Bam! Garage door over-the-door torsion spring snapped! How to replace?

[dss]

Danny,

The engineer inside of you is definitely showing. You're really thinking t= his one through. I appreciate the link to the better written DIY sites.

You're right about getting the better quality spring for more cycles. After= replacing my own I find myself trying to limit the number of times I open = and close it. I've caught myself getting mildly irritated when my wife wast= es cycles by needlessly using the garage door.

As far as sourcing the torsion spring it sounds like you don't have a Menar= ds in your area. Even though many garage door shops will tell you on the ph= one they don't sell to the public, they will if you show up at their door w= ith the broken spring and the cash.

I've bought things a couple of times from non-retail HVAC and plumbing outl= ets. All you need is the broken part, some green, and a boyish grin.

Make sure you tell us how this odyssey turns out.

Good luck.

dss

[Danny D.]

OK. Thanks to you guys, I've done the preliminary research. Now it's time to order a replacement (higher cycle) spring and to make observations to help the next garage owner who reads this in the future.

Since this is a replacement spring, the weight of the garage door is not a critical factor (assuming the old spring worked).

The four replacement spring values of import are:

1.Wire gauge

[Danny D.]

Seems to me, the DIY advantage is we get BETTER springs.

I'm in California. The nearest Menards is Wyoming.

I understand. And I agree. I've been able to buy HVAC parts, for example, off the shelf - but they would never order the actual compressor for me.

Half the USENET is people asking questions; the other half are the answers to those questions! I will definitely try to inform as I learn.

For example, based on this wonderful video, it seems you do not measure the ID and the coil thickness directly.

In addition, it is good to know that every twist adds a coil of length, and, that, for a 7-foot tall door, you have in general 7 twists.

[Danny D.]

For others to benefit, you don't have to measure the ID of the torsion spring because it's already accurately marked on each end.

See this right-hand red cone showing DNS 200 (i.e., 2 inch ID): LARGE:

And, here's the other side, showing the same designation (DNS 200): LARGE:

[Danny D.]

For others to benefit, you don't have to measure the ID of the torsion spring because it's already accurately marked on each end.

See this right-hand red cone showing DNS 200 (i.e., 2 inch ID): LARGE:

And, here's the other side, showing the same designation (DNS 200): LARGE:

[Danny D.]

I forgot to mention, the color code red 'often' means right hand stationary cone as described in this excellent video of how to size a torsion spring:

BTW, if you take your right hand and point your thumb outward along the line of the 1" hollow shaft. If the winds follow your right hand fingers, they are wound right (as mine is).

If they follow your left hand fingers, it's a left-hand wind.

Pretty simple!

[Mark]

another option for the op

buy your own parts so you can get the better quality

hire a guy to install it and you watch him so you learn the real tricks

DIY the next time

there is NOTHING as good as watching someone who knows what they are doing...

Mark

[Danny D.]

I might actually do that! If they let me.

BTW, look at the critter I found hanging out above the 4-inch aluminum drum when I looked more closely at the wind-up drum just now to determine if it truly was four inches in diameter: LARGE:

Here's a closeup of the huge black widow spider next to the drum (after spraying it with RAID): LARGE: And, here's what I was looking for at the time (APCO 400-S): Note: The APCO 400-S (or is it 400-5?) on the drum apparently indicates a

4-inch drum. I'm not sure what the character after the dash indicates.

[G. Morgan]

The way I was taught, and I'll never forget was my boss told me "black is right, NOT!"

A little racist, but hell - I remembered.

[Danny D.]

Similar to the resistor color code ... i.e., ... b b r our y g but v g willingly willingly ...

[G. Morgan]

It's your house. They can't not let you watch. Offer cold drinks or coffee, and don't get in their way. Offer light conversation like "how's business", then you'll likely get a much friendlier banter when you ask technical questions.

[G. Morgan]

BTW, do you live in the Houston area by chance?

I can do it for ya.

[G. Morgan]

I remember that one too :-)

[G. Morgan]

In trigonometry class my prof. told me:

Some Old Hippie - Caught Another Hippie - Tripping On Acid

SOH, CAH, TOA - remembered!

[SRN]

Here's a great Youtube video on changing out torsion springs:

[Danny D.]

I think the hardest measurement is, surprisingly, the wire gauge.

I just measured the broken spring wire gauge with a rule: 10 coils = 2 5/16", so that's 2.3125/10 = 0.231" 20 coils = 4 11/16", so that's 4.6875/20 = 0.234" 30 coils = 7 1/16", so that's 7.0625/30 = 0.235"

Then, I measured with a micrometer in 3 different places: 0.241"

0.242" 0.237" Geez Louise. I know how to use a mic - but this wire has been stretched at the end that I can measure.

How do I better nail down the (real) wire gauge anyway?

[Danny D.]

Silicon Valley.

[Danny D.]

On Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:28:11 -0600, SRN wrote:>

Yes. I've seen that. I referenced it prior. What I LOVE about that one is that it shows the spring breaking before our very eyes!

The thing I don't like about it is that it covers the two-spring doors, and mine is a single spring.

I hate extrapolating when safety is a factor - but it IS a wonderful video!

Thanks!

[Danny D.]

Making things worse, this chart doesn't show ANY of those numbers!

That chart shows: 0.2343" when 10 coils = 2 5/16" & when 20 coils = 4 5/8" 0.2437" when 10 coils = 2 7/16" & when 20 coils = 4 7/8" 0.2500" when 10 coils = 2 1/2" & when 20 coils = 5"

I hate when I don't know the exact size. I need a better (more consistent) measurement method.

I'm guessing it's the 0.2343" gauge simply because that's the closest using the 10+20 coil method; but it's not even close to any one of my micrometer measurements. Sigh.

Any ideas?

[Danny D.]

Jeezus. It's amazing what you need to learn when you DIY!

Here's how I had to determine my "track radius" just now!

Turns out, my 'track radius' is 15 inches.

It's needed for the spring calculator here:

To the next person, you will need these SEVEN datapoints:

1. Right hand wound
2. 2" ID
3. 0.243" wire gauge
4. 26.5" spring length (unsprung)
5. 7' door height
6. 4" drum diameter
7. 15" track radius

I entered those seven numbers, and the spring calculator found: NOTHING!

So I changed the 26.5" to 27", and it only found a spring for a 12" track.

(I wonder: Do most of you have 12 inch tracks?)

Luckily, the chart shows "equivalent" springs for a 15" track but I was surprised the original spring doesn't fit a 15" track.

Q: What size track do you have?