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Broken Garage Door RepairsMost of us never think of the work our garage door does - lifting and closing a large door every day, over and over again.. The truth is, your garage door opener really doesn't do much work, because of a physics helper, the spring! Springs are used as the door is lowered, and the springs are stretched out (the motor literally pushes the garage door down). When it is time to lift the door, the springs do 95% of the work as they recoil and pull the door back up, leaving the garage door motor to do little more than wind up the loose cable or chain. This is why most garage door openers are rated at only 1/2 to 1 horse power - it doesn't take much power to lift up a garage door that is being pulled up by stretched springs.
How do garage doors work?There are two main types of garage doors - those that operate by extension springs, and those that operate by torsion springs. Extension springs look like normal king-size springs and are located on the left and right sides of the garage door - you will see them stretch out and expand as the garage door lowers, and contract as the garage door opens. Torsion springs are the second type of garage springs -- they look like tighly coiled springs above the garage door, and as the door lowers or raises, they twist to contract or expand. Most garage door repairs fall into two categories - broken springs, or a broken motor. Broken springs can be difficult to replace for laymen, requiring you to remove and replace high tension springs under significant compression.Replacing torsion springs on a broken garage doorTorsion springs generally require professional replacement. Torsion springs are designed to last for about 10,000 cycles, or about 10-12 years of normal use. After that, you are just waiting for an accident to happen. When a torsion spring breaks, you will often hear a loud cracking or pinging sound, but you may not notice it at all - - you may simply notice that your garage door opens and closed much more slowly than before (assuming it is a double garage door with 2 springs - if it is a single door with one spring, the door will not open or close at all). If you want to read a first hand account about replacing torsion spring, check out TrueTex.com/Garage.htm. When we had torsion springs that broke, we looked in the yellow pages under garage doors and called a few local repair companies. A number of new channels have recently run stories on garage repair scams, showing contractors offering to fix broken garage doors for $200-$800.Keep in mind that normally all these people are doing is replacing $50 springs, and it will take them less than 1 hour to do it. Anyone asking for $300 or more is ripping you off. Keep in mind that a garage door is pretty simple - an electric motor connected to the chain that pulls the door up (aided by the springs), and the same motor than eases the door down (stretching out the springs). There are no other working parts, so unless you run into the tracks that align the garage door or something, no repair should be more than $150-$350. If your power goes out, remember you can easily open and close your garage door manually by pulling the cord and disconnecting it from its track - with the help of the springs, it is a pretty easy job. When replacing torsion springs, you do have to replace both springs if you have a double garage door, or a single spring if you have a single door. Garage Door MaintenanceOne way to avoid garage door repairs is via regular maintenance. A garage door is a mechanical beast, rolling up and down fixed guide tracks, being pulled and pushed by a chain run by an electric motor. If you bang into the tracks, your garage door can easily get out of alignment. You can sometimes bend and twist tracks back into place if you see they have been knocked into or dislodged. Lubricating the tracks and wheels also helps to alleviate binding and stickingGarage Door Won't OpenSometimes when you garage door won't open, it is an even simpler explanation. You may need to reprogram your remote or replace the battery. Your electric garage opener is tuned to the specific frequency and code of your remote opener - if the code or battery is messed up, the fix could be as simple as a 50 cent battery. Start with the battery when you do your diagnostic work and proceed from there -- you will need to inspect the springs if you suspect it is a larger problem, but this is a simple 2 minute task. Broken springs will be obvious, and the most telltale sign is limited power and speed in opening and closing the garage door. If the motor does not respond at all after replacing the remote battery and trying the manual switch, it is most likely a problem with the actual garage door opener motor unit, which might require replacement ($150-$250 normally) which is often more cost effective than a $100+ repair charge.
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