How to maintain and re-balance garage door torsion springs

Torsion springs are found in most automatic garage door mechanisms today. As your garage door's support system, it's important to maintain and check on them.

Because the springs are what lift, lower and hold the garage door up, they experience a lot of pressure. Routine maintenance and re-balancing will help to prevent damages to your garage door and potentially extend the life of your springs.

The age of your torsion springs are a big indicator as to whether or not your torsion springs need to be replaced. An average spring's lifespan is seven to nine years. Frequent usage of your garage doors is a subtle indicator that you need to pay a little more attention to your springs. Excessive usage of your garage door can shorten the life expectancy of your springs by two to three years.

Torsion springs typically need to be rebalanced within the first two years of being installed. Pay particular attention to when your springs were installed — if it was in the cold, then they'll likely need to be replaced sooner than springs installed or replaced during a warmer climate.

Springs in need of a rebalance are generally classified as "failing." A common misconception of springs "failing" is when they lose a bit of tension. To truly determine if your springs are failing, consider conducting the following two tests:

1. Release the garage door from the opener when in the up/open position. If either one of the bottom rollers moves past the line between the vertical and horizontal track and stays below that line, then the torsion springs are "failing" and must be rebalanced. This test helps detect whether a garage door has lost its natural resting point above the line made by the track. If it has, then there is a risk the door will fall off track, which can cause further damage to your garage opener and other functions.
2. Pull garage door to mid level position, if the door does not rest in the position and moves up and down then your torsion springs will need to be inspected. Conducting this test can also help to protect the motor and gears of your garage opener due to excessive weight.

If you've insulated your garage door, notice how much more weight the insulation is adding to the weight of the door. If the door is too heavy, then springs older than four years will need to be checked. Finally, too light of a garage door can also cause spring problems, as you may be using the wrong size. In this case, have a professional evaluate the garage door.