Identifying Garage Door Spring Issues

There are many ways to determine whether or not your garage door spring is functioning correctly. You can do it at home with a few tips before calling a professional to inspect it. You may want to do this regularly to make sure that faulty or problematic springs are replaced in a timely manner to avoid any form of damage to the door or damage to your garage due to a malfunctioning spring in a garage door.

Although professionals that offer garage door repairs can be available through a phone call and can make a quick visit to inspect it to offer advice, it can save time and money to do it yourself. You may not want to repair it yourself but you may want to be sure that a problem exists. In order to know a bit about springs that are causing issues, it is important to know the kinds of springs on garage doors.

Torsion vs Extension Springs

Springs on garage doors help with torsion and enable a garage door to be lifted easily despite how heavy they are. Torsion springs are usually located on the wall above a garage door and are used for bigger and heavier doors because these springs last longer and are sturdy. Extension springs are used for one-piece garage doors, usually overhead, and offer spring in terms of contraction and expansion. Torsion springs last longer as opposed to extension springs, hence the latter may need to be inspected more often.

One of the ways to know that a garage door spring issue may need to be addressed is when the garage door doesn’t open. It may be an issue with the opener, and the springs could be part of the problem. Your garage door might open but might keep getting stuck or opening at an angle. If any cables are attached to the springs and dangling cables are visible, it means that you may have a broken torsion springs at your hands. You may want to inspect further and seed out the faulty spring, but if you feel the need to consult a professional, you may want to make an appointment for an inspection.

If you find that another part of the garage door was causing a problem, you may want to inspect the springs because when one part of the door is not working properly, it strains the rest of the components and increases the probability of damage to the springs. Spot the springs and look for obvious signs of wear and tear. You can visibly tell when a spring is not functioning anymore. You may also want to look at the length of the spring. If it is elongated and stretched out, with separation between the coils, this can signal obvious deterioration of the springs. This means that they have lost their tension and are not assisting the garage door opener in any manner.

Another easy way to test the springs is to open the door by disabling the automatic opener. Close the garage door, disable the automatic opener, and then manually lift the garage door. If it opens easily without much effort on your part and remains open, it means that the springs are working well. If you have to expend a lot of energy to open the door or it doesn’t remain open once you’ve lifted it, you may want to take a look at the springs to identify the issue.

A safety test on the garage door can also help in determining a problem with the springs. Once the garage door is open, use the button on the wall or your automatic opener to close the door, and lift your arms out in front of you so that they’re in the way of the garage door. If the safety mechanism and springs are working effectively, the reversing mechanism will cause the garage door to stop and reverse itself. If the door does not immediately stop when it contacts your arms or hands, remove your hands out of the way instantly, and be aware that the safety mechanism isn’t working properly, the cause of which may be faulty springs.