Get a professional. Those things can kill you.

"Buck" wrote in message
...
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to
replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!

One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!

Yes, it can be done by yourself, BUT, you need proper tools and you'll need
to know how many turns to wind it. If you've never done it before, it's best
to get someone who has and watch and learn.

--
Steve Barker


"Buck" wrote in message
...
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to
replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!

On Feb 2, 7:08 am, "Buck" wrote:
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!

Buck-

First a few questions.......

are you reasonably handy / mechanically inclined?

can you / have you worked successfully & safely with powerful tools
(table saw, chainsaw, firearms, etc) that if used incorrectly can hurt
or kill you (or others)?

check out this site

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

After reading it & you understand it & feel competent to rewind the
springs.....go for it.

Like others have posted, these things are powerful & can hurt you
(maybe even kill you)

Doing it yourself (alone) for the first time is not without risk.

cheers
Bob

On Feb 2, 9:08 am, "Buck" wrote:
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!

Do'nt try it alone,,have a Friend with a phone..The one that's still
in place *should* be tensioned correctly,,the spiral lines on the one
that did'nt come loose *should be* the amount of spirals(painted
lines) for the other one too..That's how new ones are installed
anyway,,if for some reason the door needs different tension on one
side there could be some other problem..
Tensioning springs for a tall door for a Semi-tractor storage
unit from atop a 12' stepladder was a REAL adventure,,,then had to do
it again on the other end so the driver would'nt need to back out! The
Forman was telling stories of when He let a smaller one loose and had
to cut His long sleeve loose from the spring so He did'nt loose His
arm as I was winding! I'm glad I'm not the "Grunt" anymore!!
Use the proper extensins for the winding pegs and never release
pressure on the 1st while positioning the 2nd..Have the wrench to
tighten the set screw right there handy too,,inspect everything for
possible replacement..
One slip and Yer a hurtin unit fer sure!! I agree with Whoever said
to call an overhead door guy,,it's good advice..
Dean

On Feb 2, 10:08 am, "Buck" wrote:
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!

Oh no, not the dreaded garage door torsion spring question...

YOU"LL DIE !!!! Run from the house and don't go back until a highly
trained board certified vehicle entrance portal technician performs
the necessary repairs. Even then not until a thorough inspection has
been performed by local, county, state and federal inspectors.

I pretty much agree with the other posters on getting skilled labor,
I've done it twice, perhaps more out of ignorance and bravado than
knowledge and skill. My method is: 2 pieces of 1/2" rod 1 1/2 - 3'
long, (rebar will work but not ideal). As you wind, the upper bar is
inserted as soon as the hole is available, and serves as the next
pull / safety. They have to be way tighter than you imagine, and it is
indeed dangerous should you; lose your grip, have a rod slip out, or
have the spring or any part of the assembly let go while you are
working on it. I have usually tightened it as much as I imagined it to
need, tightened the set screws, put down the tools and done a run
through. That gave me an idea just how much additional tension was
needed.

Buck wrote:
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!


Hi,
Safety first! Let pros handle it.
Once I almost lost a finger, never again!

"Buck" wrote in message
...
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to
replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!



Ok, ok. Looks like it's unanimous. I saw the info at
http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm and being quite mechanically inclined I
thought I might give it a go. I called around - looks like it's cost me
$200 - 300. Strange though how the spring did not break, it just popped off
the holder at the middle of the rod...

"Buck" wrote in message
...

"Buck" wrote in message
...
One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set
screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to
replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!



Ok, ok. Looks like it's unanimous. I saw the info at
http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm and being quite mechanically inclined I
thought I might give it a go. I called around - looks like it's cost me
$200 - 300. Strange though how the spring did not break, it just popped
off
the holder at the middle of the rod...



It's not that big of a deal if you have some common sense.
Go to http://www.garagedoorsupply.com/tors...tallation.html and
start at step 5

Rich
http://www.garagedoorsupply.com

On Fri, 2 Feb 2007 10:08:32 -0500, "Buck"
wrote:

One of the springs is unwound but not broken. Looks like a the set screws
came loose. I Googled for info & only found lots of stuff on how to replace
the springs. Can I simply wind this spring back up? Should I unwind the
other first to make sure both springs are equal?

Thanks!


I did the same repairs. Simple safety precautions should get your
there. You do not need to unwind the other spring to wind up the
"sprung" one. You need two half inch diameter steel rods to fit into
the holes on the spring's boss and use those as levers to rewind the
spring. You can buy the rod from HD or Lowes. It is 30" or 36"
long, cut into two and they will provide a lot of leverage to wind
the spring with. The safety precaution is stand aside, away from the
arc of the rods, but in a comfortable and efficient (to crank the
levers) position. Should you somehow slip or let go of the rod the
backlash won't hit you. Also wear work gloves so that if you have to
take a rest while winding the spring you can ease the rods to a rest
position without getting your fingers pinched. Its a good idea to
have a friend to watch you in case you need temporary help hold the
rods while you catch your breath for example. Paint a straight line
across the spring before you start. As you wind the spring it will
develop a spiral and give you a good idea of how many turns you made.
The paint spiral should roughly match the other spring's. Make one or
two test runs, by doing a few turns without getting to any significant
tension, to get a good feel of how to manipulate the rods, tightening
the set screws and the cable, etc., Finally wind the spring as tight
as you can. Then tighten the set screws, run the cable, etc. and test
the door. Any unevenness in the spring tension will be obvious.
Increase or decrease the spring tension as necessary.

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:45:18 GMT, PaPaPeng wrote:

Finally wind the spring as tight
as you can. Then tighten the set screws, run the cable, etc. and test
the door. Any unevenness in the spring tension will be obvious.
Increase or decrease the spring tension as necessary.


You're going to get this guy hurt. You don't know what you're talking
about, and it is glaringly obvious.

Don't "wind as tight as you can"!!! He can break the spring easily
that way, or worse increase the chance of a winding bar coming out and
hurting him.

There are 28 quarter winds (4 complete spring revolutions) on a 7'
high door, you multiply door height by four to calculate the quarter
winds.

Also, don't paint the spring! The paint will cause the individual
coils to stick together, resulting in bunching and rough operation.
Besides, you can not judge tension just by looking at it.

Coal Miner wrote:
On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:45:18 GMT, PaPaPeng wrote:

Finally wind the spring as tight
as you can. Then tighten the set screws, run the cable, etc. and
test the door. Any unevenness in the spring tension will be obvious.
Increase or decrease the spring tension as necessary.


You're going to get this guy hurt. You don't know what you're talking
about, and it is glaringly obvious.

Don't "wind as tight as you can"!!! He can break the spring easily
that way, or worse increase the chance of a winding bar coming out and
hurting him.

There are 28 quarter winds (4 complete spring revolutions) on a 7'
high door, you multiply door height by four to calculate the quarter
winds.

Also, don't paint the spring! The paint will cause the individual
coils to stick together, resulting in bunching and rough operation.
Besides, you can not judge tension just by looking at it.

That's even more factual than what I was going to say. Thanks! It's
amazing how many people are indifferent to, or actually enjoy the pain they
can try to impress upon others.
Even better yet, there are web sites that will help with it if one takes
a few minutes to do the research. Which I'm not interested enough to do
since I think this job should be farmed out due the the OPs initial phrasing
of the question.
It was also stupid to start another thread, which disconnected it from
all the preceding information.

Pop`

WIND the spring as tight as you can?!?! are you insane?

--
Steve Barker


"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
Make one or
two test runs, by doing a few turns without getting to any significant
tension, to get a good feel of how to manipulate the rods, tightening
the set screws and the cable, etc., Finally wind the spring as tight
as you can. Then tighten the set screws, run the cable, etc. and test
the door. Any unevenness in the spring tension will be obvious.
Increase or decrease the spring tension as necessary.

This is wrong also! The number of quarter turns is dictated by the weight
of the door AND the caliber / length of the spring. There are several
different calibers of springs, and the lengths are infinite.

--
Steve Barker


"Coal Miner" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:45:18 GMT, PaPaPeng wrote:

Finally wind the spring as tight
as you can. Then tighten the set screws, run the cable, etc. and test
the door. Any unevenness in the spring tension will be obvious.
Increase or decrease the spring tension as necessary.


You're going to get this guy hurt. You don't know what you're talking
about, and it is glaringly obvious.

Don't "wind as tight as you can"!!! He can break the spring easily
that way, or worse increase the chance of a winding bar coming out and
hurting him.

There are 28 quarter winds (4 complete spring revolutions) on a 7'
high door, you multiply door height by four to calculate the quarter
winds.

Also, don't paint the spring! The paint will cause the individual
coils to stick together, resulting in bunching and rough operation.
Besides, you can not judge tension just by looking at it.

Steve Barker writes:

This is wrong also! The number of quarter turns is dictated by the
weight of the door AND the caliber / length of the spring.

You're both wrong. Full turns equal the height of the door travel, divided
by the drum circumference, plus about a half a turn. Opening the door with
insufficient winding will lead to slack cables hopping off the drums, and
then disaster, so the extra half turn is important.

On Sat, 3 Feb 2007 17:25:23 -0600, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

WIND the spring as tight as you can?!?! are you insane?


I am of average height and strength. I am already 65 and still have
all my body parts in good shape.The first try got me within two
quarter turns of the right tension to fix my door. Those springs were
not designed for supermen with super skills to install, just average
guys like me and most people. Those technicians would need at most a
high school education and a few on the job practices to learn how to
install garage doors. If they can do it so can you. Just exercise
some common sense regarding safety. You would know by feel if you are
over tensioning the spring and it would take Hercules to break one.
Its more of a problem to get enough tension than to over tension.
There was a time when a curious kid would take apart everything he
could put a screwdriver to and then put it back together. Later on
one learned to rebuild one's car, fix the appliances around the house,
etc. Many of you guys seem to need to call a specialist to change
your flashlight batteries these days.

Richard J Kinch writes:
Steve Barker writes:

This is wrong also! The number of quarter turns is dictated by the
weight of the door AND the caliber / length of the spring.

You're both wrong. Full turns equal the height of the door travel, divided
by the drum circumference, plus about a half a turn. Opening the door with
insufficient winding will lead to slack cables hopping off the drums, and
then disaster, so the extra half turn is important.

The number of turns = door height / (drum diameter * pi).
Should be about 5 for most doors.

If you start with the door in the full up position, you
can get everything connected without tensioning the
springs. Then lower the door and increase the tension
to fit and suit. You should be able to readily lift
the door with one hand when it's adjusted correctly.

Tensioning the springs as much as possible may allow
launching the door into low Earth orbit.

Everett M. Greene writes:

The number of turns = door height / (drum diameter * pi).
Should be about 5 for most doors.

WRONG.

If you start with the door in the full up position, you
can get everything connected without tensioning the
springs.

WRONG AND HAZARDOUS.

At:

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

See the section on "Why Can't You Install the Springs Unwound, with the
Door in the Up Position?".

Richard J Kinch writes:
Everett M. Greene writes:

The number of turns = door height / (drum diameter * pi).
Should be about 5 for most doors.

WRONG.

And what's wrong with it?

If you start with the door in the full up position, you
can get everything connected without tensioning the
springs.

WRONG AND HAZARDOUS.

Everything is hazardous to life. I'll be you don't have
the blade guard installed on your table saw.

At:

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

See the section on "Why Can't You Install the Springs Unwound, with the
Door in the Up Position?".

Having done it, I wonder why I couldn't.

Everett M. Greene writes:

And what's wrong with it?

Everything. Method and results.

Richard J Kinch writes:
Everett M. Greene writes:

And what's wrong with it?

Everything. Method and results.

Very enlightening.

Method:

C = pi * D (geometry 101)

Unstated assumption of D = 6"

turns = distance / C

Results:

approx. 5 turns. Actually, less for typical 7' garage door

Now what's wrong?

On Tue, 6 Feb 2007 12:29:29 PST, (Everett
M. Greene) wrote:

Richard J Kinch writes:
Everett M. Greene writes:

And what's wrong with it?

Everything. Method and results.

Very enlightening.

Method:

C = pi * D (geometry 101)

Unstated assumption of D = 6"

turns = distance / C

Results:

approx. 5 turns. Actually, less for typical 7' garage door

Now what's wrong?


Your objective? You appear to be trying to arrange the
spring tension to be zero when the door's fully raised.

What you should be trying to do is match the spring
tension as closely as possible to the load that the
door puts on the spring through it's entire range
of motion, while never letting the sum of forces
be small enough (or negative) to let the door bind
when you're trying to let it down. That is,
if the door has an automatic hoist. If it's all
manual, then you need the spring to EXCEED the
applied weight of the door in the up position.

Everett M. Greene writes:

Now what's wrong?

The application requires a different formula.

The drum size assumption is wrong.

See my page at: http://www.truetex.com/garage.htm

Goedjn writes:
(Everett M. Greene) wrote:
Richard J Kinch writes:
Everett M. Greene writes:

And what's wrong with it?

Everything. Method and results.

Very enlightening.

Method:

C = pi * D (geometry 101)

Unstated assumption of D = 6"

turns = distance / C

Results:

approx. 5 turns. Actually, less for typical 7' garage door

Now what's wrong?

Your objective? You appear to be trying to arrange the
spring tension to be zero when the door's fully raised.

My objective was to show approximately how many turns
would be needed. Something more will undoubtedly will
be needed to obtain proper and desired operation.

I was also trying to smoke out something more useful
than "you're wrong" from someone named Kinch.

What you should be trying to do is match the spring
tension as closely as possible to the load that the
door puts on the spring through it's entire range
of motion, while never letting the sum of forces
be small enough (or negative) to let the door bind
when you're trying to let it down. That is,
if the door has an automatic hoist. If it's all
manual, then you need the spring to EXCEED the
applied weight of the door in the up position.

Adjust to fit, paint to match.