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andrelaplume2

could have killed someone..

andrelaplume2
14 years ago

I heard this horrid crash at 1am this morning. It took me a while but I finally determined a gargage door spring broke. There are two of these huge suckers on the door one broke end evidently sling shot itself across the garage, off a wall and under my wife's car....no car damage luckily. This spring must weight 2 - 3 pounds (?) and likely could have killed somebody! There was a cable through the center of the spring that I would have thought would 'catch' it but that cable snapped too. The home is 20 years old and we have lived here for 3 years. I have no idea hod old the springs are but I have my local OHGD company coming out to replace all 4 springs on my two doors. Is there some sort of regular maintenance schedule to follow or do you just wait until a spring break? They said the springs likle cost $20 - $25 per spring and there is an $80 service call. I asked if they would check everything else out because the other door sort of makes a funny noise---I think its out of balance. I am hoping my bill will be under $200.

Comments (9)

  • mike_kaiser_gw
    14 years ago

    I had the same thing happen a number of years ago. It's kind of scary when it happens. There should be a cable running through the spring to prevent it from shooting across the room but not all garage doors are cabled that way. You probably want to replace the springs every 7-10 years.

    Your door company should get everything set up correctly and safely.

  • cappo11
    14 years ago

    same thing happened to me but i have the type of springs that go on the header above the door. apparently one side had been broken for a while, but i didn't know it because the garage door was holding it. one day the power went out and when i disconnected the door to open it, it crashed down but no one was nearby.. whew!!!!!!

  • countryboymo
    14 years ago

    I would check the price to have an overhead spring installed on each door. I know of quite a few old style spring failures and they can do a tremendous amount of damage if the safety cables fail. With no safety cables it gets really crazy.

  • andrelaplume2
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    well a rep came out and serviced both doors, lube, new springs, cables and pulleys. It was $301 which I thought a bit pricey for 3/4 hour work but we were assured we were now safe.

  • kevingalaxy
    14 years ago

    Hi, same thing happened to us also, we moved into a house and within the first year the spring broke, we didnt know what the crash was either, luckily we didn't have our car/people in there at the time. We just replaced the whole door and mechanism. The guy that came said that it's best not to leave the door open for long periods as this can stress the springs out? Not sure if that helps?

  • don_1_2006
    14 years ago

    When the door is open most of the tension is off the springs. Strange thing your repairman suggested to you.

  • the_analyst
    14 years ago

    I can't figure out why garage door springs aren't powdercoated - or at least none of mine ever have been. They're bare low grade spring steel that gets surface rust quite quickly (sometimes even out of the box).

    Surface defects - nicks / notches / rust pits are likely the major root cause of garage door springs (think about putting a nick in a rubber band and then cycling the rubber band through a number of stretches until it fails at the point of the nick). It wouldn't surprise me one bit if more and more garage door springs are coming out of China and India, made from low grade steels and that the failure rate will climb even higher over the next few years.

    K

  • sunnyca_gw
    14 years ago

    My dad's springs are black coated(looks like shiny black paint) Mine are on a rod over the garage door & also have ropes down sides & door is on tracks. We did that after moving in our new home yrs ago & I went over to talk with neighbor & she was showing me her kitchen & standing close to door going out in garage, it was open. The spring embedded itself in the wall about 12 in. from her head!! Told my DH & we got ours changed immediately!! Also depends on weight of garage door. Our 1st door was solid wood with 2 cross braces on back both going same way, DH had added 2 bracing boards going other way so it wouldn't get out of square (very heavy). The door we got when we changed it is in sections & is wood & Masonite, neighbor hired same company to install her's last yr & it is metal with full insulation, no windows (invitation to break in, installer said)& it's very quiet & attractive.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    Powder coating won't help a bit. In my experience, it eventually cracks and moisture gets under the plastic and rust just spreads. Since the springs change shape as they wind/unwind, powder coating probably wouldn't last any time at all.

    I have learned to avoid pretty much anything that is powder coated.