Every door has some sort of spring system on it that will eventually give or break, in this article we’ll talk of torsion springs specifically. The problem with a broken spring is that they do all the heavy lifting when it comes to raising your door up and down , not you or the opener motor. Once this happens, whatever is inside of the garage is stuck inside of the garage until the proper repairs are made. This can be really problematic when all vehicles are parked inside, and no one is able to leave home. There are ways to get ahead on this; but first there are a few things you should know.
How Torsion Springs Work?
Torsion springs can be explained in great length and depth if we get into cone sizes, coil lengths, cycle life, etc… But for the purpose of this article we will keep things plain and simple.
Torsion Springs are fitted onto a single bar that we refer to as a torsion bar. The torsion bar is mounted by a center bracket, usually somewhere almost directly above the middle of your garage door and two end brackets, which are usually fastened to the track and the wall. This keeps the bar in place as the torsion springs turn back and forth, applying force to the bar. At the ends are what we call the drums, which hold the cables fastened to the bottom of the door and they themselves are fastened to the torsion bar so that when a little force is applied the springs begin to turn, which then turn the drums, which then lift the door.
There are a certain amount of winds each spring is turned according to the height of your door. Springs come in various sizes according to the weight, height and desired cycle length.
Why Springs Break ? :
Torsion Springs have a cycle rating, which basically determines the amount of lifts you can raise a door. When you get a new pair of springs for every time you raise the door, the spring are actually unwinding. This is the force you feel bringing the door up; if you have ever raised it manually. When you bring the door back down, the springs are actually turning back and rewinding themselves. That is one cycle and every time you do this, you’ve gone through another cycle. Once you hit the cycle rating you will have a broken spring and find yourself in need of a repair.
What can I do to prevent this? :
Honestly there’s not preventing a spring from breaking once it hits us full life cycle. However, you can prevent yourself from getting trapped in your garage this Summer!
If you are able to determine when you first had your last set of spring installed, and the average amount of lifts you lift your door ; you can then multiply the amount of daily lifts by 365 days a year and multiply that by the amount of years (roughly) to determine your estimated current cycle use. The average door usually has a pair of springs that are rated for about 15,000. (There are doors with springs that have higher and lower cycle life’s). If you are anywhere near that cycle life, you stand the chance of winding up with a broken spring soon. Now you may not be able to prevent the broken spring but you can prevent getting trapped in your garage and having to wait on a repair man to get you out.
I suggest if you’ve nearly hit your cycle life to go ahead and have your springs changed now. No one likes spending money on things that aren’t quite broken, but honestly this is not the type of thing you want to wait to break. With this situation people wind up missing doctor appointments, important meetings, picking up kids from school all over something you just don’t typically think of getting done. If this sounds like you, give us a call today and we’ll get you taken care of! If nothing else, maybe this article can ease any suspicions of any soon needed repairs!
