I'm looking for the correct name and any suppliers of off the shelf
expansion spring end fittings.

The type I'm looking for are made of strips of steel about half as wide
as the inside diameter of the spring and are "U" shaped with bent out
formed ends which slip between the coils of the spring on opposite
sides, a few turns from its end.

A hole in the center of the bottom of the "U" accepts a bolt or stud to
connect the spring end to whatever it's pulling on.

The springs I'd use them on are about 1-1/2" diameter.

I think that kind of attachment would survive longer than the classical
loop end made by bending the last turn and a half of the spring so it's
at right angles to the spring axis. That type of end, not usuprisingly,
has a propensity for failing at the bend point.

If you haven't guessed by now I'm talking about garage door tension
springs. Ours always seem to fail at that end loop bend point and I'm
getting ****ed at having to repair or replace one of the four springs on
our two garage doors once every couple of years, it's a dumb ass chore
to do, especially since I have to remove and replace the safety cables I
ran through the springs the first time I saw what an unrestrained
snapped off spring failure did to the wall it slammed into.

I just spent an unexiting hour fixing one tonight by torching and
bending a new end loop on it. I'm thinking the springs would last a heck
of a lot longer if they were fitted with the kind of attachments I
described above.

Thanks guys,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

I just spent an unexiting hour fixing one tonight by torching and
bending a new end loop on it.

Ummm ... heating it up? You know that you ruin any spring by making it
(red) hot.
If you bend the end of a expansion spring (you do that cold), you have
to put the spring into the ofen for some hours at about 200..250 °C to
relief the stress in the bend.


Nick
--
Motor Modelle // Engine Models
http://www.motor-manufaktur.de
DIY-DRO - YADRO - Eigenbau-Digitalanzeige

There's got to be something wrong with the way the original springs
were installed. My (5) garage doors are over 40 years old and the
springs have never been replaced or repaired. They work fine. As stated
before, heating the ends or shortening them up will really screw things
up.
Bugs

Bugs wrote:
There's got to be something wrong with the way the original springs
were installed. My (5) garage doors are over 40 years old and the
springs have never been replaced or repaired. They work fine. As stated
before, heating the ends or shortening them up will really screw things
up.
Bugs


Wouldn't suprise me if they took more care making those springs 40 years
ago in the USA then they have in recent years where G-d knows where they
come from.

I have trouble thinking there could be anything wrong with the
installation. The springs are the proper rated strength for the measured
weight of the door and they just get stretched and released between a
stationary support and the cable pulley yoke. What could be simpler than
that other than never closing the garage door?

And, if spring breakage on those kind of door springs wasn't a fairly
regular happening, they wouldn't bother selling safety cable sets (even
at Sears) and the building codes in many areas wouldn't require them.

As far as screwing up the springs go, I don't think the door will really
notice that one spring is a turn and a half shorter than the other, and
I only apply the torch to the place where I make the end loop bend,
while the two adjacent coil is sprung away from it by a wedge.

Admittedly it's a small sample of four or five spring breaks in the last
dozen years, but every one which broke did so right at the end loop
bend, and the new loops I bent never broke, perhaps because my radiuses
were somewhat more generous than the original ones which were close to
right angle bends.

According to the scribbled note I left on the inside of the door on
which I had to fix a spring last night, I replaced both the springs on
it with brand new ones in December 2000, so it took 5 years for the next
break to happen.

Jeff (Not *really* taking himself too seriously about this 'yknow.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Bugs wrote:
There's got to be something wrong with the way the original springs
were installed. My (5) garage doors are over 40 years old and the
springs have never been replaced or repaired. They work fine. As
stated
before, heating the ends or shortening them up will really screw
things
up.
Bugs


Wouldn't suprise me if they took more care making those springs 40
years
ago in the USA then they have in recent years where G-d knows where
they
come from.

I have trouble thinking there could be anything wrong with the
installation. The springs are the proper rated strength for the
measured
weight of the door and they just get stretched and released between a
stationary support and the cable pulley yoke. What could be simpler
than
that other than never closing the garage door?

And, if spring breakage on those kind of door springs wasn't a fairly
regular happening, they wouldn't bother selling safety cable sets
(even
at Sears) and the building codes in many areas wouldn't require them.

The reason for the safety cables isn't just spring breakage but breakage
of the door cables and the attachment points themselves.


As far as screwing up the springs go, I don't think the door will
really
notice that one spring is a turn and a half shorter than the other,
and
I only apply the torch to the place where I make the end loop bend,
while the two adjacent coil is sprung away from it by a wedge.

Admittedly it's a small sample of four or five spring breaks in the
last
dozen years, but every one which broke did so right at the end loop
bend, and the new loops I bent never broke, perhaps because my
radiuses
were somewhat more generous than the original ones which were close to
right angle bends.

According to the scribbled note I left on the inside of the door on
which I had to fix a spring last night, I replaced both the springs on
it with brand new ones in December 2000, so it took 5 years for the
next
break to happen.

Jeff (Not *really* taking himself too seriously about this 'yknow.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."




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Steve W. wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...


snipped

And, if spring breakage on those kind of door springs wasn't a fairly
regular happening, they wouldn't bother selling safety cable sets

(even

at Sears) and the building codes in many areas wouldn't require them.


The reason for the safety cables isn't just spring breakage but breakage
of the door cables and the attachment points themselves.



Ouch! I was so obcessed with those damn loops stapping of at those sharp
stress inducing bends, that I forgot about the rest of the components
under tension. Prolly because I never personally experienced any of
*them* breaking in a house we've lived in. it's always been those damn
end loops....those damn end loops...those damn.....(ad nauseum.)

That demostrates once again that two (or more) heads are better than one.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Steve W. wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...


snipped

And, if spring breakage on those kind of door springs wasn't a
fairly
regular happening, they wouldn't bother selling safety cable sets


The reason for the safety cables isn't just spring breakage but
breakage
of the door cables and the attachment points themselves.



Ouch! I was so obcessed with those damn loops stapping of at those
sharp
stress inducing bends, that I forgot about the rest of the components
under tension. Prolly because I never personally experienced any of
*them* breaking in a house we've lived in. it's always been those damn
end loops....those damn end loops...those damn.....(ad nauseum.)

That demostrates once again that two (or more) heads are better than
one.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

I've had the end connections pull out of a door one and had a couple of
failures at the pulley. Worst one was at the fire station. We have now
gone to rotary spring assist because of it. That one almost caused a BIG
problem because the cable failed when they were opening the door
en-route to a fire call. Cable just missed one FFs head but hit the
fender on the rig hard enough to crease it.



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