When there is a breakdown of your garage door at home, it is never a pleasant event. You may have heard a loud pop noise while attempting to operate the garage door. This noise may sound like a gun shot, but after looking around your garage, you will soon find out something in the system have been broken. If you try to operate the garage door after you’ve heard the pop sound, you will notice the garage door won’t respond as it should. If you take a closer look above the door, you will notice that the garage door spring (sometimes two of them) has been broken in half and now you are in need of a garage door spring replacement.
So you spot the damage and you ask yourself what could have caused it? Were there any symptoms that were ignored? If you read thus far, continue reading and you’ll soon find out the main reasons and causes for a broken garage door spring.
The garage door spring system
In order to learn more about what can cause a garage door spring to break, first you need to learn a little about the garage door springs and their part in a garage door system. When it comes to a home garage door, you will normally find two types of springs, torsion and extension.
Torsion spring – This type of spring is in a form of a roll that is normally located above the garage door when it is in the closed position. It will be attached to the wall as the door weight will transfer every time it is opened or closed.
Extension spring – These types of springs normally can be found on each side of the garage door over the horizontal tracks. The source of then name comes from their design to extend in order to lift or lower the garage door during operation. One thing it is important to know about a garage door system that is equipped with extension springs is that safety cables are always important to be a part of such system. If that is not the case with your garage door, we recommend contacting a professional garage door repair Spokane company as soon as possible to inspect the system and install safety cables. That way, if one of the springs breaks, it will not jump and hit something in the garage or even land on your car as such case can be dangerous overall.
It is important to understand that the main job of a spring system in a garage door is to counterweight the weight of the door when it opened or closed. The garage door spring system balances the weight of the door so the electric opener will be able to smoothly operate it without much stress. That goes to operating the door manually as well. If the opener malfunction, you need to be able to open or close the garage door manually, this will not be possible without a proper working garage door spring system. So when a garage door spring breaks, have a garage door spring replacement as soon as possible by a professional garage door repair Spokane company.
The causes of a broken garage door spring
Wear – It doesn’t really matter the type of spring your garage door system is equipped with (extension or torsion), the life span of a spring can be anywhere between 5 to 7 years depending on the amount of cycles it will go through. The average cycle of a garage door spring is 10,000 which counts as opening and closing of the door.
Manufacturer defect – Its unlikely but still possible to have a defective spring installed. Depending on the type of spring system you have, on an extension spring, the ring at the end would normally break. On a torsion spring, low quality galvanizing would do the trick that will put you in need for a garage door spring replacement.
Spring calibration – It is possible that the wrong spring system was installed. Even in that situation, the garage door would still operate but there would be more stress that would apply to the spring, opener, and door. The calibration of a spring is important and is done according to the type and weight of the door. So if a spring that was calibrated to a door the weight 100 lb. was installed on a door the weight 150 lb. it would cause more stress on the system and would break prematurely forcing you to call a professional for a garage door spring replacement.
Lack of maintenance – It’s no secret that a garage door system and its components require some sort of regular upkeep to ensure smooth operation and to extend the life of the system as much as possible. The recommended maintenance for a garage door system is lubrication of all metal contact points twice a year at least, normally before the beginning of the summer or winter seasons.
Extend the life of the spring system and avoid an early replacement
You can start by lubricating the garage door springs a minimum of once a year. The recommended lubricant type is just a standard petroleum-based oil applied around the coils using a dry cloth. This will eliminate any odd noises when spring stretches and release to ensure smooth operation. You can always call a professional such as Premier Garage Door Repair Spokane to do tune-ups and garage door maintenance for you.
