Modern garage doors make it comfortable to keep our vehicles within the safety of an enclosed structure. Innovations in garage door technology and design have made garage doors more convenient to operate via remote control. This saves us the trouble of getting out of our vehicles in the middle of a rainstorm just to open the garage manually. Today’s garage door openers use a spring that provides the powerful tension needed for it to operate smoothly. However, constant use will surely wear down the spring, causing it to gradually lose that vital tension. It jeopardizes the safety of the garage door as well as the security of the garage and your entire home when the garage door spring gets broken. So if you observe deterioration in the performance and quality of your garage door spring, inspect the mechanism thoroughly to see if you will need to wind the spring or replace it.
Torsion springs are critical parts of a home garage door opener that needs to be regularly lubricated and inspected. However, many people fail to check their garage door torsion cables and springs routinely. If you are starting to have problems closing or opening your garage door, your torsion springs could be broken or worn down. Torsion springs are subject to corrosion and ‘wear and tear’ as time passes by. These springs are tightly wound and are keep under very high tension to insure smooth and quiet operation of the garage door opener. Even the highest quality steel springs will eventually wear out over time and snap because of this extreme tension.
Sudden breakage of the spring is very dangerous. That’s why the springs are contained within a steel tube to avoid serious injury or damage to property. It is advised to have your garage door opener torsion springs examined by a professional to check its condition. If necessary the springs should be replaced. Some of the signs of defective springs are chattering and squeaking sounds when shutting and opening the door and the appearance of shredded or worn strips of chafed cable.
When you begin to see these symptoms and signs, call up your professional garage door installer and have your garage door opener inspected thoroughly. You should also schedule a yearly maintenance inspection of your garage door by a certified service technician to guarantee that your garage mechanism is in top shape. Nevertheless, more experienced homeowners can replace and install torsion springs by following these steps:
• Keep safe. Always assume that the spring is going to break and the cone is going to explode or slip as you wind and unwind the spring and take precautions.
• Cut the power of the opener and disengage it from the door.
• Measure new and old springs. Never touch the winding cones and don't grab the spring.
• Mark torsion shaft. To level the
garage door after the new springs are installed these marks will help.
• Unwind old spring that is not broken. Never touch a set screw without properly inserting a fitting bar into the winding cone.
• Loosen and remove the bolts that secure the torsion cones to the spring bracket.
• Replace the torsion springs.
• Install the torsion hardware back again.
• Wind new garage door springs.
• Check and lube
garage door.
• Reconnect opener.
