Garage Door Springs

[Mustangmike66]

It's been a while since my last post. Everything has been going good and I've been staying busy. I finished the Sheetrock last week and decided on getting the garage door hardware installed. I installed the shaft and springs last night and waited until this morning to wind them. I did the one revolution per feet of door height. The door wanted to stay up about 4' and didn't want to go any higher without force. I had to force it down and lock it to get the door to stay down. I believe, after doing searches,that my springs are not correct. So, I installed bigger, longer, heavier springs. No luck. It stays down by itself but won't go any higher than half way up. It feels like the springs are now binding. I tried disabling one spring both times but that didn't work either. One other reason could be the drums I scrounged from a demo job. They are the large commercial type thar are about 6" in diameter. Any ideas? I will post pictures shortly

 

[Mustangmike66]

 

[TwetoGAC]

I had to replace one of these springs a few years ago. It took a while to get the tension on the springs adjusted just right and of course the steel cables were constantly coming off the pulleys while I was doing the adjusting. My pulleys came with the door, so if you are having a similar problem it's might not be the pulleys.I had the same problem as you. The door would not go all the way down.

 

[Mustangmike66]

Thanks for the response. The cables are staying put. I'm wondering if I went back to the smaller springs (the first attempt) if it would be ok with my lift master 3800's. I just don't want to wear the liftmasters out prematurely. I would assume that the doors should be set up where the doors stays down and half way up without touching them.

 

[Mustangmike66]

I did fail to mention, but you can easily see, that I did a high lift conversion. I didn't buy a kit but extended the track

 

[c39er]

There is a special formula the door installers have to avoid your problem! I had the same problem a few years ago-too much or not enough after I changed the door weight. They gave me new springs after I told them the door weight and the raise height.
Springs were a new wire diameter and # or coils. They figured it on their computer in a couple minutes. I put them on I think with 7 or 8 turns. Door had even lift tension from down to full up.

 

[Mustangmike66]

That sounds like what I need to do. I need to weigh the doors and go from there. Thanks

 

[Nowater]

Where did you attach the cable that leads from the springs to the doors? I am fairly sure the cable attaches to the bottom of the door, but I can't see in the photograph. Then again, it could be something else.

 

[pattenp]

I believe you have the wrong style drums for high lift. The drums need to be tapered.

And springs and drums are sized for the door height and weight.

 

[Mustangmike66]

The cable end is attached to the bottom bracket on each side

 

[Mustangmike66]

I believe you have the wrong style drums for high lift. The drums need to be tapered.

I have never seen drums like these. I will check into them and see if maybe that is my problem

 

[pattenp]

Checkout this site....

See image 7.25 of instructions.

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

 

[c39er]

I think "pattenp" has it-the above drums needed for high lift doors- more cable is wound up than the shorter doors.

 

[Mustangmike66]

You got it buddy! Funny thing is I have gone through this guys web site and never seen that. Thank you!

 

[upndown]

cYou have springs for a standard door..Won't work on highlift door + you can't just grab another spring and expect it to work!! Take them back and explain what you've got, also ask about the drums. They should be able to set you up with the correct sizes..Good luck

What size cables did you use? they look like 5/16..Should be 1/8"

 

[pattenp]

cYou have springs for a standard door..Won't work on highlift door + you can't just grab another spring and expect it to work!! Take them back and explain what you've got, also ask about the drums. They should be able to set you up with the correct sizes..Good luck

What size cables did you use? they look like 5/16..Should be 1/8"

How is this? Springs are sized for door height and weight. I haven't seen a special spring for high lift vs. standard lift. The drums are different for high lift vs. standard lift.

 

[Mustangmike66]

cYou have springs for a standard door..Won't work on highlift door + you can't just grab another spring and expect it to work!! Take them back and explain what you've got, also ask about the drums. They should be able to set you up with the correct sizes..Good luck

What size cables did you use? they look like 5/16..Should be 1/8"

The springs are various sizes I have collected for free in the past year. The cable is large due to them coming off the same doors as the drums I scrounged. I just figured I needed a larger drum to handle the extra cable from the lift conversion. I didn't know there was a drum specifically for the conversion. When I get the new drums I will go to the smaller cable.

 

[Mustangmike66]

Update:
I ordered and installed the tapered drums. When i ordered, I told the guy how much I added to the track and he sent me the drums that he thought would work.
Same story though. I have seven paint marks showing on my 8' door's springs. It raises 2' by itself and is a chore to lift past half open. It did the same thing with the non tapered drums. I tried different springs with the non tapered drums and I'm sure it would do the same thing as before with these tapered drums. How could it be the springs if it comes up by itself but wont lift more than half way?

 

[imnutz]

To begin with, cable length is critical with high lift drums, the cable has to be just entering the flat part of the drum when the top roller is at the apex of the radius. Second, there are thousands upon thousands of spring and drum configurations, I have a book 4" thick from thirty years ago (before computer programs) with nothing in it but spring and drum math formulas that we had to calculate to balance doors - 1" of spring length can easily make a lifting difference of ten pounds on a setup, not to mention the difference between .234, .225, .243, .262, .273 etc, etc - and 1.75, 2.00, 2.25 etc, etc inside diameters. When calculating, we get down to the nearest quarter of an inch. Third, there are probably ten different drums you could have, all made differently by different manufacturers, all with their own formula's. If you want it to work correctly, you need to have the proper components for your particular situation, you won't find them on the scrap pile or on the shelf at the local hardware store. If you want to give me the info, I can help you out

 

[upndown]

Can't tell from your pictures, but 2 things you need to know for sure!

1..are the springs installed correctly? One spring is left wound..the other is right wound. Looking at your center bearing, the r/w spring goes the left..l/w to the right!

2..You have 1 3/4'' I.D. springs! need to know wire size and length. unwind springs..count and measure 20 coils, this will give you spring size! do this a few times just to be sure!! Then measure length. Without this info its all piss in the wind..