Boing! - Help with broken garage door spring

[vranko]

Garage door torsion spring bought the farm yesterday. Any guidance on how to repair? DYI? Hire someone? Where to buy part and how to figure out what size/strength?

54200

Thanks,

John

[Vicegrip]

I work on them all the time. Don't listen to the folks that make torsion springs seem like unstable explosive devices. You might find that this is not a business that has a high labor rate and you might be better off shopping the repair around a bit.
If you want to do it yourself you can go on the internetz and find sites that sell springs all ready to go and offer instructions on how to replace them. Once replaced they need to be wound and this is where many get nervous. Like many things the danger is not in doing it right but not being informed as to how to do it and following simple methods. And contrary to popular belief you can in face weld a spring back together. Weld one half coil around from the break in each direction using a 50% stitch weld. Rewind and done. I have had welded springs that have outlasted new springs cycle for cycle and when they did break it was not near the welded coils. I use welding as a temp fix only for the most part. In a house setup temp might mean 5 years additional service or a week.

The spring is measured 5* ways. 1. wire size. The diameter of the wire itself. 2. coil size. measured as an outside diameter. 3. length of the entire coil. 4* right or left hand. 5* jack shaft diameter. the size of the rod the spring is mounted on.
*Right or left and jack shaft dia only maters for finished springs. Some springs are sold raw, you install the ends the heat the wire ends red hot and bend in the hooks. I don't recommend this format if you are new to this.

How old is the setup? I ask as I tend to see springs fail one close to the other if the failure is due to high cycle numbers. If the door has been in service for 20,000 cycles you will do well to replace both springs at the same time. If the door is a year or two old in normal home use the failure might have been due to a defect in the wire or installation.

With the door pictured you would first count the number of paint spirals in the good spring and then de-tension it. With no tension the spiral you see will be a straight line painted or marked across the coil. Unbolt the 2 bolts in the middle support bracket and loosen the clamping bolts on the other end of the spring. lower the broken side down a bit and slide the bad spring off the shaft. Slide the new spring on and bolt everything back together. Mark the new spring with a line across the coils. Wind in the same number of spirals as the good side had into both springs and tighten the pinch bolts. each 360 degree turn of the spring end adds one spiral to the originally straight line. Test door and go have a satisfying beer.

[N0tt0N]

Yikes! Flashback moment. Huge fight with my dad when he tried to convince my brother and I (indentured servants at the time) that the spring was really just a helper and that the pipe was a torque bar that did all the work. Sad day.

I think you can count the coils and the length (or the thickness of the wire).

[Trak Ratt]

Replaced both of my mom's when one failed a couple of years ago. Very straight forward once you source the part. Like Vice says easier to just have someone replace for you.

[cmartin]

I talked to folks at http://ddmgaragedoors.com/springs/garage-door-springs.php , very helpful.

[Vicegrip]

I get some of my raw springs from them. Vranko's door spring can be purchased cut to size and without ends as they are not bent hook type. End up being real cheap and the ends are not hard to remove and replace.

[N Fotouhi]

Armatures. One motor gave up the ghost. The other was noisy, the wire through the spring had fallen off the roller, and the springs looked rough.
Called the local guys. Have two new doors, motors, and all new hardware. :)
Don't get the uber quiet belt driven motor if you have concerns about teens sneaking in or out.
The last spring replacements were many years ago. I think I paid about $100. Came with 10 year warranty

[vranko]

Thanks Everyone! As soon as I heard this break I though, Dorki!

[86911TLCAB]

have a similar problem but with the springs that are on the side of both doors...discovered they are all a particular color...so replace with the same color spring...haven't done it yet (made it work for now), but same may apply to these type also...

[Dr K]

Why is there a spiral on the broken spring? Shouldn't this have straightened out with the tension off?

When we replace TR's mother's spring (yes, I helped) it was enclosed, and in a much narrower tube IIRC. Easier to work with and I wonder if you could retrofit something like that.

[Vicegrip]

Froction

[Dave O]

I have DIY'd 3 in the last 18 years. Not hard at all. The interwebs has good instructions. Delivered to my door in two days. It was going to take me more time to arrange a contractor than the 15 minutes it took to replace a spring. Don't let it psych you out.

[Hunter]

Vranko,

I have used Door Systems a number of times, (703) 490-1800, with good results. But then again I fix most things with plastic.

[Jazzbass]

You might find that this is not a business that has a high labor rate and you might be better off shopping the repair around a bit.

This is what I found when my spring broke and I started searching around. Very rarely do I hire out a project and don't DIY, but in this case it was cheap enough to just pay someone to do the repair that I decided it wasn't worth my time doing the usual "read about it, watch videos, learn while you go", etc, etc.

When I had the high lift kit installed on my door I needed new springs, tracks, drums and cables. It took 4 hours for the retro fit all in, and my total bill for parts and labor was < $500.