Garage door installation SNAFU

[Leejohn]

You should be lifting up with your 18" bar and the spring well get longer..
That is a heavy door, I think I would call someone to do it.
I think the spring is painted red or black on the ends, check you manual to see what color goes to the left or right. Also the drum is painted the same way.

 

[jake98]

The guy that installed my commercial door told me that once he was working on one at a trucking terminal, standing on top of a trailer, and one of the bars got away from him and knocked him out cold. He said when he came to he was glad he wasn't going down the highway.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

View this site and see if it will provide any additional information to assist in the installation.

Installing and adjusting torsion springs courtesy Clopay Doors on the Natural Handyman home repair and do it yourself website

That's an excellent article, and very helpful. Thanks for the link.

 

[jayste]

Here's a few garage door basics. Red spring goes on left and black spring goes on right. Always wind "up". Meaning that as you lift up on your winding bars you should be loading or tensioning the spring. The springs that came with your door should be designed to lift the door as long as you haven't added any extra weight to it, I.E.- wood, metal, etc. Also, the drums should correspond with the spring as far as color goes. The cable wraps around the drum from behind (between drum and door facing), up and over and attached into the slot and rests in the first groove closest to edge of the door or track. Hope this helps. BTW, a good place to start on the amount of winds to put on the spring is 1 complete turn of each spring for every foot of height in door. I.E.- 7 foot height door should get 7 complete turns on each spring. Use two bars as you wind so one holds the tension as you put the other in the next hole. Vice grip your shaft so it doesn't move as you wind and do this only after you have put cables on drum and locked them down with the set screws. After you have tensioned you door raise it by hand until the bottom of the door is waist high. If it wants to raise up on its own, lower it and take a 1/4 turn off of each spring. If it wants to fall, add a 1/4 or two to each spring. Hope this helps and PM if needed. Add pics for visuals if you can.:thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

Here's a few garage door basics. Red spring goes on left and black spring goes on right. Always wind "up". Meaning that as you lift up on your winding bars you should loading or tensioning the spring. The springs that came with your door should be designed to lift the door as long as you haven't added any extra weight to it, I.E.- wood, metal, etc. Also, the drums should correspond with the spring as far as color goes. The cable wraps around the drum from behind (between drum and door facing), up and over and attached into the slot and rests in the first groove closest to edge of the door or track. Hope this helps. BTW, a good place to start on the amount of winds to put on the spring is 1 complete turn of each spring for every foot of height in door. I.E.- 7 foot height door should get 7 complete turns on each spring. Use two bars as you wind so one holds the tension as you put the other in the next hole. Vice grip your shaft so it doesn't move as you wind and do this only after you have put cables on drum and locked them down with the set screws. After you have tensioned you door raise it by hand until the bottom of the door is waist high. If it wants to raise up on its own, lower it and take a 1/4 turn off of each spring. If it wants to fall, add a 1/4 or two to each spring. Hope this helps and PM if needed. Add pics for visuals if you can.:thumbsup:

GREAT INFO THERE.

I will add a little info about what he is refering to as wraps of the springs.

If your springs arent marked, do so.

Basically, the spring at rest, with NO tension or compression usually has a line drawn across it. (at least with the EZ-wind sprigs) It should be straight at rest. As you wind the spring, the line will sort of wrap around the spring like threads on a screw. THIS is how you count the # of wraps. It makes it a whole lot easier IMO

And I take from your post that your door only has 1 spring. So take his figures and double it for a starting point.

And again, it is just a starting point. Door width and weight will determine the final # of wraps by using the method he mentioned.

And for the record, I did 4 doors on my garage. ALL the same size/brand etc and bought at the same time. They are 9x8's. They were all different in # of wraps. Anywhere from 12-14 to get them set right. And they are a lighter 2-layer door. Metal outside and insulated, but no metal layer inside.

 

[not2old]

If you haven't wound the spring too far over the holes, can you cut off a few inches of the spring where it blocks the holes? You shouldn't have lost too much of the spring travel. Trying to simply unscrew it will only make the connection tighter. Otherwise, there isn't going to be an easy removal. The only method would be to secure the casting somehow, and then un-screw it by applying the circular pressure to the end of the spring that is covering the holes. You would likely have to make a special tool for this.(this is very difficult to put into words) Try calling a garage door supplier where they assemble the springs and ask if they can fix the spring.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

The door is up, works satisfactorily, and the heavy lifting has been done for the opener.

With regard to the spring crowding the space for the winding rod, I ground a flat spot on one rod to provide 1/8" of clearance 1" deep, and that allowed me to work that hole in its rotation. The gibs were a challenge with the spring intruding. They required some determination and an old Mastercraft 3/8" open-end wrench and a short piece of 3/4" pipe in a few cases. More modern wrenches flexed too much to do the job.

Earlier I had experimented with a torque wrench on the gibs and had a pretty good idea of appropriate tightness on the shaft.

So tomorrow I'll head off to buy 10' weather stripping for around the door instead of searching for new spring, shaft, and installer.

Thanks for your help in this regard. I'll post photos when I get the OSB off the outside of the doorway.

Rod

 

[simonds]

I take it you mean the spring tightened against the winding unit "part with the holes" and jumped over it. You say it lost the tension.
If this is correct and there is no tension on the spring. Take both drums off the ends unfasten the center support "bearing". Take shaft and spring down and lay it across sawhorses and you should be able to get the spring back in place with pry bars or screwdrivers. Read instructions and reinstall. Be sure to use two bars inserted completely in the holes and go slowly 1/4 turn at a time. You will probably be pushing upward on the bars if everything else was installed correctly. " spring is to the right side of door center" "spring is not slid to the left and the winding unit against the center support" When you get the suggested amount of turns you should be able to let the lower bar rest carefully against the top of the door. Then tighten the set screw. Lift up slightly on the upper bar and remove the lower bar then the upper bar.
Good Luck, and be carefull
Clayton

 

[Scotty370]

Just be careful with those things! They can be 'killers'! Better to spend time on the web looking for assistance than 'cranking, cranking and cranking', a 'Grenade'! All else fails, call a Pro! You've got most of the costly stuff done..........~S

 

[Rod in Forfar]

Here's next week's Review Mirror column with a plug to Tractor-By-Net and a thanks to you guys.

Rod

The Garage Door Spring Walnut Diary