Update to the "lessons learned" garage door torsion spring DIY thread (new lessons learned)

This is sort of an update to the previous "lessons learned" thread on how to perform an amateur DIY torsion spring garage door repair yourself.

Ever since my first torsion spring repair a while back (which was rather hellish simply because none of the upper flags and anchor plates were well supported), out of curiosity, I now I peer & peek at all my friend's garage doors, whenever I pass the threshold.

In doing so, today I noticed a frayed cable, so, I helped that friend replace the worn cable, and, in the process of checking balance, I realized the door was tremendously hefty & in need of re-torsioning:

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Armed with a.h.r derived knowledge, I was able to assist my friend by easily de-torsioning and then re-torsioning the spring the requisite

30 turns (adding a complete additional turn to what was already there!) until the door was balanced so perfectly, a pinky could lift it up.
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One unexpected problem we ran into was the tips of this squarish spring steel plate in the GDO trolley somehow came loose, and fell onto the floor:

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An expected problem after replacing the cable was that one side of the door was tilted on the floor by about 3/4 of an inch:

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We weren't sure whether the vise grips went ABOVE the torsion bar or BELOW the torsion bar, so, we opted for (unnecessary) redundancy:

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In the end, we belatedly realized only the LOWER vise grip is necessary when slipping the cable drum set bolts on the torsion rod:

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And, another (seemingly obvious, at least after the fact) tidbit we learned was that if you slip the cable drum by X (in this case by a quarter of an inch), the door drops down by about 3X (in this case, about 3/4 of an inch), by way of rule of thumb:

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The result was the door is now perfectly flat against the floor:

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In the end, we were able to perform the following, for both single-spring garage doors, in about two hours, at a leisurely pace:

  1. Replace both cables on one garage door
  2. Re-tension one spring 30 turns from scratch to perfect balance
  3. Level that one door so that it fit flat on the garage floor
  4. Add a full turn of tension to the second garage door
  5. Level that second garage door so that it fit flat on the floor
  6. Lubricate & test as needed

BTW, besides both doors being egregiously "heavy" (both needed a full turn to balance them!), we noticed the professional installers prior really crimped down on the winding cone torsion rod set bolts!

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LESSIONS LEARNED: a. A visual inspection may find anomalies like our frayed cable. b. Checking balance may find evidence of a shoddy prior installation. c. Replacing frayed cables may entail removing the bottom bracket. d. Slipping cable drums appears to be at a 3:1 ratio for distance. e. Vise grips go ABOVE for winding springs but BELOW for slipping drums. f. Painting set bolt flats helps to visually prevent over torquing. g. Glass panels are problematic when winding cones with 18" bars! h. It's a LOT easier when the end plates are secure!

Reply to
Danny D.
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Reply to
DD_BobK

Excellent photos

Reply to
hrhofmann

I sent an email to my friend for him to identify the GDO brand.

Luckily, he has two exact same doors, so, he can at least see how it works.

Both seem to be working. He thinks the spring may be for the release mechanism, to make the release pop out easier. I'm not so sure.

Reply to
Danny D.

I wrote a letter to Dan Musick of DDM Garage doors, who kindly explained: "The reason for the vise grip on the bottom is to keep the drum from slipping too much. Also, if the set screws in the other drum aren't tight enough, the spring will unwind."

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Reply to
Danny D.

I noticed I had a picture with the garage door opener accidentally in it:

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From the zoomed-in picture above, it seems to be the following: LiftMaster The Professional Line Formula I

But, I await my friend's response as to the model number.

Reply to
Danny D.

I agree. It may latch up anyway, without it. but if it does it won't be a tight, snug fit without the spring. Eventually, the slack may result in it failing.

Reply to
trader4

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