Garage door torsion spring winding bars

[RedNeckRacin]

I recommend garage door lube so that it doesn't attract dust! It is a dry lubricant in a spray can. Very handy can of stuff to have around!

 

[LD1]

Lps silicone base dry lube is what I normally use

 

[ultrarunner]

I borrowed a set from the guy I bought the springs from. Crazy but out here in California they can't sell you the springs to DIY unless your a licensed contractor. 29 1/4 turns is about right. Be careful. That's alot of tension.

Ran into the same thing... the Internet is your friend!

Had the same trouble trying to rent a Bandit Chipper... thinking of buying one and was told I could rent and put the rental fee towards the purchase price... reserved it and when I showed up all they needed was to see my contractor license... I'm not a contractor and that was that...

We do have some strange rules out here!

I used two tire irons... just cut off the wedge on the end.

 

[LD1]

Got the big door (18x12 insulated) done. They werent 1/2" though. :mur: And 3/4 was too big. I didnt actually measure them, but judging how the 1/2" fit and the 3/4" was just a tad too big, I am guessing they were maybe 11/16?

They were deep holes though. A good 1-1/2" deep, so I just used the 1/2" bars in them. Went about 10 turns to make the door operate right. And I think if they were just mild steel bars, I would have had issues bending them. These things wound tough. Toward the end, I'd say I was putting a good 50-60# of force on the end of the 3' bar. I am sure glad I didnt cut them down.

They were really heavy springs. Maybe 4" diameter, and on a solid shaft and not a piece of pipe. Overall I am pretty happy with the apparent quality of this door. Its a garaga acadia 138.

 

[ray66v]

18x12 is a large commercial door.

Sure the springs are big, think about how much it weighs.

 

[s219]

They were really heavy springs. Maybe 4" diameter, and on a solid shaft and not a piece of pipe. Overall I am pretty happy with the apparent quality of this door. Its a garaga acadia 138.

Wow, that is definitely a heavy duty door -- I have never seen a solid jackshaft on any of the residential doors I have adjusted. I dislike the hollow jackshafts as the tube dents a little when you tighten the set screw appropriately, and all of a sudden you start putting "detents" in the shaft that can foil fine adjustments.

I remember helping one neighbor with his door that had got crooked in the tracks, so it took a bit of careful work to get it back into shape, and we had to reattach the pulleys on each and as well as re-tension the spring. The shaft had so many dents in it from previous adjustments that I ended up whaling it with a hammer to knock about 1" sideways, so the pulleys and spring holder were over clean material. Luckily the shaft was long enough. Lord knows how much abuse those hollow shafts can take from set screws before they fail under the torsion load.

When I installed jackshaft openers at our new house, I noticed that the garage door installers didn't space the center support properly from the wall, so that the shaft on each door was bowed a little (towards the wall in the middle) and that caused a wobble when lifting the doors. I knew the opener wouldn't tolerate that. Just to correct that issue, I had to unwind the springs, then remove the center bracket, insert a wood spacer (about 3/4", same as the buck boards they used for the side tracks), then reattach with longer lags. Not wanting to dick around with putting more dents in the shaft at the spring, I used a paint marker to mark the spring and spring end about 8 different ways so that I could wind it as closely to original position as possible, and get the set screw back in the same place. What a pain.

 

[LD1]

For whatever reason, EERY pro door guy I talk to hates EZ-wind springs. But I none gave me an answer as to why. Just the typical "we just dont like em".

I had them on the 4 cheap doors I did on my last garage. Makes winding a spring cake. All it is, is a worm gear apparatus that you can use a hand drill and 7/16 bit and wind the spring. Takes about 1 minute per spring to go the 12.5 wraps that was needed on my old doors. And future adjustment is just as easy. Grab the drill and go a little ore one way or the other.

I certainly dont understan why "pro"s like winding with bars. ITs kinda like saying one prefers to drive nails with a hammer instead of with a nail gun.

 

[k0ua]

For whatever reason, EERY pro door guy I talk to hates EZ-wind springs. But I none gave me an answer as to why. Just the typical "we just dont like em".

I had them on the 4 cheap doors I did on my last garage. Makes winding a spring cake. All it is, is a worm gear apparatus that you can use a hand drill and 7/16 bit and wind the spring. Takes about 1 minute per spring to go the 12.5 wraps that was needed on my old doors. And future adjustment is just as easy. Grab the drill and go a little ore one way or the other.

I certainly dont understan why "pro"s like winding with bars. ITs kinda like saying one prefers to drive nails with a hammer instead of with a nail gun.

OK. Let me take a WAG here not based in fact but a pure guess. Maybe they don't like easy wind because it is the fear of injury that keeps many DIY guys from DIYing and makes them call the pros. Take away that fear, and lots of people start to deal with these things themselves. Less revenue for the pro. Like I said, just a guess.

 

[LD1]

OK. Let me take a WAG here not based in fact but a pure guess. Maybe they don't like easy wind because it is the fear of injury that keeps many DIY guys from DIYing and makes them call the pros. Take away that fear, and lots of people start to deal with these things themselves. Less revenue for the pro. Like I said, just a guess.

Thats my thinking as well.

While I dont have a lot of experience and nothing long term with the ez-wind, it sure made putting up the 4 9x8 doors at my old place a breeze. And a periodic adjustment as spring wears was easy.

Even if the ones like I used (entry level cheap stuff) are junk and dont hold up, the concept remains. A simple work gear mechanism locked to the shaft and spun with a drill seems a lot smarter way of doing it IMO

 

[MoKelly]

OK. Let me take a WAG here not based in fact but a pure guess. Maybe they don't like easy wind because it is the fear of injury that keeps many DIY guys from DIYing and makes them call the pros. Take away that fear, and lots of people start to deal with these things themselves. Less revenue for the pro. Like I said, just a guess.

This descibes me 100%. I think you may have hit the nail on the head.

MoKelly