Broken Garage Door Spring?
Ask These 5 Questions When Comparing
Garage Door Spring Repairs
- What kind of garage door springs are used?
- If there is one spring broken on a standard size 16 x 7 (two car) garage door and there is two torsion springs above the garage door, Will the company replace only one spring? or both?
- If there is only one spring on a standard size 16 x 7 (two car) garage door, Will the company replace only one torsion spring or change it to a two torsion spring system?
- What kind of warranty is given with the spring replacement? One year? Two year? Three year?
- Does the company use sub-contractors or company employees?
As you can see, there are a lot of different variables and questions that should be asked BEFORE you replace the garage door broken springs. It really is a dangerous job and a professional service technician skilled in replacing the broken spring(s) should be called upon. In the garage door industry finding a skilled service technician, that understands the complications of the garage door, will be your best choice.
Our garage door repair technicians will weigh the garage door to make sure the proper springs are installed. Every garage door spring is calibrated to the weight of the garage door. Even tho most garage doors look a like on the outside, each manufacturer has their own way to manufacture, whether it is insulated, non-insulates, steelback, gauge of steel etc. One size DOES NOT fit all.
Why we use oil soaked torsion springs
Zinc or galvanized torsion springs (they look silver and sometimes very shiny) are a good spring however, they tend to lose a lot of tension within the first 30 – 45 days after installation. When a torsion spring loses tension it puts a lot of undue wear and tear on the garage door opener. The garage door opener will have to be replaced a lot sooner rather than later. The torsion springs are what do all the work, it is a counter balance system. The garage door opener is there to take the place of you having to open or close the garage door manually by hand.
One Torsion Spring vs. Two Torsion Springs
With a single torsion spring application, if the garage door is in the closed position and the torsion spring breaks most people cannot lift the door and anything inside the garage is going to stay inside the garage.
When the garage door is in the open position and the door starts to come down, the single torsion spring breaks in mid travel the garage door opener will most likely not be able to stop the garage door from falling and crushing anything that is in its path. i.e. person, pet, vehicle etc.
With a double torsion spring application here is what might possible. If the garage door is in the closed position and one of the two torsion springs breaks, there is usually enough power in the other torsion spring for you to still lift the garage door and get your car in or out. The garage door will still be heavy but not unmanageable to lift. You can use your garage door opener and help the door up yourself.
If the garage door is in the open position and starts coming down and one of the two torsion springs break in mid travel, there is usually enough power in the other torsion spring for the garage door opener to either bring the garage door back up or let it down slowly.
***Warning – Springs are under high tension. Only qualified persons should adjust Garage door springs, cables, brackets, and other hardware attached to the springs, they are under very high tension and, if handled improperly, can cause serious injury. Only a qualified professional or a mechanically experienced person carefully following the manufacturer’s instructions should adjust them. The torsion springs (the springs above the door) should only be adjusted by a professional. Do not attempt to repair or adjust the torsion springs yourself***
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