Your garage door needs its springs to function. The springs are a key counterbalancing component, helping to raise and lower your garage door. Opening your garage door with a broken spring can be very frustrating, given the extra weight that you have to lift. While you can do it, the best thing to do is to contact Chicagoland’s top garage door spring repair technicians. Garage door broken springs, if not handled right, can lead to serious physical injuries.
There are two types of garage door springs. These include:
- i) Torsion springs: This type of spring utilizes torque– twisting force– to open or close the garage door. The torque causes a rotation that results in twisting of the coil on the shaft every time the garage door is operated. Torsion springs are the most common type.
- ii) Extension springs: These types of springs are ideal for garage doors with low headroom. As the garage door opens, the extension spring creates a counterbalance that supports it. The greater the degree a garage door can open, the more force is applied to the extension spring.
Whenever you suspect that your garage door is malfunctioning due to spring issues, it’s always advisable to call a technician to come to check it out. It’s a much better option, given that you’ll avoid the possibility of causing injury to yourself.
However, a garage door technician may not be readily available, at least within your preferred time frame. In such instances, follow the steps below. Exercise extreme caution during each step to avoid injuries.
.Opening a Garage Door With a Broken Torsion Spring
Torsion springs are key parts of a garage door system. They pass through a torsion tube– a metallic shaft specifically designed for this purpose. They can be found near the header just above the garage door. A garage door system may have one or more torsion springs.
To open a garage door with such broken springs:
1) Get somebody to help you. Opening a garage door with broken springs can be very dangerous. It is something that professionals strongly advise against. However, if you must do it, ensure that there is someone helping you.
Inspect the garage door thoroughly before attempting to open it. Pay close attention to where the springs are.
2) Open the garage door manually instead of using the opener. A garage door with a broken spring may feel unusually heavy. Opening it manually is advised to avoid further damage to the other components.
3) Disconnect the door from the opener. To avoid the garage door from slamming shut, ensure that it is touching the ground. To disengage the garage door from the opener, pull the red cord.
4) Lift the door. Ensure to raise the door until it is above the horizontal rails. Sometimes the garage door may still feel too heavy for you. In such cases, abandon any attempts to open it and call a technician right away.
5) To close the door, cautiously pull it down to prevent it from falling.
Follow these steps for garage doors with two torsion springs.
Opening a Garage Door With a Broken Extension Spring
This type of garage door system has cables to which the springs are attached. These cables also attach to the garage door at its bottom corners. Extension springs are placed along the garage door’s horizontal track. There are two tracks, each with an extension spring. Both of them need to be working properly for the garage door to be operated.
To open a garage door with a broken extension spring:
1) As with the previous procedure, always ensure that you have a partner to help you. Opening garage doors with broken springs are dangerous enough. Having somebody to help you partially mitigates this risk. Ensure that you’re fully aware of all the parts, like the springs.
2) Open the garage door manually. Avoid using the door opener to prevent more damage to the other parts.
3) Disengage the door from the opener. Make sure that the door is touching the ground. Pulling the red cord ensures that the opener disengages from the door.
4) Use crowbars to lift the garage door. You and your partner can both slip a crowbar just below the garage door seal to gain more leverage. This is especially useful if the door is very heavy. If the garage door remains very heavy even after using the crowbars, discontinue your attempt to open it and contact a technician immediately.
5) If you manage to raise the garage door above the rails by this point, you can secure it in place using vice clamps. The garage door’s lowest roller is the best point for attaching these vice clamps. If you need to keep the garage door open for some time, you can use a ladder to keep it in place. The vice clamps may not support the full weight of the garage door for long.
6) To close the garage door, slowly pull it down until it’s touching the floor.
Ultimately, you want an experienced garage door technician to handle all such issues. Attempting to open a garage door with broken springs should always be your last option.
