Garage Door Springs

The spring on the garage door can break and, when it breaks, a professional garage door technician should be called to replace it. Garage doors use two different types of springs: tension and extension. When a garage door’s tension springs break, the process to fix the broken springs is difficult and can also be very dangerous for both the amateur and the professional. The reason the tension springs are dangerous to replace is because the springs are under constant tension. Because of the tension, if a mistake is made or if an incorrect tool is used to fix the springs, the person fixing the springs could face serious injury, possibly lose his limb or even his life.

The springs are still dangerous for a professional garage door technician to replace. When a technician replaces the broken springs, he has to assume that the tension springs will break when he unwinds them. He will need to wear a set of safety glasses and keep his clothes and body parts well away from the springs. A component of the garage door called the winding cone keeps the tension spring in place. These cones can slip or even explode into many pieces and great care should be taken to prevent possible injury.

Extension springs, are built differently then tension springs, because these springs are held into place by safety cables. These cables help to control the broken spring, but even though it is in place for a safety precaution, the springs are still held up under a tremendous amount of pressure and a professional technician should probably be called in the event that one breaks.

Diagnosing a garage door spring problem is simple: does the door open and close smoothly? If the door is not operating smoothly, it is likely the tension springs. If the door is making noise, turn off the garage door opener and try open the garage door manually. If the garage door still makes noise the problem is likely the springs. It is also possible that a noisy garage door may just need some lubricant to be applied to the springs. The average home can easily diagnose and fix these simple problems with a garage doors springs, but even the most seasoned DIY’er should probably allow a garage door technician to fix the garage door spring when it breaks..