How Do I Know If My Garage Door Spring Is Broken?
With so many features in your property garage door is the most essential one. Besides safeguarding all the stuff and belongings stored in the garage, it serves as the second entry point to your home. Like any other house feature in your property, the garage door is utilized a lot, exposing it to inevitable wear and tear. The most affected parts being the garage door springs or torsion springs. This spring helps keep the condition of the door operating. If it’s broken and you don’t want to replace it, you can consider getting a professional garage door repairs specialist for a dexterous repair. But before that, there are several signs you need to look out for so you can know whether you have a broken garage door spring.
Remember, if any part of the garage door is broken, the general functionality of the door is compromised. Here are the major signs;
Heavy Door
After using your garage for some time, you already know the weight of the door. If you feel that it’s heavy than usual and you are experiencing difficulty opening it, most likely, the torsion springs of your garage door are broken. The extension spring is responsible for supporting the door weight, and once it breaks, the door will automatically become so heavy.
Garage Door Only Open Up To 6 Inches
Once the springs are not working accordingly, it will be hard for the door to open to the maximum.
If you push the wall button for the garage door to open and only go up to 6 inches, then it’s faulty. Most garage door manufacturers have installed force or sensitivity safety feature that causes the opener to stop pushing the door up. Essentially, this is a good feature because it prevents more damages to the garage door.
Another situation is when the garage door opens up sluggishly when you use an automatic opener. There are doors with DC motors installed, which open up slowly then kick up at a greater speed. With a faulty spring, the opener remains slower, and the speediness doesn’t increase. If this happens, try closing the garage door then pull the release rope. Then, try lifting the door and see whether it opens normally. If it’s still heavy, most probably, the spring is already broken.
Loud Bang
If one garage door spring is broken, a massive amount of energy is banished. Garage doors have torsion springs mounted with a shaft running in the center. Once the shaft break, the springs wind down, creating a loud bang within a second as a result of coils whirling on the shaft. Apart from irritating noise, this can be hazardous if there is no safety cable running at the center of the torsion spring. When the shaft breaks, it’s the safety cable that keeps the spring intact.
Sometimes the noise or the loud bang might sound like someone trying to gain entry into the garage. In some instances, you might be unable to open the door. In such cases, it’s crucial to contact a garage door repairs technician immediately. They will determine whether the door can be repaired, or if it will, requires a complete door spring replacement.
A Gap In Torsion Spring
The torsion spring is usually firmly stung in the garage door. When broken, it unwinds, creating a visible gap. As soon as the springs break the cables, they can either fall, slack, or become loose. The door will be unable to deliver its full functionality, and you as well will find it hard operating the door. This particular problem can’t be DIY since you might worsen the situation. It is vital that you seek professional assistance from garage door repairs experts right away.
Broken Cables
When you see the cables on the ground, it means that they are already disconnected. You can also find them being caught up in the middle of the garage door and the jamb. If the door has two springs, when one breaks, the other one will preserve the cables fitted on the drums.
Cables rarely break, but it doesn’t mean that can’t happen. What you need to do is to ensure that your garage door is regularly checked and maintained by a certified garage door repairs company. Remember, your safety can be compromised if you operate the garage door while the cables are broken.
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