Deciding On A Door
How A Garage Door Torsion Spring Works And How One Is Replaced When It Wears Out
Peetu Couri
The spring on your garage door plays a very important part in opening and closing the door. It acts as a counterbalance for the door's heavy weight. Because of the spring, you can lift your garage door with one hand, and a garage door opener can open and close the door. Without the spring, the door would be too heavy to move. Here's a look at how a torsion spring works, what problems it can have, and how to replace it.
How A Garage Door Spring Works
There are two categories of springs for garage doors. One is the torsion spring and the other is the extension spring category. The torsion variety is the most common, and it looks like a single spring that looks like it's coiled around a rod. As it turns, the tension of the spring increases or decreases, and the door lifts or lowers. Extension springs come in pairs and lengthen and shorten to lower and raise the door.
How The Spring Is Damaged
A garage door spring wears out due to age and the amount of use it gets. Springs are rated according to how many times they should open and close the door. So if you use your garage door a lot, the spring will wear out sooner. As it wears out, the spring loses tension and the door gets harder to lift. Extreme weather conditions and rust can speed up the deterioration of the spring too.
How A Torsion Spring Is Replaced
When a garage door spring starts to wear out, and the door is harder to lift, call a garage door repair service to replace the spring. The spring will eventually fail, and it could snap and damage your garage or your car. A spring that's under tension can even be a danger to people, so it's important to replace the spring promptly and to let an experienced professional do the work.
The first step is to remove the old spring, but before that, the repair technician has to relieve tension on the spring with a winding bar. By turning the bar, tension is relieved. Then the spring and lift cables can be taken off so the old spring can be removed.
A new spring is then put in place and secured and the lift cables connected. Then the garage door repair person has to adjust the tension of the new spring with a winding bar. The garage door opener is then reconnected, and the door is tested by opening and closing it to make sure the door opens evenly and that there is enough tension on the spring.
Contact a garage door technician for more information about torsion springs.
Share
If you were going to rank your front door on a scale from one to ten, how would it do? Although it might not seem like an important part of your house, your front door can say a lot about your attention to detail, your love for your house, and your personal level of home security. Fortunately, you might be able to make your front door look a lot better by taking the time to do a little refinishing work. I have been working on my own house for a few years, and you wouldn't believe how big of a difference the right stain or door hardware can make. Read my blog for loads of free door advice.