5 signs of a broken garage door spring (and what not to do)

A torsion spring is the only reason a 250-pound garage door feels light. It stores energy as it winds, and it hands that energy back when the door lifts. Springs are rated in cycles, usually 10,000 on a builder-grade door, which is about seven years of normal use and about three years if you go in and out four times a day.

1. You heard a bang

Almost everyone describes the same thing: a noise like a gunshot from the garage, sometimes hours or days before the door stopped working. That is the spring letting go. If you heard it and the door still worked afterwards, the opener was doing all the lifting, and that is how openers burn out.

2. The door lifts six inches and stops

Modern openers have a force setting that stops the motor when resistance spikes. With no counterbalance, the door gets heavy immediately, the opener senses it and quits. A door that moves a few inches then slides back is a spring problem until proven otherwise.

3. There is a visible gap in the coil

Stand back and look at the bar above the door. A healthy torsion spring is a continuous tight coil. A broken one has a clean two-inch gap where it separated. On extension spring systems, look along the horizontal tracks for a spring that is hanging, stretched or in two pieces.

4. The door is crooked in the opening

On a two-spring door, one broken spring makes the door lift unevenly and bind in the track. On a single spring system the cables can unwind off the drums, which drops one side entirely.

5. It is impossibly heavy by hand

Pull the manual release and try to lift the door a few inches. A balanced door will stay put where you leave it and feel like ten pounds. A door with a broken spring feels like a car.

What not to do

Do not keep pressing the opener button. Do not park under a door that is stuck part open. Do not try to wind a torsion spring yourself, the winding bars are under enough tension to break bones, and that is not an exaggeration.

What it costs

Spring replacement usually runs $180 to $420 for a matched pair, more for high-cycle springs on a heavy or frequently used door. Always replace in pairs. Springs installed on the same day have the same cycle count, so the survivor is close behind.

Need this fixed rather than explained? Call (877) 230-8979 for same-day service anywhere in Alabama.

Keep reading

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• How to fix a noisy garage door: what each sound actually means
• Garage door maintenance checklist: 12 things to do twice a year