Garage Door Spring Safety

Garage Door Spring Safety–Avoiding Serious Injury

You may have multiple springs on your garage door depending on spring set up and/or size of door.  The most dangerous component of the door is the spring system which supports the weight of the door  and helps you lift or lower it.  The garage door is the largest moving part of your house.

Garage door springs are under a lot of tension and you can get seriously injured or even killed if you try to perform this work incorrectly.  Even if you are a DIY’er, we HIGHLY recommend that you leave these replacements/adjustments up to a well experienced garage door tech.  Even techs get injured from time to time.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, garage door related accidents account for thousands of injuries each year (average of 30,000 per year).  These injuries range from fractures, crushing injuries and amputations.  It is believed that not all injuries are reported in the United States. (www.cpsc.gov)

There are two common types of garage door spring systems:

Torsion:  Torsion springs are wound up on a bar above the garage door opener.  These springs come in either single or double design, depending on door size/style.  The spring will usually break while under the maximum stress, when the door is closing or has already closed.  If you are closing it manually and it breaks, do not try to prevent the door from slamming down–just let it go!

Extension: These springs are the ones attached on the sides of the door and stretch along the horizontal part of the tracks when the door is closed.  These springs should have a safety cable attached to each spring and should be secured properly so when the door opens and closes, the spring can freely slide on this cable.  When extension springs break without safety cables, broken pieces or the whole spring itself could shoot across your garage, injuring anyone standing in the garage and/or damaging your vehicles or other belongings.

If you have extension or double torsion springs–when one of them break, it is common practice to replace both springs.  Having a new and older spring operate your door will:

–  the old spring will put stress on the new one

–  the door will lose its proper balance

– the remaining old spring is most likely to break soon anyway

As stated before, when a spring breaks, PLEASE consider calling a certified garage door technician.  Improper replacement of springs, or even improper adjustment of them, can cause bodily harm.  Accidents can happen, even to the well experience garage door technicians.

Give Valley Lock and Door a call for all your garage door needs!