Torsion Spring Replacement
 

All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm not
sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the posts
before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay

This site spells it out pretty completely .. .. ..

http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm

I did mine last winter, and it went very smoothly & only took a few
hours. You really should do both sides together. They have a limited
number of cycles, and if one broke, the other probably isn't far behind.
The only "specialty" tools you'll need are a pair of 1/2" diameter X
18" long winding rods. Just go slow and easy & it's a pretty simple
operation.


All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm not
sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the posts
before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay

On 8/13/2005 11:49 AM US(ET), djay took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm not
sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the posts
before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay


I've undone a few. Just open the door fully and then hold it in its
fully opened position with a pair of visegrips clamped to the rail at
the bottom edge of the door, so the door cannot fall down by itself
after you remove the spring.
Then just undo the outer nut on the eye hook that holds the back end of
the spring to the brace.
You might tie the end of the spring around the rails so it doesn't swing
down and break something after you have removed the nut from the eye
hook. Then, while holding the spring, untie the spring from the rail and
lower the spring by hand. After installing the new spring, you will
probably have to play with the placement of the outer and inner (lock)
nut on the eyehook to get the correct balance for the door.

--

Bill

???

The OP inquired about torsion springs. Your reply does not apply to torsion
springs

"willshak" wrote in message
...
On 8/13/2005 11:49 AM US(ET), djay took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm
not sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the
posts before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay

I've undone a few. Just open the door fully and then hold it in its fully
opened position with a pair of visegrips clamped to the rail at the bottom
edge of the door, so the door cannot fall down by itself after you remove
the spring.
Then just undo the outer nut on the eye hook that holds the back end of
the spring to the brace.
You might tie the end of the spring around the rails so it doesn't swing
down and break something after you have removed the nut from the eye hook.
Then, while holding the spring, untie the spring from the rail and lower
the spring by hand. After installing the new spring, you will probably
have to play with the placement of the outer and inner (lock) nut on the
eyehook to get the correct balance for the door.

--

Bill

http://www.factsfacts.com/MyHomeRepair/springs.htm
"djay" wrote in message
news:7EoLe.4925$Al5.3574@trnddc04...
All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm
not sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the
posts before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay

djay wrote:
All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm not
sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the posts
before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay


I had a spring break twice, so far, in 29 years.
You could still lift the door but it was a
grunt with only one spring assisting. Each time
I was gone, so my wife called the people that
installed the door. The worker changed both
springs the first time but only one spring the
last time.

I've never changed the springs but retensioned
them because my door is wood with Masonite panels
and changes a lot in weight from hot dry summer to
wet winter. Make sure that the bars you use to
wind/unwind the springs fit well because you don't
want a slip. I used two 1/2" round bars I already
had and they fit perfectly.

Get two (three if you have a double garage) saw
horses and a plank(s) so you can walk back and
forth. If necessary make the saw horses the
height that you can work comfortably. Saw horses
and planks (or better, torsion boxes of 3/8
plywood and 2x4's works good and you will use them
a lot in house maintenance.

As long as you have the time, work carefully tie
down anything that can move, you will have no
problems. You don't really have to replace both
springs. Contrary to what others said, I don't
think that one spring breaking indicates the other
is likely to also. Springs don't all receive the
same temper so some break and some don't with the
same use. Currently, on my door, one spring has
about 10 years of use and the other has about 15
years of use. Being retired, I would probably
change it myself, unless the charge to replace it
is really high.

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
djay wrote:
All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't
seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm
not sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the
posts before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay
I had a spring break twice, so far, in 29 years. You could still lift the
door but it was a grunt with only one spring assisting. Each time I was
gone, so my wife called the people that installed the door. The worker
changed both springs the first time but only one spring the last time.

I've never changed the springs but retensioned them because my door is
wood with Masonite panels and changes a lot in weight from hot dry summer
to wet winter. Make sure that the bars you use to wind/unwind the springs
fit well because you don't want a slip. I used two 1/2" round bars I
already
had and they fit perfectly.

Get two (three if you have a double garage) saw horses and a plank(s) so
you can walk back and forth. If necessary make the saw horses the height
that you can work comfortably. Saw horses and planks (or better, torsion
boxes of 3/8 plywood and 2x4's works good and you will use them a lot in
house maintenance.

As long as you have the time, work carefully tie down anything that can
move, you will have no problems. You don't really have to replace both
springs. Contrary to what others said, I don't think that one spring
breaking indicates the other is likely to also. Springs don't all
receive the same temper so some break and some don't with the same use.
Currently, on my door, one spring has about 10 years of use and the other
has about 15 years of use. Being retired, I would probably change it
myself, unless the charge to replace it is really high.

Thanks for the advice group. I checked out the additional sites that were
posted and I am sure I'll be able to do the deed myself! I'll let you all
know how it worked out.

DJay

George E. Cawthon writes:

Contrary to what others said, I don't
think that one spring breaking indicates the other
is likely to also. Springs don't all receive the
same temper so some break and some don't with the
same use.

An engineer would disagree. See my explanation and references regarding
cycle lifetimes at:

http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm

Richard J Kinch wrote:
George E. Cawthon writes:


Contrary to what others said, I don't
think that one spring breaking indicates the other
is likely to also. Springs don't all receive the
same temper so some break and some don't with the
same use.


An engineer would disagree. See my explanation and references regarding
cycle lifetimes at:

http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm

Of course an engineer wouldn't agree. Engineers
depend on the fact that a single item is like
every other item. The fact is, that even with
tight controls on manufacture there is usually a
large of amount of difference among individuals.
If the life cycle of 95 percent of the items is
longer than the item will be used, who cares if
some items have a 50 percent longer life time.

Springs from the same batch may be pretty similar,
but who knows how much mixing of batches there is.
One simple example: the spring on the left side
of my oven door broke after 5-6 years and I didn't
fix it. The spring on the other side was
sufficient to keep the door closed but wouldn't
hold the door in the "half-cock" position. As a
result the door was mostly left in the full open
position for cool down. That increased the
tension and yet that spring is still working after
29 years of use. The first spring had a useful
lifetime of 6 years the second had a lifetime 5
times as long.

The first oven door spring broke in the "hook" section?

I would argue that the failure of a tension spring in the hook section
is rather different than the failure of a trosion spring in the spring
section.

btw the time needed to replace both springs is not twice the time
to replace one spring. Better to do both & get it over with.


Engineers depend on the fact that a single item is like
every other item


a rather broad statemtent & surely not correct..................

cheers
Bob

George E. Cawthon writes:

Of course an engineer wouldn't agree. Engineers
depend on the fact that a single item is like
every other item.

An engineer would disagree with *that*.

On 8/13/2005 1:44 PM US(ET), Diesel took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

???

The OP inquired about torsion springs. Your reply does not apply to torsion
springs



Yes, I missed that. I deleted the message as soon as I noticed my error.
Apparently not soon enough.

"willshak" wrote in message
...


On 8/13/2005 11:49 AM US(ET), djay took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:



All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?
Reading through a couple of "how to" websites the replacement doesn't seem
all that difficult - just dangerous in a couple of instances and time
consuming.
For those of you who have accomplished this yourself or have had a pro do
it,
what would you recommend? I'm pretty handy (worked framing, plumbing,
electrical
[no garage door experience] finish carpentry etc for 7 summers) but I'm
not sure that
there are any additional tips/tricks (words of wisdom - I've seen the
posts before!) that
you could provide?

Thanks,

Djay


I've undone a few. Just open the door fully and then hold it in its fully
opened position with a pair of visegrips clamped to the rail at the bottom
edge of the door, so the door cannot fall down by itself after you remove
the spring.
Then just undo the outer nut on the eye hook that holds the back end of
the spring to the brace.
You might tie the end of the spring around the rails so it doesn't swing
down and break something after you have removed the nut from the eye hook.
Then, while holding the spring, untie the spring from the rail and lower
the spring by hand. After installing the new spring, you will probably
have to play with the placement of the outer and inner (lock) nut on the
eyehook to get the correct balance for the door.

--

Bill








--
Bill

"djay" wrote in message
news:7EoLe.4925$Al5.3574@trnddc04...
All,

I've never replaced a garage door torsion spring and one of my two is
broken.
26" 1.75 ID .2187 Diameter RH spring is broke.
I probably should replace both at the same time, correct?

I would replace them both. It is a toss up, the old spring my last for
years, but for the $25 for the spring it is not worth taking the chance that
it will last longer than the other.
I replaced one spring 3-4 years ago. A month ago the other one broke. I
replaced both of them this time.
Take care doing the job. Get the proper sized bars to unwind the spring.
Greg

BobK207 wrote:
The first oven door spring broke in the "hook" section?

I would argue that the failure of a tension spring in the hook section
is rather different than the failure of a trosion spring in the spring
section.

btw the time needed to replace both springs is not twice the time
to replace one spring. Better to do both & get it over with.



Engineers depend on the fact that a single item is like

every other item


a rather broad statemtent & surely not correct..................

cheers
Bob

Doesn't matter what kind of spring it is, the
point was that the failure rate of springs is
highly individual. I didn't tell you what part of
the spring failed so what makes you think it was
in the hook section?

Whether one replaces both or one spring depends on
a lot of factors. If you have a technician do it,
then have him replace both. If labor is a problem
for a do it yourselfer, then replace both, but
if labor isn't a problem it doesn't make sense to
replace both. Let's say you replace both, you
will feel really stupid when the replacement for
the one that didn't break needs replacement in a
short time.


Yeah it's a broad statement, but the assumption is
consistency or at least a certain amount of
consistency. Don't read "identical" for what I
said which was "like." There is a lot of
variation allowed with "like." For really
important things, engineers recognize the
variability and use standards that would be met
under minimum conditions. For example, you use
the maximum span stated in the boots for a Douglas
fir 2x10. The amount of deflection will be
(usually) within the standard, but the poor piece
timber will deflect a lot more than a really high
quality one.

Richard J Kinch wrote:
George E. Cawthon writes:


Of course an engineer wouldn't agree. Engineers
depend on the fact that a single item is like
every other item.


An engineer would disagree with *that*.

I have friends that are engineers but on a broad
basis, engineers are "disagreeable." But they
don't hold a candle to lawyers for disagreement.

I didn't tell you what part of
the spring failed so what makes you think it was
in the hook section?

Experience............................

Contrary to what you might think, people are fully capable of floating
a hypothesis without complete information from you.

Perhaps I may have missed your qualifications as a spring expert.

All I've seen so far is your willingness to bash a group that brings a
lot to modern society.................

cheers
Bob

btw I have a lot freinds who are engineers, none of whom are
"disagreeable.".

George-

You seem to paint with the "broad" brush.

Perhaps you find engineers "disagreeable" simply because they disagree
with YOU.

If this happens a lot maybe you're wrong a lot. :)

cheers
Bob

"BobK207" wrote in message
oups.com...
I didn't tell you what part of
the spring failed so what makes you think it was
in the hook section?

Experience............................

Contrary to what you might think, people are fully capable of floating
a hypothesis without complete information from you.

Perhaps I may have missed your qualifications as a spring expert.

All I've seen so far is your willingness to bash a group that brings a
lot to modern society.................

cheers
Bob

btw I have a lot freinds who are engineers, none of whom are
"disagreeable.".


Hold on! The part that failed was 4 inches from the center "bulkhead"
plate. I'm an engineer as well, but of the communications variety! Easy
Boyz!!!! :~)

BobK207 wrote:
I didn't tell you what part of

the spring failed so what makes you think it was
in the hook section?

Experience............................

It broke about 3 coils from the hook.

Contrary to what you might think, people are fully capable of floating
a hypothesis without complete information from you.

Sure but building an argument on a false
hypothesis is a lot worse than just asking a question.


Perhaps I may have missed your qualifications as a spring expert.

Experience, oh yea, a bit of reading.

All I've seen so far is your willingness to bash a group that brings a
lot to modern society.................

I didn't bring up the idea of engineers. In fact,
my engineer response was primarily toward your god
view of engineers rather than any animosity toward
the engineers I know. However, they make mistake
at about the same rate as everyone else.


cheers
Bob

btw I have a lot freinds who are engineers, none of whom are
"disagreeable.".

BobK207 wrote:
George-

You seem to paint with the "broad" brush.
Yeah a little too much.

Perhaps you find engineers "disagreeable" simply because they disagree
with YOU.

I don't find engineers "disagreeable," that was a
play on words because they disagree a lot.

If this happens a lot maybe you're wrong a lot. :)

cheers
Bob

George-

I might be mistaken but I believe your slam at engineers was first in
the thread.

And please point out my comment that your characterise as

"your god view of engineers"

I must have missed it & again I believe anything I said about engineers
came after your slam.

cheers
Bob

BobK207 wrote:
George-

I might be mistaken but I believe your slam at engineers was first in
the thread.

And please point out my comment that your characterise as

"your god view of engineers"

I must have missed it & again I believe anything I said about engineers
came after your slam.

cheers
Bob


I reviewed the thread, and you are indeed
mistaken. Kinch brought up engineers first. I
never slamed engineers, just stated basic facts of
materials science. However your misinterpretation
and following remarks did lead me to suggest you
had a god-view of engineers.

Cheers back at you.

yup George, you're right I mistakenly attributed Kinch's remarks to you

no we make mistakes, usually big ones; Challenger / Columbia

cheers
Bob