A guy at work said that one of his garage door springs broke and when he called about getting another one they said they wouldn't sell them. Quoted a price of $175. to come out and put two news ones on and adjust them. These are the type that are in the center over the door and you use a bar to tighten the tension up. They also told him they were only good for about 5 or 6 years.

 

I have a freind that installs garage/security doors and can tell you this those center wrapped springs are very dangerous and I know of one person that died trying to adjust one (took his head almost clean off).

When we would have a door company come out to service a large garage door at a rental place I worked at we were not alowed to be in the shop when this was being rewrapped to the proper tension.
I have seen it done a ton of times and it does't look hard but I think the problem is if the rod slips out as your winding all that energy has to go someware.

 

The one that came with my door has a worm gear and driveshaft for an electric drill. Very easy and safe for DIY.

 

I built my own garage and installed two 9 foot x 8 foot overhead doors and one 16 foot x 8 foot overhead door completely by myself . Very simple and straight forward .
As far as lasting 5 to 6 years my dads two overhead doors are 50 years old with the same springs as when he built his house.

 

Door springs can be very dangerous, broke both my hands aout 11 years ago trying to adjust one. Call a Professional, Its way cheaper and a heck of a lot less painfull.

 

The guy ended up telling them to come out and change both of them. Thanks for the opinions.

 

I repair commercial overhead doors for a living and I believe it should be done by a professional. Yes, some people have done it with no problems but many have been injured or worse. Torsion springs and extension springs can generate a tremendous amount of force and one mistake can be disastrous. As for spring life, springs are rated by number of cycles and a thicker wire guge will last more cycles but you have to increase the length of the spring to maintain the proper balance of the door. Both springs should be replaced at the same time since both have been through the same amount of cycles and when one breaks the other will do so soon after. All of this being said if you have any door questions feel free to ask and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

 

I did find it interesting about the thicker springs and spring life. If a person would call to have a broken spring replaced would he be able to request the thicker springs? If a door is left closed a lot does that hurt the spring life? In my garage especially in the winter time it doesn't get opened all that often and have heard that being under tension is harmful.

 

Here's a question for Chopfather.

I've heard it's a good idea to keep the torsion springs well lubricated, what's a good lubricant for them?

 

It's true that the springs are under much more tension when the door is closed but it's not necessarily harmful. The best example I can give is to picture flexing an aluminum can back and forth until it finally breaks into two pieces. In a sense that's what happens to your springs, they go from more to less tension every time you open the door and eventually they break. From this example you can see that while the springs are under more tension when the door is closed it's really the number of open close cycles that will eventually be the end of your springs. This is why a larger wire size on your spring will last longer, it takes more flexing to finally break the thicker material. You can request a larger wire size for your door but the length of the spring will increase so the tech will have to first gauge and measure your existing spring and the amount of room between the cable drum and the winding plug on your spring to see if there is enough room to upgrade. If they don't change the length when going to a larger wire size the door will spring off of the floor and die out before it reaches the header so it's important that they do this correctly. The best lube for your springs IMHO is good old fashioned automotive grade grease mixed with some motor oil in a container and then brushed on the coils with an old paintbrush or a paint stirring stick this way your fingers are out of harms way if the spring should happen to break. I even use old motor oil in a squirt can for all of the rolers and bearings and a few drops on the cable drums to increase cable life. If you do this twice a year along with checking for loose hardware you'll greatly increase the life of your door. A word of warning though, the bottom roller fixtures are the attachment point for the lift cables and are under all of that spring tension so never take them loose. If you have any more questions I'd be happy to help.

 

You're saying to put the mixture on the springs themselves? I've heard of lubing the rollers but never the springs. Any reason why the lube helps the life of the springs? Heck I was going to spray my rollers this weekend and now I guess I'll have to make up a mixture to put on them. Does it make any difference if the springs are under tension or not?

 

The mixture should be applied to the springs only and you can leave them under tension. The reason this works is your springs are actually stretched and under the most tension when the door is closed and as the door is raised you have less tension and the springs will contract slightly causing the sides of the coils to rub against one another. The lube will cut down on the friction and extend spring life. It doesn't seem like much but we do this in facilities as part of our preventative maintenance and I've definitely noticed an increase in spring life compared to facilities that don't have it done to their doors. The rollers can be oiled with motor oil or you could probably lightly grease them in your home garage. I tend to avoid grease on the rollers in an industrial setting because it attracts too much dirt and it will harden in the winter and could cause a roller to drag or stop resulting in the cable being thrown off of the cable drum. On my garage at home I just lube the bearings and the shaft of the roller so it is free to move slightly left and right with the door as it goes through a cycle. You could also check your rollers to make sure they don't wobble excessively from wear before you oil them and replace them if necessary. You can replace any of the rollers by just unbolting the hinge and re-installing except the bottom rollers as the bottom fixture is under extreme tension and should be left alone. If you absolutely have to replace the bottom rollers let me know and I'l tell you how I do it on smaller doors without unbolting the bottom fixture.

 

My dad had one of the springs in his garage snap recently and replaced it himself. I forget where online he found the info on doing it but he said it really wasn't that bad provided that you are aware of what is going on and are careful.

 

i have sen a few websites that go through the process step by step and some of these do a fairly good job but they usually leave out ke y procedures. None of the sites that I looked at even mentioned leveling the door before setting the cable drums prior to winding the springs. This is important because I'm willing to bet that if your garage is old enoough to have a broken spring then the floor is not perfectly level and if the door is just resting on the floor when you set the drum then your door will be out of level and this will adversely affect the operation, longevity and safety of your door. I'm not saying it won't work but it won't be right. This is the biggest moving part of your house and potentially the most dangerous. If your springs break and you try to lift the door without them the sheer weight of the door should bring home the seriousness of getting everything right to avoid an accident due to an improper spring replacement. You and your family are driving under and walking under that door and if it falls it would be a tragedy. I had absolutely no idea how involved overhead doors were until I had years of day in day out experience with them and most of the websites that I saw were written by a guy who had installed springs on a few doors. I'm not trying to knock any of these websites or discourage anyone from repairing something I just want people to be aware that there is more to it than appears on the surface. I have been on many service calls where a maintenance person had "fixed" the door only to have it come crashing down laterbecause of seemingly small details. If you guys try this at home and have any questions at all please let me know, even if it seems obvous, and I'll gladly help out so you cann save a few bucks and do it safely.

 

BTW, Chopfather's advice applies to vehicle springs as well - coils and leaf. Coils are less of a problem unless the vehicle is lowered and/or a 4x4 that's articulated to it's limits, meaning that the coils rub on one another. Greasing them helps extend their life. One can also paint them and you'll see where they rub as the paint will be removed.

Leaf springs require the individual leaves to rub against each other constantly by design - you can extend their life by drilling/removing the center bolt and end clamps and greasing them heavily, then reassembling and install back into your vehicle.

The problem with greasing vehicle springs is they get dirty as they are exposed to the elements - dirt, road salt, dust, fine gravel and so on. You'll need to clean this out every so often and reapply the grease.