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John McGaw

wrote:
One of the cables broke on my garage door. It appears that when it
broke the spring pressure did the damage. The door track is (was)
hung from a vertical 2x4 coming down from the ceiling. (I have an 8
foot high door in a garage with a 9 foot ceiling). The spring was
attached to a large eye hook in that 2x4. The spring actually
shattered that 2x4 causing the track to become disconnected and free
hanging. The spring was found in the rear of the garage where it
knocked a bunch of cans of oil and other automotive chemicals all over
the floor and a chunk of wood was ripped off one shelf. This left a
major mess with oil on the floor.

Luckily I entered the garage via the walk in door. I was shocked when
I went in there. I first noticed the oil mess and started cussing at
my cats, thinking they had gotten in there. But there were no cats.
When I turned around I noticed the door track hanging free and soon
discovered the spring on the floor.

I heard these springs are dangerous, but I never knew they could do
this much damage. I know I can fix this, and this time I intend to
use a hardwood 2x4 or maybe a 4x4 if I can find one. However, I dont
like the idea of walking into a garage with these springs ready to
fly, which could cause severe injury.

Is there any way to secure the spring so if something breaks, at least
it will stay up in the air where it belongs?
This is an older 8 foot high, 9 foot wide wooden door. It's not that
heavy, but still needs the springs to lift it. Where I used to live
we had a 10 foot wide fiberglass door and I could lift it without
springs, although it was a bit of a struggle. Those springs were not
as large (and likely not as powerful).

I'm off to buy a new cable, but I wont feel safe going into the garage
until I can find a way to make those springs safer. Placing them
inside a steel tube (pipe) seems like one way, but how?

Anyone got any tips?

Thanks

Andy

Proper installation of extension-style door springs calls for retainer
cables which are threaded the length of the spring. The cable is secured
to the front and rear of the rail supports (not to the spring itself)
and are usually about 3/32" - 1/8" diameter aircraft-style cable. The
idea is to keep the spring from becoming a ballistic missile should the
spring separate. I've found that every replacement spring I've bought
over the past ten years has come with the retainer cable and included
instructions on how to install them. Most likely you would be better off
replacing all of the springs at one go and installing the retainers but
you could probably buy the cable separately along with the proper clamps
to secure them and install on all the springs.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com