Spring warning signs
Five signs of garage door spring problems
Garage door spring problems almost never appear without warning. The trouble is that the warnings are easy to live with for months, and the failure they lead to is not.
The five signs
Any one of these is worth a call. Two or more and the door is on borrowed time.
Springs counterbalance the weight of the door so the motor only has to move it, not lift it. As they weaken the motor takes more of the load, and the door becomes slow, laboured or struggles at the start of the lift.
Loud bangs, sharp pings or a grinding noise from above the opening. A bang loud enough to be heard through the house is often the spring actually breaking.
One side running ahead of the other, or a visible tilt in the door as it travels. On a two-spring door this usually means one spring has gone and the other is carrying everything.
The door moving in steps rather than smoothly, or hesitating at the same point every time. That is the balance being wrong through part of the cycle.
A clear gap in the coil of a torsion spring is a broken spring, and the door should not be used. Stretched, rusted or distorted springs are the stage before that.
Why you should not touch them
A garage door spring is under extreme tension whether the door is open or closed. It stores enough energy to cause serious injury when released without the right tools, and people are hurt doing this in New Zealand every year.
There is a second, less obvious risk. A spring fitted to the wrong specification will not balance the door, which puts the load onto the motor and the cables, wears the whole system out early and can void the warranty on both the door and the opener.
It is not an expensive repair when it is done by someone who does it daily, and it is a very expensive one to get wrong.
What to do if a spring has already gone
- Stop using the door. Do not try to force it open with the motor.
- If you need the car out, use the manual release, and expect the door to be heavy, because nothing is counterbalancing it now.
- Do not prop the door open. An unbalanced door can drop.
- Call us. Broken springs are treated as urgent because the door is usually out of action.
Common questions
Springs are rated in cycles rather than years, so a door that opens twice a day will far outlast one on a busy family home with three drivers. Rather than counting years from the install, watch for the five signs above: a heavy or slow door, new noises, a crooked door, jerky travel, or a visible gap in the coil. Any one of those is worth a call.
Please do not. The remaining spring and the motor are now carrying a load neither was designed for, which is how a spring repair turns into a motor and cable replacement within weeks. An unbalanced door can also fall, which is the more serious problem. Leave the door closed, use the manual release if you need the car out, and expect it to be heavy.
On a two-spring door, usually yes. The second spring has done identical work to the one that failed and is close behind it, so replacing only the broken one commonly means paying for a second call-out within months. On a single-spring door the question does not arise. We will tell you what your door has when we look at it and let you decide.
No. Worn rollers, loose hardware and a tiring opener all make noise too, and so does a door that simply needs lubricating. The useful distinction is where the noise comes from. Springs sit above the opening, so a bang or a sharp ping from up there is likely spring related. Rollers and tracks run down either side, so grinding or rattling from the sides usually points there instead.
A spring is under extreme tension whether the door is open or closed, and it stores enough energy to cause serious injury when released without the right tools and technique. People are hurt doing this in New Zealand every year. There is also a second risk: a spring fitted to the wrong specification will not balance the door, which wears the whole system out early.
Stop using the door and do not try to force it open with the motor, because that puts the door's full weight through the opener. If you need the car out, use the manual release and expect the door to be very heavy, ideally with a second person helping. Do not prop it open, because an unbalanced door can drop. Then call us.
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