How Professionals Measure Torsion Springs. (Garage Door Fundamentals)

Everything there is to know about measuring garage door springs (as far as I know.) There is way more to it than you would think.

[@wking7587]

Very Informative, my inner diameter (ID) was off before viewing this video. Thanks to your info I now have the correct ID measurement.

[@JonathanNichols]

Great information! I thought I measured my springs correctly until I watched this. I was off just a bit on my wire measurment. Many thanks!

[@natespann29]

Thanks! I'm looking into replacing my springs and i was trying to figure out how to measure my springs to know which replacements to buy...HUGE HELP!

[@SquirrelsForAll]

Learned a great deal, thank you, Sir.

[@u2ooberboober]

Very informative video!

[@julioangel1007]

very nice videos. very informative and helpful

[@muimasmacho]

I have a problem/question that no one seems to address. My spring is RH wound, with the anchor come right, torsion shaft cone on the left, as viewed from the tractor/motor actuator. Seems to me this is backwards, won't the tensioning of the spring want to unscrew itself from the cone? BTW, you've got a real knack for instruction. All the fudamentals in a short, sweet, and no nonsense format. Wonderful. Thank you.

[@squid5651803]

You covered it well ! Something happened to Me one time, I went to service a verticle lift beast, the orig company used a hollow shaft tube, The customer said it was bent a binding when it turned and would wedge against the header, this was in My early service years, so, I climbed ladder till nose bleeds, went to un wind left spring, and low and behold the tube split in two where the bolts sunk into the shaft, it like to beat Me to death. I learned a lot, and what to watch for. great video !

[@ozenterprisesllc9021]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Excellent video!!! Thank you!

[@brazilnut8898]

@dmkim01 That's a tough question I have been avoiding. The manufacturers say 1/4 to 1/2 a turn after the set screw makes contact with the shaft, but the shafts are so thin nowadays it doesn't feel sufficient. I would stick with 1/2 turn. It takes an awful lot to make a shaft weak beyond useability.

[@miKnaD]

your garage door torsion spring series was excellent. it can't get any better than that on KZbin. thanks so much for sharing the knowledge. i have one question. how much force should i apply in tightening the 2 set screws on the pulley drum and the spring? i noticed that the original installers tightened it pretty good. it dented the shaft about 1/8 inch. that seems alot. does it weaken the shaft? thanks.

[@cskye6529]

What I need to know is exactly how many winds it takes on two different sized springs to get it right. One spring is significantly shorter than the other. I wound it exactly as specified according to the height of the door then found out it was way too tight and the door swung up violently when not connected. So I reduced the amount of winds on both sides waited a month and they were still too tight so I unwound both sides a few more 1/4 turns until it seemed balanced. The problem now a year later the door doesn't move up smoothly, it goes up in stops and starts, fast and slow so that causes noise. I feel like I have to unwind the springs completely and start from the beginning. Is there a proper method of winding?

[@indraverboden6256]

great video

[@ProfessionalDad]

Hello. Thanks for the video! my old spring has 99002660 painted in white. No other indications or markings on it except "Torque Force" which I assume is the brand name. Cant find anything online with that number or company.

[@ednja]

Jump directly to 10:23 if you want to see what garage door torsion spring salesmen behave like.

[@jordanpanasuk]

Can you elaborate on the tandem shaft door shown a 6:39? There's an interesting cable/sheave setup that I've never seen before. Is this so that the cable clears the shaft below when the door is fully open, angled down to the bottom panel partially in the curve? I can't tell if this is the same on the left side of the door. The only tandem shaft doors I've repaired had a lot of high lift, so this wouldn't be a problem the way I described it.

[@daddybear7062]

jordanpanasuk its a dual shaft system, you can only put so much spring on one shaft and sometimes have to use 2 sprocket and chain to connect an additional spring into the equation. I had a customer who insisted on 1million cycle springs. I had to use 2 18” tubes and a 3rd 10” tube with springs spanning almost the whole tube... love doing “the impossible”

[@l337pwnage]

Those coil gaps on the cones messed me up. I was off 3/4" of an inch because I missunderestimated the gaps. :(

[@RudyNortz]

Great video but it assumes you have the old springs to go by and that they were the correct springs in the first place. I have a 4 panel Clopay door that has no model number on it. The right spring is different size (length, wire size, etc) than the left one. The left one is broken but temporally patched with a U bolt. The door will support itself half way up but takes off like a rocket if you push it up a little more. I would assume there is some interplay between spring length, wire size, diameter, and number of winding turns to fine tune a spring(s) to a door. A correct spring(s) would lift the door vertically with a constant load so the motor would not have to push or pull the door (much) during its travel. The motor here does a lot of "bouncing" during the lift as the door transitions from balanced to unbalanced load during the second part of the trip up the tracks. How would you "fine tune" a spring to a door if you didn't want to go by the old springs? Thanks for reading. Bob

[@haydenlongest3964]

+BobMaineVH im not the original poster, but i am a professional. to know what springs you need for a door you need to know the weight of the door, and what kind of lift the door is IE: Standard, high lift ( if so how much high lift,) and full vertical, (if so how tall is the door.) the manufacture of the door can then take this information and craft the correct springs. getting the weight of the door requires taking spring tension off the door and placing the door on a scale. messing with garage door springs without experience is dangerous, so i suggest haring a professional to do this for you.

[@RudyNortz]

+Hayden Longest Thanks for the reply. I have unwound the springs a couple of times and was very careful. I guess the next step is to unwind them again with a scale under the door and follow your directions. I'll post how it works out. Thanks again.

[@cskye6529]

Ah yes, mine is the same manufacturer similar problem.

[@jimjackson4256]

So what would happen if you welded two springs together on each side?

[@brazilnut8898]

Spring steel is heat treated, which is what makes it spring back into shape after flexing, rather than permanently bend. If you weld spring steel the heat will cause it to lose it's temper in that spot and it will just break after a few cycles like a paperclip.

[@jimjackson4256]

@@brazilnut8898 Thank you for the response.Sorry what I meant was weld the end caps together and don’t actually touch the springs.Yes if you welded a broken spring together that wouldn’t last long.My theory was if the spring is twice as long then there should be one half as much twisting per turn and hence the combined spring should last at least twice as long as a single spring.

[@brazilnut8898]

@@jimjackson4256 Ok I get it. Your theory is somewhat correct. You can order the springs in any length you want, and by playing with the diameter, wire size and length you can increase the lifespan many times over. We have an app that does all the engineering for you.

[@jimjackson4256]

@@brazilnut8898 Thank you.I don’t need the app I bought another couple of springs identical to the ones on there now and if i get off my duff someday i’ll weld them on as per my idea. Cheers

[@brazilnut8898]

@@jimjackson4256 Jim you should consult a local professional. I don't have time this morning to go into detail

[@bobbydeee1362]

Come on this is OLD NEWS buddy I been saying this since the song came out over 20 years ago...