Ugh. Garage door spring broke. Average $ to repair?

[bushmechanic]

Well, the spring should be cheap.

It's the orthodontist appointment after that will clean you out.

 

[850xpeps]

Lol such a small door. Installed 12 overhead doors last summer. A9 were 18x18 insulated with 3 big springs and 3 were 20x18. They make a proper bar to fit in the springs to add tension. You’ll get by without it on that small of a door.

Ya be careful but it’s easy. I don’t install garage doors for a living. I’m a carpenter by trade but it was a building we were working on. Me and another guy installed all of them. I did most the cranking as it those doors took a lot to tension.

 

[Rc_Guy]

Well, the spring should be cheap.

It's the orthodontist appointment after that will clean you out.

If the garage door guys can do it, and they had to learn how to do it, why can't the average mechanically inclined person do it without hurting themselves?

Our son and I took out his three old 9X7 wood garage doors and put three new ones in in about 6 hours and had no problems. And I have replaced the springs at our old house twice on a 18X7 door.

 

[curiousB]

I’ve replaced torsion springs a couple times. This is dangerous work and not to be considered trivial but with proper respect it is fine.

Wear a good heavy pair of leather gloves. Wear eye protection.
I wear and old football helmet as well but a cycling helmet wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Get two winding bars and a good adjustable wrench.

Stand on a stable ladder or chair so you are at a comfortable height.

Don’t stand with your face in line with winding bars. A broken shoulder is better than head trauma.





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[850xpeps]

I’ve replaced torsion springs a couple times. This is dangerous work and not to be considered trivial but with proper respect it is fine.

Wear a good heavy pair of leather gloves. Wear eye protection.
I wear and old football helmet as well but a cycling helmet wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Get two winding bars and a good adjustable wrench.

Stand on a stable ladder or chair so you are at a comfortable height.

Don’t stand with your face in line with winding bars. A broken shoulder is better than head trauma.





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I don’t wear gloves because gloves can slip. Also don’t use an adjustable wrench. Use the proper size open/box end. Usually 3/8 or the box end of a 7/16

 

[visionguru]

The wife heard a bang when she opened the garage door yesterday and I found out when I got home that the spring had broken. Based on the number of death warnings posted around that thing I'm not going to attempt a diy job so I'll call a pro. Anybody know what that type of repair runs? I have no idea.

12' non insulated door.

Thanks!

The torsion spring is pretty safe, because you only start winding after the spring is on the pole, with both side blocked by brackets/the wheels. In the worst case it suddenly release tension, it's not gonna free flying. Quite different than strut springs. Unless a person intentionally put his body part right in front of the end of the spring, I can't see how people get injured by this.

It's easy and safe. I did mine a year ago for $40 and 1 hour at leisure pace.

 

[visionguru]

I’ve replaced torsion springs a couple times. This is dangerous work and not to be considered trivial but with proper respect it is fine.

Wear a good heavy pair of leather gloves. Wear eye protection.
I wear and old football helmet as well but a cycling helmet wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Get two winding bars and a good adjustable wrench.

Stand on a stable ladder or chair so you are at a comfortable height.

Don’t stand with your face in line with winding bars. A broken shoulder is better than head trauma.

The bars are at least 1 foot long, which makes you at least 1 or 2 feet away from the torsion spring, the head/sholder/body 3 feet away at least, while standing behind a ladder.

How is rubber gloves useful? or eye protection is needed?

The only thing dangerous is when you accidentally slipped the bar off the hole, but your hand is already slipped off with the bar. How can the spring hurt you?

 

[PassnThru]

I might mention - if it's possible get the vehicles out of the garage before you start. The danger is in whatever you are using to wind the springs slipping out and being flung. And your vehicle will be directly in the path.
Toward the end, things get tight and it gets hard to wind. If you have proper fitting bars, then you will be able to take a break since, depending on which spring you are winding, you will be able to rest the bar on the door or the ceiling/wall for a minute to rest.

 

[joes169]

I helped a good friend this winter, on-and-off, with his garage door business. (His wife has cancer, and winter is my slow time, while it's his busiest time of year.)

We replaced a ton of broken springs, both commercial and residential. Pretty sure he charges $85 for one spring, and $160 for both on the residential side. Always have both done together, as the second is bound to fail soon as well.

Not an extremely hard job, but I wouldn't do it as a novice unless you're really broke.

If you feel the need to do it yourself, the most important piece of advice I can give you, and amazingly hasn't been suggested yet, is to make sure to unplug the door opener if equipped!

 

[joes169]

I don’t wear gloves because gloves can slip. Also don’t use an adjustable wrench. Use the proper size open/box end. Usually 3/8 or the box end of a 7/16

Most residential doors require a 3/8" 8 or 12 point socket.

 

[CN Spots]

I called right after my last post. He showed up at 5:30 that day, right when he said he would. It was only $165. Took him about 45 min. Changed the spring, inspected the door/motor and oiled everything. And yeah, I hate paying for stuff like that but I know it was done right and after watching him I know how to safely repair it myself next time.

Next up is pumping the septic tank. And I ain't doing that myself either.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[glend123]

I replaced my own springs, watched a few videos, moved the cars out of the garage, safety glasses and took my time. no problems. the helmet is a good idea.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Next up is pumping the septic tank. And I ain't doing that myself either.

There are some things it's well worth paying someone else for.

 

[ddawg16]

Not sure how you are explaining this right. How do you adjust the spring when the door is up blocking your access to the spring/drums?

I can push the door up enough to reach the spring between the door and header.

It has to be torsioned while the door is down. In the down position is when the most torque is needed. That torque decreases as the door raises. In the full open position the spring is almost fully untensioned.

The spring is used as a counter balance to the door weight. If it werent present, garage door openers would look more like winches.

That is why I did it with it up....and it's easy to tell when you have enough tension on the cables to insure they don't come off the spool.

 

[bazar01]

The torsion spring on my 8' wide garage door also snapped this morning. I had to help pull up the door for the garage door opener to be able to pull it up.

I measured the spring wire diameter, ID, and length of the torsion spring and its RH.
It's 3/16" wire dia. x 2" I.D. x 24 " long x RH. The closest one from Amazon is 0.192' x 2" x 24" RH.
Amazon sells the spring for $50. Prime delivery on Monday.
I will diy the install using 2 rebars as suggested here.

I will follow ddawg16 install with the door up. Seems a lot easier if I can squeeze my hands in between the bottom panel and the upper wall mounting position.

 

[rjn2649]

I called right after my last post. He showed up at 5:30 that day, right when he said he would. It was only $165. Took him about 45 min. Changed the spring, inspected the door/motor and oiled everything. And yeah, I hate paying for stuff like that but I know it was done right and after watching him I know how to safely repair it myself next time.

Next up is pumping the septic tank. And I ain't doing that myself either.

Thanks for all the replies!

The time it takes you to watch some you tube videos, go to the store, get the wrong one, go back and exchange it. Take it apart, put it together, you're probably money ahead, and as you point out, now you know. Next time it won't be a mystery. Money well spent IMO. You helped support a local guy put food on his table. All good.

 

[isb cornbinder]

A local garage door company refused to sell me a replacement door wind-up spring. They said it was too dangerous for a not trained person to install. I lied and told them I had worked for them five years ago as summer help. One of the dummies said, "Oh, I remember you." They gave me a free replacement.
Great care should be taken when installing a replacement spring. There is lots of energy stored in one of those wound-up springs.
It is important to know if the spring you need is a left or right wound unit. I made two wind-up levers from a spare 1938 John Deere "D" pushrod.
The door, at that time, was a four piece wood door. The door was damaged when a thief rammed the door with a stolen pickup. The door wind-up lift gather the door up in pieces and turned it into fire-wood. I called the police while my friend "used what force was necessary" to hold the thief until the police arrived. The thief put up a good struggle and "suffered" because of his effort.

 

[matt_i]

Rebars? Sheesh...those will work but don't expect a tight fit. Those things are oval cross section at best. Use some cold rolled round stock even if you have to buy at at the box store or trackter supply.

Part of the force you apply to the winding bar should also follow the long axis of the rod to keep it seated in the pocket in the casting.

 

[bazar01]

I found two plain round bars about 3 feet long from HD.
Better than rebars. LOL.

 

[bazar01]

Got the torsion spring yesterday and got it mounted today.
Installing the spring on the shaft is the easy part.
The challenging part I think was winding the cables on the pulleys and winding the torsion spring using the two plain round stocks with no extra pair of hands.