garage door springs 

Torsion springs and extension springs are the two major types of garage door springs. Standard Residential Torsion Springs, Standard Commercial Torsion Springs, EZ-SET Torsion Springs, Torquemaster Torsion Springs, Mini-Warehouse Torsion Springs, and Steel Rolling Door Torsion Springs are the five styles of garage door torsion springs that have been developed. Sectional garage door extension springs and one-piece garage door extension springs are the two designs that were used in the engineering of garage door extension springs.

Introduction

Garage door springs balance the door's weight so that it is simple to open and close. They provide the same function as counterweights, which were utilised to balance doors both historically and in many modern doors. For instance, a 100-pound garage door requires a 100-pound spring force to pull against the door's weight. To achieve this, certain pieces can be stretched or torqued by springs to help balance the door.

The torque in a wrapped torsion spring or the stretch in an expanded extension spring make replacing garage door springs risky. Replacement of garage door components connected to the spring system is a common element of garage door maintenance, and failure to comprehend the forces at play has resulted in numerous accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Safe repairs require a thorough understanding of garage door springs, weights, and components, as well as how these are connected.

Garage Door Torsion Springs

Torsion garage door springs are fastened to a metal shaft above the garage door. The shaft may occasionally house the spring or, depending on the system, it may pass through the centre of the springs. If the shaft runs through the centre of the torsion spring, the spring may be positioned at the shaft's end at the garage door's exterior edge or in the middle of the shaft.

Torque is applied to the shaft with drums at each end by the tension springs to balance the garage door. Each drum has a cable attached to it that runs to the bottom fixture at the bottom of the door and is fastened to it. As the door opens and closes, the torsion spring unwinds and winds to create a balanced system.

The lift and cycle life of torsion springs are determined by three factors. The length, internal diameter, and wire size make up these characteristics. The spring's torque determines the lift, which indicates how much door weight it can support. The cycle life indicates how many openings and closings should occur before the spring snaps.

Standard Torsion Springs

The most typical home torsion springs used in the garage door industry are standard torsion springs.

One or two springs are generally used in residential garage doors. One spring will be adequate for a garage door that is lighter. In that situation, mounting the torsion spring to the spring anchor bracket in the shaft's centre above the garage door springs is an option. Other times, the spring has an offset mount, which prevents the spring anchor bracket from being installed above the centre of the garage door.

Two torsion springs are normally fastened to the spring anchor bracket above the middle of the garage door if two are required to balance the door. In the event that one spring breaks while the door is open, having two springs on the garage door often makes it safer. After then, the other spring will prevent the garage door from falling and hurting someone or harming the garage door springs or other items of property.

EZ-SET Torsion

Torsion springs made with EZ-SET look extremely similar to those made with regular torsion springs, however the hardware is very different. The shaft is 1" in diameter, and door installers mount EZ-SET springs to winders on its ends. The right or left side of the garage door springs  is indicated by the letter "R" or "L" on the black winder.

Similar to ordinary household torsion springs, one or two springs usually fit on the shaft. Even though the majority of two-car garages feature two EZ-SET torsion springs. In this instance, the spring is often installed on the garage door's left side.

Some of the larger garage doors have two shafts connected by a coupler in the middle. In situations when there is not much room between the end of the shaft and the wall, this additional piece of hardware can let you replace your EZ-SET torsion springs quickly and easily.

The central support bracket for double-car garage doors, whether they have one spring or two springs, is present (pictured). This bracket won't be present on single-car garage doors because nothing usually supports the shaft's midsection.

Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster Torsion

Even more safely than Clopay's EZ-SET system, Wayne Dalton's TorqueMaster torsion spring system is engineered to work. One or two springs are nestled inside the shaft of the garage door springs . One-quarter of the shaft extends outward to form an edge, causing the cross section of the shaft to be noncircular. The fixed cone, which fits the shaft's shape, keeps the spring secured inside the shaft.

The TorqueMaster spring has a winding cone on the opposite end that continues past the shaft's end and goes into the cable drum, just like older garage doors. The torsion spring can be coiled using an electric drill since the winding cone fits inside a unique winder. More recent doors with Torquemaster garage door springs are coiled ratchet-style with a wrench or socket.

The shaft's ends, which are made of plastic, are supported by cable drums. The TorqueMaster is made by Wayne Dalton and has three or four grooves that are raised above the others. The remaining grooves were placed such that the cable would have a 2" diameter as it wound around the drum.

A round component at the shaft's centre attaches to the middle support bracket. The circular component remains on the central bracket and rotates with the shaft as the garage door opens.

Standard Commercial Torsion

Typically, commercial and industrial garage doors contain two or more torsion springs. In one of four setups—linear, duplex, triplex, or mixed—many of these doors use four or more torsion springs.

When heavy trucks need to enter through wider garage doors, the linear method is more frequently used. These garage doors are often broader, making it simple to line up four or more torsion garage door springs on the shaft. Customers installing linear systems benefit from lower spring and spring hardware expenses compared to those of duplex/triplex spring systems.

Only two very massive springs, one on each side of the garage door springs , appear to be part of the duplex system. However, there is another spring with a smaller internal diameter inside of each torsion spring. The duplex spring system eliminates the additional space on the shaft required by a wider garage door system while yet supplying increased torque and lift from the torsion springs.

Similar in operation to the duplex system is the triplex system. Two springs are housed inside the outer spring in this arrangement.

As you might have guessed, the mixed system combines elements of both the linear and duplex/triplex systems. On either half of the garage door, mixed systems use multiple sets of duplex or triplex springs. When the garage door shaft is long enough to support numerous springs, this becomes an option for installers. It is occasionally a preferable alternative to have many pairs of duplex spring sets on the garage door springs if one of these garage doors weighs a lot.

However, users of the duplex and triplex systems frequently have trouble spotting a potential broken inner spring.

Commercial and industrial doors typically weigh more than residential doors, hence the torsion springs utilised in these situations typically have a greater interior diameter and wire size. Some doors utilise shafts with a 1-1/4" outside diameter for the springs, but many doors use shafts with a 1" outside diameter. Only bearings, cable drums, and winding cones with 1-1/4" shaft apertures can use these shafts. While lighter doors typically use hollow shafts, heavier doors frequently employ solid shafts. When combined with a shaft key, the groove down the length of some solid shafts that are keyed provides can assist prevent the cable drums from spinning loose.

Steel Rolling Door Torsion Springs

Unlike the majority of garage doors, steel rolling doors are not formed of parts. Instead, they are connected by slats that interlock, giving the door more movement when it opens. The rising garage door springs wraps a barrel securely thanks to the added mobility.

Torsion spring that is fixed inside barrel. To make the door simpler to open and close, the spring counterbalances the door weight. The barrel stays closed on both ends, obscuring the interior springs. Some heavier steel rolling doors employ numerous springs to balance the additional door weight, however typical doors simply have one spring.

There are two head plates on the barrel, one on each side. Two shaft pieces enter the barrel through a bearing in the head plates. The shafts are supported by idler brackets inside the barrel. These brackets are secured to the barrel with pins or screws.

The torsion springs are supported by the shaft. A spring anchor bracket is used on one of the idler brackets to secure the torsion spring. Although some springs have a unique loop at the end that is fastened to the barrel with a rod, the other end of the spring normally has a cone that is fixed to the shaft with set screws.

The steel rolling door features a winding unit on one side. A piece of angle is fastened to the head plate above the winding wheel. This supports a bolt that holds the shaft in place by resting inside the winder. By placing a winding bar in another hole in the winding wheel, drawing down on the bar, and removing the bolt to allow the wheel and shaft to turn, you can change the spring tension. By reducing the winding on the winding wheel, spring tension is added. On the other side of the barrel, a shaft is connected by a sprocket assembly. To operate the door, installers often attach an opener or a chain hoist to this unit.

self-storage roll-up doors

Self-storage roll-up doors function similarly to steel rolling doors in this regard. These doors can be found in self-storage facilities. They come in a wide range of widths and heights and are additionally known as mini-warehouse doors and one-piece curtain doors.

Mini-warehouse doors are rolled out of a single piece of steel by manufacturers. Mini-warehouse doors use single-piece curtains in contrast to steel rolling doors, which use interlocking slats. The drums, which are fastened to the shaft, are encircled by the curtain as the entrance opens. Roll-up doors can also be referred to as steel rolling doors or one-piece curtain doors as a result.

The axle has circular drums spaced along it. As the door opens, these components aid in supporting the curtain. As seen in the illustration, a bolt holds the torsion springs to the outermost drum. Each door is typically balanced by two torsion springs, one at each end of the shaft.

The door bracket is directly outside the door and is where the opposite end of the torsion spring is fastened. This bracket, the centre of the torsion spring, and the drums are all where the axle passes.

Doors made by some manufacturers, such Janus International and Trac-Rite, come with a specific tension adjustment wheel, whereas those made by other manufacturers, like DCBI, don't. Rollup doors without tension adjusters typically have springs that are visible when the door is open. The drums of those with tension adjusters frequently have a steel wrapping that shields the springs from view.

Garage Door Extension Springs

Garage door extension springs are often positioned above the horizontal tracks or along the sides of the garage door. As the door opens and closes, extension springs expand and contract to balance the door's weight.

There are typically only two extension springs on residential garage doors, one on each side. But there are some home and commercial doors that have many springs fitted on each side.

To attach an extension spring to a pulley, pivot pin, frame, or tension-adjustment bolt, they can have open loops, closed loops, or clipped ends.

Sectional

The type of extension springs installed most frequently in the United States are sectional garage door springs. These springs extend above and side by side with the horizontal tracks. They tug on the cables to counterbalance the garage door springs. The weight of the door increases as it closes as it is transferred from the tracks to the cables, but the springs are also stretching and pulling against the cables to balance the door and make it simpler to operate.

Almost always, there are two springs in a residential garage, one on each side of the door. Each spring often has an open-eye bolt attached to one end. Typically, this bolt is attached to a beam in the garage frame or to the angle iron holding the track.

Usually, a pulley fork is used to secure a pulley to the other end of the extension spring. An adjustment clip for the cable is fastened to the end of the cable that crosses this pulley. Both the horizontal track and this clip are connected by an S-hook. The other end of this wire passes over a second pulley and descends to a fixture at the bottom of the garage door's bottom part.

Do you have extension springs for sectional garage door springs? For more information and to place a new spring order, see our page on sectional garage door extension springs.

The extension arrangement of commercial and industrial overhead doors is fairly similar to that of domestic garage doors. There can be a unique kit that joins the ends of several extension springs on heavier doors. This makes it possible to simultaneously stretch two or more springs on each side of the garage door springs.

One-Piece Garage Door Extension

One-piece garage doors work as one big component, as the name suggests. The bottom of the door rises outside the garage as the top of the door moves within the garage, typically on tracks. To balance the weight of the door, extension springs strain on a pivot pin or a connecting point.

Weatherstripping this style of door is not possible because the bottom of the door moves both in and out of the garage. One-piece garage doors are therefore more common in regions with milder temperatures.

Extension garage door springs are used in one-piece garage door systems to counterbalance the door. For a total of 2 or 4 springs on the door, these doors normally use one or two extension springs on each side.

A door jamb bracket, which is fastened to an adjustable bolt, holds the spring's bottom in place. A huge pivot pin or bolt is covered by a loop or a clip at the top of the spring. The upward-extending garage door springs are almost perpendicular to the garage floor. The spring's opposite end is secured to the arm of a lever. The garage door is linked to the lever arm. The extension spring shortens and loses some of its elasticity as you open the door.