Garage door springs HELP

[rktinc]

Can anyone point me in the right direction on my Garage door install? Need an expert. I have installed several garage doors over the years as a dIY. They are pretty simple if you take you time and have all the tools. I decided to save the $1200 quoted install price on my interior door as it cost me and arm an leg just to buy.

I have it all installed and ready to tighten the torsion springs to the 10.15 turns recommended by the tags on this custom door. I had to beg for instructions from the company after I received the door. My dad and I even have custom-made tungston rods to turn the castings on the end caps so we are really not that inexperienced.

We turned them to about 8 turns and went down to check if it was enough tension. It was not quite lifting the heavy glass door. We went back up and began turning them again and the spring ends castings started popping and lost a bit of tension.

We have either installed them backwards, been given faulty-made springs, or been given two springs of the same side.

Can any experts on here tell by the photos if I screwed up? We are thinking they are backwards and were labeled incorrectly RH /LH on the attached tags. It is an Overhead Door Co custom made unit so I have been very happy with the quality so far, but I think the springs were made on site at the local distribution site I picked up the door from. We are going to reverse them in the morning and see if that works. It that does not work then I will call the distributor and see if they will send out a tech and determine if I made a mistake or they gave me faulty parts.

thoughts?

 

[Wrench97]

Are the springs screwing themselves on to the hubs or off of the hubs?
If they are winding on then you have them installed the correct way and just need to keep tightening them.
As they tighten up the spring diameter should be getting smaller and the end cap moving towards the outside of the door as the spring grows in length.

 

[BillK]

Its very hard to tell from your pictures because we cannot see the actual cones to see which direction they are going. Take a look at the videos etc on the DDM site and they will probably show you the answer.

Garage Door Springs | Garage Door Repair | DDM Garage Doors

Shop for Residential & Commercial Garage Door Springs, Parts, Motors, Extension Springs, Dock Leveler Parts, High Lift Kits, In-House Training. Detailed DIY Instructions Available.

ddmgaragedoors.com

 

[rktinc]

Its very hard to tell from your pictures because we cannot see the actual cones to see which direction they are going. Take a look at the videos etc on the DDM site and they will probably show you the answer.

Garage Door Springs | Garage Door Repair | DDM Garage Doors

Shop for Residential & Commercial Garage Door Springs, Parts, Motors, Extension Springs, Dock Leveler Parts, High Lift Kits, In-House Training. Detailed DIY Instructions Available.

ddmgaragedoors.com

Thank you. those videos are great. I still suspect I flipped them so tomorrow I will trade them left to right to see if they hold tension. The code on each spring was marked "SPRRH" and "SPRLH" I assumed that RH and LH meant left and right. I now think that may have meant "RH wound" so maybe it belongs on the left side.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Thank you. those videos are great. I still suspect I flipped them so tomorrow I will trade them left to right to see if they hold tension. The code on each spring was marked "SPRRH" and "SPRLH" I assumed that RH and LH meant left and right. I now think that may have meant "RH wound" so maybe it belongs on the left side.

You might be right, I have installed 3 or 4 doors over the years, and the second to last one I did I reversed the springs because it had been years since the previous one for the very reason you mentioned above, read the directions they should tell you which spring goes where. Youtube can be a help too.

 

[rktinc]

UPDATE: After watching a few videos and discussing it with my Dad (on Father's Day) We spent the morning reversing the springs. It seems they were mislabled which caused us to think that RH meant Right Side. Seems it meant Right Wound and when we reversed them everything worked perfectly. Now on to the jackshaft install.

Appreciate all the input from the forum. Always a good way to solve a problem.

 

[BillK]

Interesting garage by the way I like the "cubbyhole" storage section. Is that for a special purpose ? I have something similar.

 

[CraigStu]

I am glad you figured it out. As an old auto tech my first thought was are you looking at the door from the inside or the outside when calling left and right? We had that problem w/ auto customers describing something as being on the right side of the car. Seems most people decide the right is driver side because they look at the car from the front as it sits in their garage. We quit w/ left or right completely and went w/ driver or passenger side.

 

[Wrench97]

I am glad you figured it out. As an old auto tech my first thought was are you looking at the door from the inside or the outside when calling left and right? We had that problem w/ auto customers describing something as being on the right side of the car. Seems most people decide the right is driver side because they look at the car from the front as it sits in their garage. We quit w/ left or right completely and went w/ driver or passenger side.

Yep trailer door springs/pulleys were named roadside or RS and curbside or CS.
And yes I did have a guy ask which was the roadside.........

 

[rktinc]

Interesting garage by the way I like the "cubbyhole" storage section. Is that for a special purpose ? I have something similar.

Its an original feature of the 120+ year old building. Originally built as a hardware store.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Its an original feature of the 120+ year old building. Originally built as a hardware store.

That is a real interesting and attractive garage/workspace.

Do you have a build thread here on GJ?

 

[rktinc]

That is a real interesting and attractive garage/workspace.

Do you have a build thread here on GJ?

No, I put a few pic on here from time to time. I have over 4k pics so I may do an instagram or something when its done.

 

[BiaoBamosux]

A couple of months ago, I came home to find my garage door completely unresponsive. Turns out, one of the springs had snapped. At first, I thought I'd tackle it myself, but after a bit of research, I quickly realized that messing with those high-tension springs can be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.I ended up calling a local service, and they had it fixed up in no time. If anyone's in the Portland area, I definitely recommend checking out https://portlanddoorsandlocksguy.com/. They were super professional and got my door working smoothly again.

 

[andyvh1959]

Last Monday we left on a road trip to pick up a motorcycle. 22+ yr old Clopay 7x16 garage door went up fine, but would not go down. No time to futz with it, so I pulled the release and lowered the door by hand. Holy **** it felt heavy. Turns out the LH (from inside) torsion spring had just snapped. So after we got home I was off ro Menards for new springs. Had an issue with winding the RH spring, got a 2nd replacement and now everything is fine.

Sent a message to IDEAL (Clopay) with pictures, so I am waiting on their direction to get money back for the failed spring.