Garage door spring question

[Edwin Pawlowski]

That is why they run a cable through the springs now. Keeps them from flying.

[Rich256]

That helps but the springs for solid door mechanisms are mounted near the floor. Still quite dangerous. The big springs like I had in that heavy door were able to break most cables. When I switched to double springs and ran the cable through both of them it was a lot safer as only one spring would be expected to break.

[Charles Pisano]

Glad I read this thread. My springs are over the top of the door frame. Is that the dangerous one.. I don't like pain..

CP

[Rich256]

wound up or expanded springs are always dangerous. They store a lot of energy. However, yours are not dangerous if they break as they are held in place by the shaft. The expansion types are the ones that can go flying around the garage when they break.

When working on your type you still must exercise some care. The door must be firmly blocked open to take the tension off the spring.

One fellow told me he unfastened the brackets to an expansion type spring while the door was closed. He is probably lucky to be alive. That is something like a four foot spring a couple inches in diameter, expanded to eight feet.

I looked around the web hoping to find a picture of a mechanism like that used on the big solid door. It was mounted on the wall next to the door. Heavy springs were at about 45 degrees starting at the bottom of the door and slanted away from it, right next to where you would walk. When one of mine broke the whole house shook. It broke near the floor, snapped the safety cable and smashed into something in the rafters of the garage. A second one broke on the other end and it just hit the floor hard.

That door got replaced with a sectional door like yours with a torsion spring up above!!