Well, that was certainly different (OT, garage door)

Bob · Oct 19, 2014

Just a few minutes ago, I was snoozing in the living room, pretending to watch a home improvement show with SWMBO when there suddenly was a commotion out in the garage.

Took a couple of minutes to figure out the torsion spring on the south garage door had snapped about a third-way across it's length and unwound.

Both doors were replaced 2 years ago, and the one whose spring broke is the least-used, and, as far as I know, wasn't used today.

Sure made a noise, though!

2x4 · Oct 19, 2014

been thru that. Lot of tension there. We just loosen them up, welded them back by welding the 3 coils to each other & rewound. One man can't do it tho.

ss55 · Oct 20, 2014

Extension springs on garage doors can break too. They can fly around and bounce off a few things before they stop. Luckily, mine only hit one vehicle when it broke. I wouldn't want to be inside the shed when one of those springs is flying around.

I found out later that many door manufacturers now run a steel cable through their extension springs to minimize damages. Kits are available to retrofit older doors, but you can buy the same size aircraft and two cable clamps per end for much less cost.

Blackhole49 · Oct 20, 2014

For a temporary fix, we just overlap and clamp with 2 cable clamps while waiting for the new spring to arrive (overhead door with spring around the shaft). Repair will last up to a year on heavily used doors. My experience is, once they break, they will break again.

El Toro · Oct 20, 2014

I had that happen on our 16-foot garage door several years ago. It was used about 20 years before it broke. I heard the noise, but didn't find it until I tried to open the door. That door is used a lot when using the cars. Hal

Bob · Oct 20, 2014

This Board is the BEST! VERY few problems come up that SOMEONE doesn't have a solution for!

I have new spare parts on hand at another location because my son drove though the other door shortly after I put it in and a bought another complete unit because it was available and no higher priced than buying the needed panels.

I had never thought of the cable clamp trick, I just got done doing that, and it works fine for today, and I will replace the spring when I get it back here from storage.

THANKS for the idea, "49"!

Guess I'd better order another new one to have on hand!

redtom · Oct 20, 2014

mine broke last summer. When I went to the door place to buy the spring the guy was hesitant to sell the spring to a "homeowner" because I might kill myself. Just used caution, done it before.

Tim in OR · Oct 20, 2014

I had a new garage door installed last week. The installer was a jerk. He had a bad attitude from the start, so I left him to his own devices. He unbolted everything on the old door before removing anything. I heard a crash and ran thru the house to get into the garage. the top panel had fallen and hit him in the head. After making sure he was OK, He said --- "The same thing happened yesterday". You would think he would have learned something the first time.
Tim in OR

Bob · Oct 21, 2014

Well, that was certainly different (OT, garage door)

Bob

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ss55

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