Garage door spring broke...replace both?

[toolmiser]

Ours had two springs, and they broke on a day when it was 20 below zero. He suggested to replace both and I immediately said please. I'm sure the other one would have broke a week later when it got "cold". I try to pick my battles.

 

[ard]

The cables aren't holding any weight now that the spring is broken. No need to clamp anything before the spring is replaced.

Speaking in general terms, how to weigh a garage door

 

[bochnak]

I had one break and decided to replace both since the other is probably not far behind.

I ordered from this place and they have good DIY videos. It was an easy repair:

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/index.php

 

[sberry]

I would fix the broke one but at some of these prices it could be well worth it to have it done. I don't do it often enough to remember all the details and usually pull out the instructions when working on them to make sure I understand what I am doing.
Mine are larger and bought hi cycle springs when I bought the doors as it was only a few $ difference.
I am not sure these are perfectly installed as far as spacing, its been so long now I cant remember all the details. Seems I may have changed the bracket design a bit on some others.

 

[slow]

At 55 + 75 I would pay somebody. The places I called were 125 service call + 75 each for springs

 

[ezriderga]

Well the job is done. The guy replaced the springs on both doors, made all necessary adjustments, tested and lubricated everything. He did everything for $275.00. This was no shadetree job. This guy knew what he was doing. Did everything in less than two hours. Now I can move on to something else. Thanks!

 

[upndown]

You made a wise choice!

Not that it matters, but I call BS on replacing springs on 2 doors for $150! Nobody does that unless it's a brother or best friend. Replies like that just need to be called out!

 

[LB-1911]

Well the job is done. The guy replaced both springs, made all necessary adjustments, tested and lubricated everything. He did it everything for $275.00. This was no shadetree job. This guy knew what he was doing. Did everything in less than two hours. Now I can move on to something else. Thanks!

Speaking in general terms, how to weigh a garage door

How to Weigh a Garage Door
https://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/how-to-weigh-garage-door.php

Do-It-Yourself Garage Door Instruction Library
https://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/

 

[rburke65]

Sometimes we are better off if we just write the check and grab a coffee.

 

[ard]

Reminds me of a story...

Doctor is getting ready for work one morning- wife tells him "Honey, the sinks is clogged". He tells her, "Call a plumber".

She insists that he deal with the plumber, so he calls and tells the plumber he is late for surgery and can he come over immediately. Plumber agrees.

15 minutes later the plumber pulls up, and diagnoses the problem, fixes it in 10 minutes. Presents the doctor with a bill for $426.

Doctor say, “Holy ****, I’m a neurosurgeon and I don’t even make that kind of money for 10 minutes work.”

Plumber replies, “Hey neither did I when I was a neurosurgeon”.

 

[kelpaso1]

One tip a garage door guy told me to prolong the life of the springs is to oil them once a year. He said one of the causes that makes them break is the constant rubbing of the coils together every time you open and close the door.

 

[slow]

That is a good point, I oiled mine 2 years ago but will likely do that this weekend. never hurts, just DO NOT oil the springs where the cones are inside.

 

[mcmlvif100]

Since I'm apparently an Internet expert, here's a video from another Internet expert:

This brought to you by Cornell Garage Doors of Austin TX, who then conveniently demonstrate the danger of garage torsion springs by intentionally misusing one winding bar. Seems a bit disingenuous on their part.

Like most maintenance / repair tasks, if done with care, some attention to detail, and the proper tools, replacing garage door torsion springs isn't that difficult, or dangerous. Just replaced them on our 400+ lbs garage door. Start to finish was well under 2 hours including putting away my tools. Cost of a pair of 0.283 wire diameter x 40 inch long and 2 inch ID springs was right at $150. Kept the one unbroken original as an emergency spare.

 

[jimindm]

It is threads like this make this site almost comical to read anymore

Everything some one does has the potential of being dangerous and can hurt you. I know people that have fallen walking out their front door and been hurt. Yet we all do it everyday. Accidents happen. If one worries to much about that, they better stay in bed. even then I am sure people have been hurt by doing that. I think one just has to know their own personal limits.

As far as wanting the door weighed. If I was in the business, i would wonder what am I getting into here. I would bet that for the average residential door there is not but just a few springs to choose from. I would guess for a single door there is two, one for insulated and one for non insulated. I would guess that number doubles with the springs needed per door, on a double door.

If A guy shows up in a garage door van, You can bet that he knows which spring he needs. I would also guess that there was a few questions involved when you called him. Size of door, whether it is insulated or not, so he could be prepared when he got there.

I see the OP has already got it done. There is really nothing tough about this job. I have done more than a few in my day. If you are going to leave it to a professional, then why burden him with useless questions or unneeded steps for the repair.

 

[upndown]

The worst thing you can do when any tech arrives after you call them is start telling them how to do their job! If you know so much about garage doors, why the **** did you call me? Have a nice day..Bye.

 

[upndown]

Sorry you're so easily offended! Glad you got it safely repaired.

 

[redmondjp]

I see the OP has already got it done. There is really nothing tough about this job. I have done more than a few in my day. If you are going to leave it to a professional, then why burden him with useless questions or unneeded steps for the repair.

It's not quite as simple as you make it out. There can be a lot of variables that affect how much the door weighs - mine weighs considerably more during a wind/rainstorm when the wood gets soaking wet, for example.

And regarding spring choices, you are completely wrong about there being only two choices. I thoroughly researched this area before I replaced my own garage door springs, and found that you can go with longer springs which are less stressed since each coil doesn't bend as much over the open/close cycle (more $) or shorter springs, which are typically used by garage door installers as they are the cheapest, but they will also have the shortest life.

 

[Falcon67]

Id clamp the cable to the side rails with the door all the way down. Then lift the door up and slide a bathroom scale under. The cables no longer hold any weight, the weight of the door is on the scale.

I'm not a small guy and I could not budge the 16' door. I was bending the lip on the panel trying to pick it up.

 

[mcmlvif100]

And regarding spring choices, you are completely wrong about there being only two choices. I thoroughly researched this area before I replaced my own garage door springs, and found that you can go with longer springs which are less stressed since each coil doesn't bend as much over the open/close cycle (more $) or shorter springs, which are typically used by garage door installers as they are the cheapest, but they will also have the shortest life.

^^^ This ^^^

Reference: Ideal Door's replacement spring brochure -- (http://clopaypdfs.com/pdf_files/REID-GDSPRINGSELGUIDEWEB-14.pdf )

The list on page 6 includes 56 different "Standard Torsion Spring" sizes which each come with a left and right wind direction, and can be used as singles, as matched pairs or as mismatched pairs depending on the application.

Their website ( http://www.idealdoorgaragedoors.com/residential-garage-doors/residential-springs/ ) is a pretty decent source and reasonably user friendly.

As for weighing the door, that is one method that they reference for determining the correct replacement spring size (see pages 2 and 7 of above brochure).

For those who might want a paper copy of the Ideal Door replacement spring brochure, I picked one up at Menard's when I was trying to find replacement torsion springs. They didn't have the ones that I needed in stock at the time but I found the brochure to be very helpful. Filed it for future reference.

 

[Mickey O]

I've always replaced them in pairs. Amazon, $75 shipped for 2 springs and the rods, done. Had one spring break on my old house right before selling it, and then one spring break on my new door right after moving in, so 2 sets in 4 months.

Respect the spring and it is not a big deal to do, use the wrong tools or do not respect the spring, then you can be seriously injured. Also, try to keep 2 bars in the spring at all times, or as much as you can. (I know you need to remove one to put the next one in) Mark your bars with the depth of the spring with electrical tape so you know if you do not get the bar into the spring correctly.

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/replace-garage-door-torsion-springs.php

I had one break and decided to replace both since the other is probably not far behind.

I ordered from this place and they have good DIY videos. It was an easy repair:

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/index.php

Excellent place to get info and parts, the guy in the video is the one who did the springs on my garage doors at both my houses, extremely fast and knowledgeable, unfortunately he retired from doing the repairing end of it. I'm not sure if he still owns the parts business or not but they have garage door parts that are hard to find.


.

 

[mcmlvif100]

If you know so much about garage doors, why the **** did you call me? Have a nice day..Bye.

Can only speak for myself but referencing my previous posts in this thread, I called the local store of a national overhead door company to have them replace a broken torsion spring because I was at work and wouldn't be able deal with it in a timely manner. So, I was willing to pay extra for someone else to fix it while I was in the office.

Unfortunately, the tech arrived, looked at the garage door and promptly commented to my wife "I sure hope that I remember how to repair these". While it's not your standard torsion spring mechanism, it really has only one "extra" part. Very much like the one pictured in SBERRY's post #44 of this thread, our garage doors have an adjustable "coupler" between the torsion springs which each have their own separate center bearing plates.

Additionally, the tech didn't have the required springs in his truck and then proceeds to tell my wife that they will need to custom make them at the shop so probably not going to get it fixed until the next day. This despite my describing the door in detail to their dispatcher when I booked the service call, and basically giving them every detail except the actual spring wire dimensions which I didn't have a work. He leaves, my wife calls me, I call them and tell them not to worry as I'll find another solution, which meant buying the correct springs and replacing them myself.

Not what I had hoped for when I called them but in the end, I repaired it myself, largely because the tech didn't know as much as I did. You are correct -- I won't be calling them in the future because experience suggests that I can't count on the local overhead door company to perform a simple torsion spring replacement.

 

[petee_c]

Didn't read the whole thread. As but after you replace the spring(s) light oil them to prevent rust and a binding.

This apparently helps them last longer according to the Interweb...

Peter

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

 

[ezriderga]

Didn't read the whole thread. As but after you replace the spring(s) light oil them to prevent rust and a binding.

This apparently helps them last longer according to the Interweb...

Peter

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

That's good advice. Although the spring that broke was 17 years old I did not know until recently that the springs should be lubricated periodically. The professional that installed the new springs (one on each door) recommended every 6 months.