When To Replace Garage Door Springs
A garage door is a complex feature which has lots of small parts in it. Most of them are moving parts. Garage door is an important feature of your home that you use profusely daily. So you should take care in installing and maintaining the garage door. A spring in a garage door is a small but inevitable part in it.
The garage door spring counteracts the gravity force on a garage door. To make it simple the spring makes it easy for you or the remote to lift the garage door effortlessly. There are two types of springs in a garage door. They are extension spring and torsion spring.
Garage Door Torsion spring
Torsion springs are mounted directly above the door. Sometimes when there is no room they are mounted in the rear of the garage. They maintain the balance of the door. They maintain same pressure on both the sides of the door. When the balance is good, the door is easy to lift and also stops at each of the rollers fixed on the sides.
Extension Garage Door spring
Extension springs are mostly mounted on door tracks on both sides. Sometimes they are fixed in both the sides also vertically. They help in pulling the garage door up against gravity. Extension springs work in a lot of tension. So even if one breaks, it causes serious problems.
When should springs be replaced?
The life span of a spring is for 7–9 years. If you use the garage door for 4 times a day then you can assume that it works nearly 10000 times. But now days people use their garage door more than 4 times a day. So the springs get worn out by 4–6 years itself. Sometimes springs get worn out in a year itself.
You can conduct two tests to determine if the springs are in good condition or not.
Open the garage door till mid level and leave it. If it stays in the same position, then the springs are good. They stay in the position supported by the springs. If otherwise, they are moving, then the springs need to be replaced.
Release the opener in the up position. If the door stays up, then the spring is good. If there is some movement, then that is okay. But it should not come down. If it comes down, then the springs are to be replaced. If anyone of the rollers move past the line between vertical and horizontal track and stays below the “line”, then it should either be re tensioned or replaced.
The second test is more important because if it fails, then the door might fall off the track due to loose cables on the drum.
If the door is heavy, then it is better to replace the springs after 4 years. If the door is light then the springs will work for a longer period. The extension springs normally fail but don’t break. If you see gaps between the coils of extension spring, then you should replace them.
Can springs be replaced by anyone?
Springs are very important in the garage doors. If there is some sound when you operate the doors, first try to put some spring oil and see. If the problem persists and the sound is becoming more then, you should consider replacing the spring. Also any problem that the door is not operating smoothly, then please check the door and replace the spring if needed
Whenever you need to replace the springs, it is best to do using a professional garage door repair company. Remember that these small springs carry a 400-pound door. So they are very much tensed and when it is mishandled will lead to some injuries. In some cases, it has also led to death of the person involved.
Conclusion
So always ask a professional help in this matter. Springs are important parts in the garage. If they are not aligned or fixed properly, then your garage door will not work properly. Then you will have to spend more to make it work properly.
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