There are a number of garage door spring maintenance tips that will help you keep your garage door up and running all year long.
In this article, we will share several important garage door spring maintenance tips.
Garage Door Spring Maintenance Tips
The springs on your garage door are one of the most important parts of the door itself. They’re also the most dangerous part of it, too. If you take good care of those springs though, they should last for years and keeps you safe. Here’s how to maintain those springs, and fix them if needed.
The Role Of Your Garage Door Springs
What is it that your garage door spring does? It’s essentially the part of the machinery that helps open and close it when you need to get through. The springs give the garage door the tension it needs to open and stay open until you need it to close again.
Because they are stretched and compressed so often, they do wear out over time. That’s why it’s so important you keep an eye on them, to ensure that they’re in good condition.
How To Inspect Your Garage Door Springs
So, how do you check your springs for wear and tear? It should be part of your general garage door inspections, where you check over your door and see if there are any issues that you need to address.
When checking your springs, you’re looking to see if there’s visibly any stretch or slack in them. If they aren’t tightly coiled, that’s a sign that they’ve been damaged through use.
Another way of checking the springs is to check the garage door’s balance. This is a simple test but will show you just how the springs are working. To do this, turn off your garage door opener and open the garage door about halfway. Once you’ve done that, let go and stand back.
You want the garage door to balance and stay open. If it does, the springs are in good condition and still able to be used. If you see the garage door starts to shut again once you let go, that’s a sign that the springs are starting to fail. You’ll need to address this before they break.
The Danger Of Broken Garage Door Springs
What happens if your garage door springs break? Firstly, you won’t be able to open the door. That’s obvious, as the door won’t have the tension it needs to open for you. More importantly, though, it will put you and anything you keep in your garage at risk.
This is because there’s so much tension in a spring. When they break, they tend to snap. If you’re home when it does, you’ll hear something like a loud bang coming from your garage. This will fire the spring across the garage, where it can cause damage. Many people have had their cars damaged because the spring hit it. Even worse, if you’re in the garage when the spring breaks, it can cause you serious injury.
Some modern garage doors use cables on the springs now, as a safety measure. The cable is run through the springs, so if it snaps it will simply fall down the cable itself rather than going outwards. If you don’t already have these, it’s a very good idea to install them now.
Because of this, it’s vital that you maintain your springs and replace them as soon as they start to show wear. The sooner you do it, the better. If you catch them while they’re still operational, you reduce the risk to you and your family.
How to Replace Garage Door Springs
Now you know how to check your garage door springs, you’ll need to find out how to replace the springs when they’re starting to wear out. This is a potentially dangerous job, so if you’re at all worried about doing it, it’s better to call on the experts. This is important to keep you safe.
Identify your springs: Firstly, you need to check what kind of springs you have. There are two main types, and it’s easy to work out what kind you own. If the spring is long and skinny, running parallel to each garage door track, then you have torsion springs. If it’s a thicker spring, that sits parallel or above the door opening, that’s an extension spring.
Replacing an extension spring: This is often much easier for a DIY confident person to replace, as you don’t have to deal with the spring’s tension as you replace it. To remove the old spring simply open the door to release the tension, and clamp it open with a C clamp. Then, remove the spring from the track bracket and spring pulley. Once that has been done, you’ll be able to disconnect the safety cable from one end, thread the new spring on, and then reconnect it. It’s as simple as that.
Replacing a torsion spring: Replacing this type of spring is a little bit trickier, and you’ll want to call an expert if you’re not sure about doing it yourself. The best way to do this is to unwind the tension in the spring you’re about to remove, while the door is closed. Ensure you use a winding bar for this job, as it will keep you safe as you do so.
Once the springs have been unwound, then you’ll need to unbolt them from the central rod bracket and disconnect them from the pulleys. Slide the old springs off, and swap them out with the new ones. Once they’re in place, you then need to wind them up again to get the right amount of tension. Test the garage door to get the right amount of balance, adding an extra turn with the winding bar as needed. You may need to do this a couple of times before you get it just right.
Whichever method you use, it’s better to replace both springs when you need to change out a spring. This gives you the best performance overall.
Now you know what to look out for when maintaining your springs, and how to replace them when they start to wear out. It’s important to keep a close eye on them both for safety and to ensure you get the best performance out of your garage door.