Garage door torsion spring winding

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Donald

Donald

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My garage door will not stay half way up, it goes down so I believe I need to tighten the torsion spring. Any tricks, looks fairly straightforward once I buy the winding rods. Home Depot does not sell them but Amazon does.

One webpage on the internet says there may be flats on the shaft that the set screws tighten onto. As opposed to just tighten on the shaft. Not sure how I would know or see the flats if there were any.

Comments?
 
Believe the danger coming from a guy who successfully installed one but nearly got hurt in process....

I'd never do it again but common sense and a decent you tube video will likely guide you.
 
I did mine with a pair of plumbers wrenches. Pull one while slipping the other back and then alternate. Like said above, be careful. These things have a lot of potential energy. I over wound mine the first time and had a bugger of a job getting it closed again.
 
Mine has flats with setscrews. I have tightened mine. I bought steel rods of the correct diameter. Unless you think this through , every step. Don't do it. I had no problems, but it is dangerous. Keep your body out from in front or under/over the rods. Lots of stored energy if it gets away from you. You could be seriously injured. I did it , i had no problems. I had someone there in case i got hurt. If its a double spring, add the same number of turns to each side.
 
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I've replaced several sets of springs. What's worked well for me is to draw a line straight across w/ a grease pencil - then, each quarter turn shows up, and you won't second-guess yourself as to whether you did the same number of turns on both sides.

My bar did not have flats for the grub screws to bite onto. If I recall correctly (it's been a number of years now) I clamped a large vice grip on the bar at either end to stop it from turning. I think the grub screws were square-headed and accommodated an Imperial 12-point socket. Can't remember the socket size - 1/2" or 9/16" perhaps?

I bought the adjusting bars (you'll need two) from the same garage door company that I bought the new springs from. They fit into holes in the fitting on the end of the spring.

As the other guys have said, this is dangerous stuff - the potential energy stored in the coil springs after they've been cranked a few times is incredible. Please be very careful if you take this on yourself.
 
Youtube is your friend.
In my experience, the spring will soon fail if it's old and needs wound a little to restore the tension. The few times I've had door springs break, it's during the winter .
I replaced a door spring last year, buying the spring online. I used two, 20" 3/8" socket extension to wind the spring. I used a Kobalt multi fit socket for the square head bolts. In the middle of the repair, I needed a center support bearing which I got in Columbus.

CW Miller had the spring for about the same price I paid online and they had winding bars for $8 each. So if you live in a large city, find a garage door specialist that has a counter.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Mine has flats with setscrews. I have tightened mine. I bought steel rods of the correct diameter. Unless you think this through , every step. Don't do it. I had no problems, but it is dangerous. Keep your body out from in front or under/over the rods. Lots of stored energy if it gets away from you. You could be seriously injured. I did it , i had no problems. I had someone there in case i got hurt. If its a double spring, add the same number of turns to each side.


Please expand on the flats. How can I see the flat area?
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Youtube is your friend.
In my experience, the spring will soon fail if it's old and needs wound a little to restore the tension. The few times I've had door springs break, it's during the winter .
I replaced a door spring last year, buying the spring online. I used two, 20" 3/8" socket extension to wind the spring. I used a Kobalt multi fit socket for the square head bolts. In the middle of the repair, I needed a center support bearing which I got in Columbus.

CW Miller had the spring for about the same price I paid online and they had winding bars for $8 each. So if you live in a large city, find a garage door specialist that has a counter.


How do you know it's broken? You see the break in the spring?
 
Yes you can see the break and depending on how old the spring it is wears out and can break. Call the guy! Really.
 
If you're mechanically inclined, it's a DIY project. The people who say it's dangerous and you shouldn't try it yourself probably don't work with power saws or work under their cars. Those tasks are as dangerous (if not more so) yet millions of people do them at home safely.

As for tightening the spring.. How many cycles has it gone through? Maybe you're approaching its useful lifespan

A broken spring is very obvious. Google a pic of it
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Mine has flats with setscrews. I have tightened mine. I bought steel rods of the correct diameter. Unless you think this through , every step. Don't do it. I had no problems, but it is dangerous. Keep your body out from in front or under/over the rods. Lots of stored energy if it gets away from you. You could be seriously injured. I did it , i had no problems. I had someone there in case i got hurt. If its a double spring, add the same number of turns to each side.


Please expand on the flats. How can I see the flat area?


I looked at mine, to possible snap a pic, and my memory sucks, there are no flats, its a round bar.

 
Its an easy job in my opinion. You dont need to buy special rods, I use 1/2 inch steel rods I had lying around. Can buy them at any TSC or similar store. Buy a 3 foot rod and cut in half as you need two. Longer rods give more leverage. put rod in, loosen set screws and then pull rod down and add other rod and repeat until its tight, then tighten set screw.

I had to replace a broken spring one time, and the worst was fussing with the side cables and pulleys.
 
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Originally Posted By: atikovi
Originally Posted By: Donald
How do you know it's broken? You see the break in the spring?


And the motor doesn't have enough power to open the door.


With the opener attached it can open and close but with opener detached the door will only stay open or closed not half way up.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Donald
Any tricks, looks fairly straightforward once I buy the winding rods. Comments?


Get a helper ... one to wind, one to tighten the set screws.
 
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