing the tips to fit the clamp. You don't have to reduce the diameter much, just smooth them. I've probably replaced 6 springs using my rebar rods.

Run a safety cable through the extension spring. If they break, the saftey cable will keep them from flying around.

And by all means replace both torsion springs at the same time. Will save an additional service call later.

EDIT re: pipewrenches. Pipe wrenches work well for tightening the tube against the spring to replace a lift cable. I've never used them to replace a spring, only the rods.

While most handy DIY types can successfully and safely change their own garage door springs, you do need to be very careful. Ideally for a first-timer you'd find a good how-to on the subject somewhere, as you are dealing with a lot of force as you are winding the springs, and care must be taken or injury can and will result. It also reqires a good bit of arm and upper body strength to wind both springs, especially on a 16' or 18' wide wooden door. Probably the biggest caution I would give is to make sure you face and body are off to the side a bit as you are winding the springs. I've had a number of end cones break as I was winding them (they tend to break at the point you stick the rod or rebar or long bolts into). Also make sure whatever you are using for rods is the correct diameter (about 1/16" to 1/8" smaller than the ID of the winding hole in the cone) and can engage the hole in the cone to its full depth.

Another tip for anyone new to the process, we would always attach a vise grip pliers on the tube running through the springs, position it so both cables are tight, and then brace it against the wall to hold the cables tight. After the springs are wound, just release the vise grips. Running a couple of beads of motor oil along the length of the spring before they are wound will also lessen nose over the years as the coils often will bind a bit as the springs are wound and unwound.

-Keith

^That pipewrench method sounds pretty scary; I'd stick with the winding rod if I'm crazy enough to do it. I've been told by someone that torsion springs are deadly if you make a mistake. I looked up replaceing torsion springs and all the sites say skydiving is safer.

I hope the opener isn't damaged too badly; my mom said she heard a loud noise coming from the garage Sunday night which was probably the spring snapping and the door was probably used 4 times (includes opening and closeing) since then. I just installed that Genie Excellerator about a year ago.

How do I know what size I'll need ?

Edit. I got ahead of myself. I've never used the pipewrench method to replace a spring. Only to rewind the rod to replace lift cables, etc. I don't think the wrenches would work well to replace springs.


(The backpain gods have struck and the pain meds kicked in about an hour ago. So if I offer to sell my modded ARC LSH for $20, please don't buy it)

Wow, I was just looking at my springs because the door is not properly balanced.

I am an ex-mechanic, but I will likely have a garage mech do it. I value all of my body parts!

Bob, it might be as simple as the length of the lift cables being uneven. Easy fix.

The springs on my garage door are just like that, and yes they break after X cycles. Replacing them both at the same time is correct.

I fix a lot of things around the house, but that is one project I hire out. You might be interested to know that a number of hardware stores locally stopped selling those springs to consumers to avoid liability from people getting hurt. Your assumption that it is dangerous is correct.

A small number of experienced people can change them by themselves (pro's and similar). If you do decide to change them yourself, at least for me, it is a 2 man job. It is hard for me to imagine a more dangerous DIY project, including roofing, replacing the electrical power main, or cutting down a tree.

If you replace the springs yourself, you need to measure each one in its unwound state to get the correct springs (or remove both and take them to a garage door company). You need three measurements for each spring, and whether it is a left wound or right wound springs. Springs are usually in matched pairs of the same length and wire size, but not always. You need to know the inside diameter of the springs (usually 1 3/4"), the length of the spring unwound (push the broken parts together to measure that one), and the wire size. The easy way to get the wire size it to take a tape measuer, count ten coils, measuer the ten-count, and then divide the measurement by ten. If yo uhave a very precise caliper or micrometer, that would work too.

-Keith

been replacing my own springs for years.

I've got one of those 18ft wooden doors. seems like it must weight 300lb+. on one of these type doors, you've really must have the correct diameter springs to support the load and end up in the correct unloaded position.

had breaking problems, every so many years. until I got sick of it and increased thickness of springs coils. had to figure out custom length. no further problems after I upgraded.

must have the correct fitting winding tools before you even think of attempting something like this. Use a solid step ladder. vise-grips are useful to hold tension in both wires when you first hang wires.

as neonlights stated, position you body to the side as you wind springs. just incase something comes loose. these big springs can really hurt you!

in fact I'd recommend most folks hire this type job out to proffessionals...

One more item of interest - there is some reasonable evidence that the cracking of these springs starts on the surface. I have been told that keeping a light coating of oil on the surface of the spring extends their life.

Well, I just bought this steel thingy from Home Depot today; it's a 1/2" rod that I could use as a winding bar. I still need to cut it in two (it's about 3 feet long) and then I could "carefully" unwind the good spring. I'm somewhat tired right now from shopping since I also bought some back to school stuff as well; I'll probably work on it some day later. Had an interesting bus ride home.

I'm wondering what I could do with the old left spring that is still good; my friend and I have been thinking about constructing a catapult and we want something that will launch stuff over 80' :naughty:

I like it. 80ft should be a piece of cake if its not a fridge.