Springs for garage doors, the danger zone

Usually the biggest mechanical thing in your house is the upper garage door, which you are driving your car through, sometimes without even opening it, I know you do :-).

The main and most dangerous component of the overhead door is the garage door spring (or springs depending on the design), which supports the full weight of the door panels (sometimes over 400 pounds) and helps you lift / lower the entire door assembly. I have personally installed 3 up and down garage doors with 2 different types of springs, and you have to trust me on that: garage door springs are under enormous pressure and you can be seriously injured or even killed when performing this type of job. If you decide to take a chance, it is imperative that you follow the instructions down to the last detail. Even if you have a friend or professional doing it for you, read it and check everything after the installer finishes the job. Overhead garage doors don’t have safety brakes (at least I haven’t heard of any), which would prevent it from falling over when the support spring fails. I found a few US patents for such devices, but apparently none of them were implemented on a real garage door.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, overhead garage door accidents account for thousands of injuries each year (an average of 30,000 per year). For example, these injuries are: fractures, crushing and amputations. Not all injuries are believed to be reported in the United States. (CPSC)

There are basically two types of garage door spring systems that use rails / side rails (at least these are the most common types in Illinois and probably the rest of the US):

1. Garage door torsion springs that are wound on a rod over the upper section of the garage door opening (door header)

2. garage door extension springs that attach to both sides of the door and extend along the horizontal part of the rail when the door is closed

You can also have an old one-piece door that opens outward as you go up and down. This particular design will have springs mounted to the sides of the door opening, approximately waist height, secured to a lever support system that extends the springs to the ceiling as the door closes. It is an old and extremely dangerous system, which is no longer manufactured. If you have such a system in your garage, I recommend that you replace it.

Torsion Springs for Garage Doors – There are single or double spring designs. Typically the spring will break while under maximum tension, which is when the upper garage door is closed / lowered, or is already fully closed (GENERALLY). If you are closing it manually and it happens during this operation, don’t try to prevent it from being squashed, let it go … well, unless your foot is where the door will slam shut!

When one of the two garage door springs breaks, you need to replace them at the same time. It will cost some extra money, but to have a new spring and an old one installed:

– put much more emphasis on the new

– the door will lose its proper balance

– Most likely the remaining old garage door spring will break soon

Torsion springs for residential overhead garage doors have a service life of 5,000 to 30,000 cycles. Those digits represent an average total number of times you should be able to open and close the door before anticipating the garage door spring replacement.

Garage Door Extension Springs – You may have one or two on each side of the upper garage door A critical issue with those springs is having a lanyard installed inside each spring and secured properly so that When the door opens and closes, the spring can slide freely on this wire! When the garage door spring breaks without the cable in it, the broken ends can seriously injure anyone within reach. Cables should always be included with garage door swing hardware (assuming they come equipped with extension springs), but MANY PEOPLE forget to install them or don’t read the instructions and may assume they aren’t necessary. Unlike torsion spring, which doesn’t actually show any visual wear until it breaks, extension spring wear is much easier to spot, because they just change dimension – the coils are too stretched (best visible when the door garage is open). If you notice such behavior on your garage door springs, it’s time to replace them.

And for both types of garage door springs, their tension needs to be adjusted evenly (in a two-spring system) for the overhead door to travel properly on its rails, to test this stop the door slightly above the garage floor (1 “or two”). ) and make sure its bottom / top edge is perfectly horizontal. Measuring the space along the bottom may not be the best way to confirm this, because garage floors are often uneven. Placing a level somewhere in the center section of the garage door’s top edge will give you the best reading (remember that the door should not close all the way!). When the springs are properly adjusted, you should be able to raise and stop the garage door at any height, and it should remain at this level without any assistance (garage door opener arm disconnected).

Important things to remember:

1. Check garage door rollers / hinges, cables and springs frequently to make sure they are in good working order.

2. Educate Your Kids About Garage Door Safety

3. Never leave children and disabled persons unsupervised near or in the path of a garage door.

4. Keep your body out of the way of the door when closing

5. Do not leave any personal property under an open garage door.

6. Read more about the garage door opener and other garage components.