Why Do Garage Door Springs Break – Coming home from a long and tiring day in the office is such a relieving thought to imagine.
However, wouldn’t it suck when, just as you arrive at the garage’s front door, it won’t open up no matter how many times you’ve tried?
Stressful thought, isn’t it?
The first thing you’d want to do is to inspect what went wrong, from investigating if you have dried out batteries inside your garage door opener remote to the essential tools that make up your garage door’s setup.
As you continue inspecting, you notice a spring sticking out on your garage door’s tracks.
A loose or broken spring could just be one of the causes for a jammed garage door,
as the spring does the majority of lifting your garage door to open.
Garage door repair services are available in the areas of Newmarket, Toronto, Mississauga, and Markham.
Before you call a professional, below are some of the reasons why garage door springs break and how to possibly avoid it the next time around.
The over-usage of the garage door’s spring
One of the significant reasons why the garage door’s spring broke is because of the persistent wear and tear.
The cycle of the garage door’s spring can last up to 10,000 uses, and this is what helps in lifting the garage door to go up and down.
An example would be getting the car inside and outside of the garage.
However, garage door owners open and close their garage door numerous times in a day;
this could cause a shortening of the garage door spring’s lifespan quickly to less than 13 ½ years.
Rust buildup on spring
As you begin your inspection process, you may start to notice that the exterior of the broken spring has already started to build up rust.
One of the common issues of metal tools is the exposure of them to water and air that could cause rust.
You can prevent the garage door’s spring from getting any rust buildup by spraying the coil with lubricant at least three to four times every month.
A rust buildup on your springs can weaken the garage door’s spring lifespan if owners do not pay attention to maintaining its excellent performance.
Deferred maintenance
The garage door’s wear and tear usage can eventually lead to having the garage door from having poor performance and neglecting to pay attention to doing maintenance.
Just as mentioned above, always have the time to do a check on when to apply extra lubricant spray on the springs, this can help to avoid the rust buildup and also prolong the lifespan of your garage door spring.
It is recommended that garage door owners should learn to inspect and check the performance of their garage door every after season.
Additionally, do a lift test on the garage door opener, try lifting the opener halfway and leave it;
if it stays still, then the springs are still in good shape but, if it doesn’t, then it’s time to give it a check.
Using the incorrect springs for your garage door
A basic knowledge that garage door owners should keep an eye on is that there are two types of garage opener springs:
Extension Spring
These types of springs are located on the side of the garage door opener.
These springs extend to assist the cables and pulleys once the door moves in motion.
Torsion Spring
These types of springs are tightly wounded springs found on the horizontal steel shaft of the header wall above the garage door.
These torsion springs are described to have a support system containing a center that has a center and two bearing end plates.
Always keep in mind to have proper maintenance on the garage door opener’s springs and make sure that you don’t have the incorrect garage opener spring for your garage door.
Some garage door installers have a long spring used across the garage’s door.
Moreover, it is always better to use two springs that could hold the weight load of your garage door in doing it’s lift work of opening and closing.
This could help in prolonging the lifespan of the garage door’s spring.
