What You Should Know Before Replacing Your Garage Door Spring?
When your garage won't open, you can call a pro or replace a garage door spring yourself. Read up on the cautions and the best solution here.
Garage doors can wear out after some time. You can look for signs that show that garage door springs are getting worn out and need a quick repair. The garage door system may not be an atomic bomb but you still need to know about its basic parts.
Fair warning to anyone who wants to fix the garage door by themselves:
If you don’t know what you are doing when fixing a garage door, you should hire a professional instead.
Understanding The Garage Door System
A garage door system works with the help of torsion and extensor springs. These two springs work together to lift the door up and down. The springs are fitted inside a tube shaft with two drums at the far end of the doors.
The tube shaft is attached to a cable that runs down to the bottom of the door lifts the door up. At the bottom of the garage door, a safety sensor is attached to warn you of any problem with the garage if something goes wrong.
In other words, garage parts work together seamlessly when the electric garage door provides the essential power to lift the door up.
Look For Signs Of Damage
The first sign of garage door spring repair damage is that the garage door gets stuck in the middle of the door. If you have to open a garage door manually every time, you want to park the car, there is a need for a garage door spring repair.
Being one of those people who focus on the upkeep of their house, you can look for signs of damage as well.
The garage door spring must be out of balance if the door rubs against the track. If the garage door side tracks every time, you open it. It means that there is something wrong with the cable.
You can fix these small problems by yourself, or you could always hire a professional to get a seamless garage door spring repair.
Repair or Replacement
Since garage doors are used constantly. They must be repaired after a year or so. However, a garage door spring does not need to be replaced until after ten years or more.
You could ask your garage door repairman to give you an estimate of the total expenditure on a repair versus a replacement.
If it’s only been a few years since you installed torsion springs, try to fix them before you waste a hefty sum on a replacement.
Spotting Spring Door Damage
Repairing a garage door spring is a major decision. If you want to be certain that your garage door springs are damaged look at the telltale signs. You will be able to spot these signs immediately if you start looking for them.
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Alignment
When the garage door springs are damaged, the left and right side of the door does not fall smoothly. If you want to check the alignment of the garage doors, take a close look at how the doors move over the tracks.
If the garage doors are steering off the track, you need to repair the springs immediately. A misaligned garage door can be dangerous. Try to fix it as soon as you can avoid any accidents in your home.
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Extension
The extension of a garage door spring can be affected if the extension springs are worn out. Damaged garage doors open with a metallic sound. They might open slowly.
If that happens then the extension or torsion springs might be damaged. Check out the major signs of damage such as scratches or deep marks along the track to get to the root of the problem.
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Worn Out Clips
The clips of a garage door spring keep the cable in place. Sometimes the clips of a garage door spring are worn out. It means that there is too much pressure on the garage door spring.
To relieve the pressure from the garage door spring you must get an immediate garage door spring repair.
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Damaged Loops
The loops of a garage door extension spring or a torsion spring are the main part of the whole system. The torque energy produced by the extension spring is necessary to push the door up and down.
When the loops of a garage door spring are loose, they cannot produce enough torsion to move the drums and the cable responsible for lifting the garage door. It is better to replace damaged loops than to get a full garage door spring replacement.
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Tube Shaft
A tube shaft carries the torque of the springs to the cable. If the tube shaft is damaged, the whole garage door system might be in jeopardy.
Analyze the tube shaft carefully for any signs of damage and replace it as soon as you find scratches or breaks.
Manual Assessment
It is often difficult to find the source of the problem in a garage door spring repair. You can do a manual assessment to smooth out the garage door spring repair process.
Turn off the electric opener and lift the door by holding the lower ends in your hand. Keep a large stick or support nearby while doing a manual assessment. Lift the door halfway up.
If the door comes slamming down, it means that it’s working properly. If on the other hand, the garage door jerks as it slowly comes down to the ground, you need to get it repaired as quickly as possible.
Calling A Professional
Garage door springs are tightly fixed in the tube shaft of your door. The slightest error in the garage door repair process might result in the springs flying out in your face. It is, therefore, better to hire a professional to fix your garage door.
You can replace other parts of your garage door such as rollers and sensors. Garage door spring repair, however, must always be hired by a professional garage door repair service.