Broken Garage Door Springs

Once again, the cooler winter weather is upon us here in Brisbane.

This is typical of the time of year when the springs of your sectional garage door tend to break.

Here are a couple of tips on how to identify a broken garage door spring.

1. There was a big loud bang and now the garage door doesn’t open.
2. The door only opens a little bit and stops.
3. The door is too heavy to lift manually.
4. If you look above the garage door, you will see the coil spring with a bar through it. There appears to be a gap approximately 3-5cms in the coils. Refer to the picture below.

A typical double sectional garage door (2 cars wide) weights approximately 100kgs (Unsprung weight). This size door would normally have two springs fitted to it. The springs lift almost all of this weight when they are in correct working order. A broken spring adds an incredible amount of weight for the motor to lift. Therefore, the motor will either stop working or be damaged if it is continued to be used. We strongly recommend the door is not used until the springs are replaced.

Here at Purple Patch Doors, we always replace both springs. When one is broken as the other spring would normally break soon after. This is a substantial cost and time saving process.

The typical life-cycle of your garage door springs is 6-8 years depending on the amount of use and condition of the door. Obviously if the door is not used very often, typically you would get a much longer life-cycle.

At Purple Patch Doors, we are very particular about the springs we fit to your door. Each set of springs is made to measure the height and weight of your door. We weigh each door before replacing the springs. Our service vehicles carry a standard weight range of springs for common size doors. This ensures speedy repairs and minimal inconvenience for the home owner. In the event that we do not have the correct size spring, the technician installs a temporary clamp and re-tensions the broken spring. This is to enable the door to operate whilst we arrange the correct size springs to be made.

Warning: Do not attempt to replace your own garage door springs. Although it may look easy to replace, an incorrect movement can cause serious bodily harm. Always seek the services of a professional garage door technician.