Question:
I have a 25yr old single bay Overhead Door unit on my garage.
The 4in diameter torsion spring around the cable pulley shaft broke
last night. Not one of the cables, but the spring itself broke right
in the middle of it's length.
The mechanism is a little rusty, but the door itself is in pretty good
shape. Assuming I can get the pulleys and old spring off the shaft,
will my Overhead Door dealer sell me a new spring? Is it worth
doing, or considering the age and rust, should I buy a whole new
door assy? The old door is wood. Are the metal ones the best
value nowdays? It is an unattached, unheated garage, so I don't
care about insulation or windows.
Answer:
If a good lube job will save the rusty mechanism (it's not worn and sloppy)
then save your money there.
But, I highly suggest spending it to have the Overhead Door folks replace
the spring for you.
Although they will sell you the parts you need, it is a potentially deadly
operation due to the tensions involved in winding and for the price they
will do it for, not worth the risk for a first/one-timer to attempt.
I here of (and see posts) of torsion springs breaking quite often. The
spring is put under a great amount of stress during operation, especially if
the door is a double width type. These doors can be very heavy, especially
if made of steel and well insulated. It seems most broken springs occur on
these double type doors
This is the first house I have owned with the torsion style springs and have
not had any problems as of yet. My garage has two single, insulated steel
doors in it.
