Hey all,

One of my garage door extention springs broke. Checking things out via
google it appears there is now a color code for springs. My old springs did
not have a color code so I weighed the door, I came up with 154lb's. The
door is a 10' x 7' older wooden door in really decent shape. The door
springs of course don't come in 5lb increments as 155 would be ideal. I
cannot find any reference as to if you should go to the next larger size or
go to the smaller size. Red is for 150lb's, Brown is for 160lb's. Anyone
know which springs I should use?

Thanks,
-Brian

When I broke one a couple of years ago, I simply took the broken one to
a local garage door outfit. They looked at it, and simply gave me the
right spring. DO be careful, as those suckers are under a LOT of
tension!

professorpaul wrote:
When I broke one a couple of years ago, I simply took the broken one to
a local garage door outfit. They looked at it, and simply gave me the
right spring. DO be careful, as those suckers are under a LOT of
tension!

I'd go to the next larger spring. I had similar problem and weighed
the door. I wound up having to go 2 sizes up to get it balanced
correctly. Also, the old spring was a lot larger diameter than the
ones available today at the home centers. Not sure what quality/kind
of spring you'd find today at a garage door company vs HD.

Also, make sure you use safety cables. They were not common in older
doors. The new springs will come with them. And replace in sets.

wrote in message
oups.com...

professorpaul wrote:
When I broke one a couple of years ago, I simply took the broken one to
a local garage door outfit. They looked at it, and simply gave me the
right spring. DO be careful, as those suckers are under a LOT of
tension!

I'd go to the next larger spring. I had similar problem and weighed
the door. I wound up having to go 2 sizes up to get it balanced
correctly. Also, the old spring was a lot larger diameter than the
ones available today at the home centers. Not sure what quality/kind
of spring you'd find today at a garage door company vs HD.

Also, make sure you use safety cables. They were not common in older
doors. The new springs will come with them. And replace in sets.


Thanks all, off to pick up a couple 160's, hopefully the right choice.

-Brian

Brian V wrote:
,,,

Thanks all, off to pick up a couple 160's, hopefully the right choice.

Probably too late, but I'd still opt for taking them w/ you and getting
them matched unless obviously too weak or too strong previously...

"dpb" wrote in message
ups.com...

Brian V wrote:
,,,

Thanks all, off to pick up a couple 160's, hopefully the right choice.

Probably too late, but I'd still opt for taking them w/ you and getting
them matched unless obviously too weak or too strong previously...


Thats where the problem started. This actually started about a month
ago, thats when one of the springs broke, there was no color code on it, age
unknown, atleast 15yrs. I started at Home Depot, they were useless then
brought it to a place that installs garage doors, they asked me a bunch of
questions, ie what the door was made of, dimmensions etc and they gave me a
couple replacement springs, a couple cables and 2 safety wires that run thru
the springs and said to do them in pairs, just like everything on the web
recomends. I installed them and the door opened on it's own so I assumed I
did something wrong and had to loosend the springs a whole lot just to get
the garage to stay closed. Loosened them so much that when it's open all the
way the open the springs just hang there.
Yesterday I was out cleaning the garage and said let me take a look at
the springs again as it was on my "honey do list". Double checked on the web
that I was doing the cables and everything correctly, I was. All the
websites said springs are based on the weight of the door, so I decided to
weigh it, it came in at 154 (did it a few times to verify, opener and
current springs disconnected). The springs the door place gave me are Green
220's which are the same length but almost twice diameter than of the
original springs, I questioned them on the diameter then and they said thats
how the new ones come for my style door wooden door...explains the magical
automatic opening of the door! Can find anything about different diameters
on the web, but all the sites say to match what you currently have, but do
not say that a 3"Green is ABC pounds and a 1.5" Green is DEF pounds.
Unfortunately the old springs were thrown away a few weeks ago or I
would have waited until tommorow and brought them to another place. Got the
160's now, trying to find the motivation to go out and change them....the
couch is looking way too tempting today on a cold a rainy day here in MA.

-Brian

Brian V wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message
ups.com...

Brian V wrote:
,,,

Thanks all, off to pick up a couple 160's, hopefully the right choice.

Probably too late, but I'd still opt for taking them w/ you and getting
them matched unless obviously too weak or too strong previously...


Thats where the problem started. This actually started about a month
ago, thats when one of the springs broke, there was no color code on it, age
unknown, atleast 15yrs. I started at Home Depot, they were useless then
brought it to a place that installs garage doors, they asked me a bunch of
questions, ie what the door was made of, dimmensions etc and they gave me a
couple replacement springs, a couple cables and 2 safety wires that run thru
the springs and said to do them in pairs, just like everything on the web
recomends. I installed them and the door opened on it's own so I assumed I
did something wrong and had to loosend the springs a whole lot just to get
the garage to stay closed. Loosened them so much that when it's open all the
way the open the springs just hang there.
Yesterday I was out cleaning the garage and said let me take a look at
the springs again as it was on my "honey do list". Double checked on the web
that I was doing the cables and everything correctly, I was. All the
websites said springs are based on the weight of the door, so I decided to
weigh it, it came in at 154 (did it a few times to verify, opener and
current springs disconnected). The springs the door place gave me are Green
220's which are the same length but almost twice diameter than of the
original springs, I questioned them on the diameter then and they said thats
how the new ones come for my style door wooden door...explains the magical
automatic opening of the door! Can find anything about different diameters
on the web, but all the sites say to match what you currently have, but do
not say that a 3"Green is ABC pounds and a 1.5" Green is DEF pounds.
Unfortunately the old springs were thrown away a few weeks ago or I
would have waited until tommorow and brought them to another place. Got the
160's now, trying to find the motivation to go out and change them....the
couch is looking way too tempting today on a cold a rainy day here in MA.

-Brian



In this case, so much for the local shop that specializes in garage
doors being better than a scale and Homo Depot.