Garage Door Springs and Safety
Do not attempt repairs without prior knowledge and experience
A door will fail to open — or struggle to open — if a garage door spring breaks, or if cables come off the tracks. In either case, you risk serious damage to the opener motor or door unless the problem is corrected immediately.
Torsion springs are generally mounted on the wall just above the garage door. If your spring looks like the one in the picture, then you have a broken torsion spring. The image displays a broken left-hand torsion spring. The spring on the right is not broken, and remains wound (under tension). It must be addressed before repairs or servicing can take place.
We recommend replacing both torsion springs at the same time. Each spring only has a certain number of open-close cycles and the second spring is usually the same age as the broken spring. It is no uncommon to have the second spring break soon after replacement of the first spring.
Another type of spring, extension springs, are mounted along the side top of the garage door rail. They must be replaced as a pair to keep the door evenly balanced. Extreme care (using the right tools and experienced professionals) must be taken into account when working with all garage door springs.
People have been reported to be seriously injured when tightening or releasing door springs. When non-professionals use improper tools and equipment a finger, limb , eye, or worse a life could be lost.
We highly suggest you hire a certified professional, because your SAFETY is our main concern. There are many reports of personal injury and extensive damage to doors, due to over or under tensioning of torsion systems. The tortion springs must be properly unwound prior to resettng cables or replacing springs. Hire us. We're skilled, bonded and insured.
» More on garage door safety from Underwriters Laboratory.
