I have watched almost all your videos concerning garage door torsion springs, but I have not found the information I need to repair my garage door. I had an old CLOPAY 18x7 standard steel door with a pair of 0.225x1.75x31 torsion springs. I got tired of repairing this door every couple of months so I bought a used 18x7 insulated door that weights about 180lbs. Also, my garage has a ceiling height of ~12' for I raised my track about 30 inches to give me more head space and my cable pulley is ~5" in diameter and my track has a 12" radius. So, I installed the original torsion springs but they will only lift the door a little over halfway. What I'm trying to determine is "What pair of torsion springs will work on my door?" By the way, I'm just trying to get by until I retire to replace the whole door. Thanks,
Thanks very much! I really appreciate all your help with my many emails and I have ordered the springs you recommended. I am excited to have found someone like yourself that is willing to help! T.
You’ve a great channel with lots of info. I’ve Wayne Dalton FCII 16x7 Solid door WT 125 with no windows. I could not find the model no. but guessing it’s a 9100 series. The right side of the Torquemaster spring broke. I’m planning to replace the spring with torsion springs, and looking at high cycle springs. I’m looking at US made Dura-Lift springs. I've genie model 2028 motor. What would be your advice for the spring specs or any other brands for my use case? Interesting thing is that when I weigh my door with an analog weighing scale, bought new, it shows 100 lb from the center. Appreciate in advance!
Great, but what if you are going from a single spring to a double spring? I had a .262×2×36 original spring on my door. A chart that I went to said that I could use a .207×2×23 on both sides for a 14,000 cycle life instead of a normal 10,000 cycles. Does this sound about right to you? I have a 8 foot double steel Insulated door 9 feet wide.
Great video!!! I don't know what was originally on my garage door, but they lasted 10 years. The springs that I had "professionally" installed lasted about 8 years, as the right side just broke. Door is 8 feet tall and 18 feet wide, insulated with no windows. Current springs are .243 x 2 x 30. I was thinking about going to .250 x 2 x 32? What are your thoughts? Thanks...
Thanks for the support to the channel. A pair of .250 by 2" by 33 or 34's should balance out the door and can potentially offer about 13K cycles. For additional cycles, you might consider a pair of .262 by 2 by 43's which could potentially offer up to 26K cycles.
Thank you. Can I ask you to explain the spring sizes for TD134 and TD138 for steel craft, non insulated overhead doors? I’m new in the field, new job, and I need to learn about all it. The way you explain is super easy to understand. Thank you
I have a solid wood 16x7' garage door with widows on the top row. Currently, there are two .250x1.75x35" springs. The springs were replaced over 15yrs ago. The door is no longer in balance. The door does not stay in any position. It takes alot of force just to manually open the door, and it just wants to slam into the ground. I am unsure if the proper springs were installed when they were replaced, or if the spring have just lost tension over the years. Would I benefit from upsizing to a .262 spring to help balance the weight? Is it even worthwhile to try to increase the tension of the current springs to try and balance the door, or is it too dangerous to mess with such old spring?
Hello. You might benefit more from a new spring replacement. If you wanted higher cycles the .262x1.75x44 might be worth considering. Consult your local dealer installer to be sure.
Have you every heard the torsion springs that come with the door from the manufacturer not being able to support the door? Having a door installed and the installer says they're not the right springs and I'm not sure if I should trust them.
Hi I have a broken .250x2x31” spring, I bought a set of .250x2x32” springs to replace both my springs. I believe them to be 30 years old probly never lubed and most likely broke from normal wear and tear. Is the springs I bought ok assuming the original springs were correct? Does that extra inch of length matter?
Good information, but I feel like most garage door experts/companies depend on "just use what was already there". HVAC guys (at least around here) do the same thing. They just replace the old unit with a new unit of similar size making the assumption that the first person that selected the HVAC unit size did the correct analysis. My 331lb door (I weighed it) had a mix of a 0.242 and a 0.250 spring that gave a combined lifting force of 310lb. They worked ok, but I would get a broken spring every 4 years. I recently changed to a pair of longer 0.272 springs and expect to get at least 3x the life from that spring. These provide a lifting force of 325lb.
I love this perspective. I have a longer form video that covers the benefits of high cycle springs. Replacing springs every 4 years will compound in cost. Thus higher cycle springs with a thicker gauge might be a better solution. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for sharing your feedback. Yes the garage door should stay balanced preferably at the three, five, and 7 ft level. Most within the garage door industry feel that it should balance as each section turns open or closed on the track radius. Nevertheless a good balance store should not move more than a foot down or up.
BIG MISTAKE by the previous company reducing wire size. However, the door could still be properly balanced with the .225 wire if they were cut down to 22". By doing so, the life cycle (if assuming standard 10K to begin with) would be reduced to around 2,500. Great video and information!
Not to mention an unbalanced door can ruin your garage door opener. Years ago my chain-drive opener failed - nylon gear inside gearbox lost teeth - due to unbalanced door.
I have to admit. I'm a little saddened by this video. A true [professional will always weigh the door. There are 3 things you must know for proper balance. The height. The drum, and the weight. If a service tech doesn't' know these 3 variables. Send him away. When you know these 3 things. You can make up any springs the homeowner wants.
Every tech should down load the service spring app. Weight/height and drum are key variables. It will ask radius. We customize any spring to 306 wire by this app. All my techs need to do is weigh the door. From this video. The previous work done was a guess.
Nice video, I once did a steel back with 2 225x2” on steel door worked like a charm I assuming cuz the 2” diameter and no windows. Is it more beneficial to run 2” cut over the 1 3/4?
@Andrew Balas I did a odd shape door that had 2 rusted out 207s I put 207x1.75 and they maxed out on turns and the door was still to heavy. I then put 2 207 cut by 2” and it had more turns and balanced out the door perfect. So from that I thought 2” has more winds to add before springs max out (they were both 25” length)
Thanks for the great information for those of us who like to turn a wrench (and live in DIY-friendly states). I have an Ideal Door S51S, 16’ x 7’, manufactured Feb 2004/installed June 2004. Uninsulated, no windows, standard radius track (12”), D400-96 drums, weight is 177 lbs. It has 2 original standard torsion springs which worked flawlessly for 19 years until a failure of one of the springs yesterday. The failed spring is 0.218 x 1.75 x 25.5; the one that still holds tension measures 0.218 x 1.75 x 29 (if I understand correctly, the length of the intact spring should be approximately 27” after backing out 8 turns of the 0.218 gauge spring). Per your comments in this video, I’d like to entertain going to 0.225 for greater cycle life and trying for a matched pair if possible. I am wondering if a matched pair of any of the following would work (which take into account my understanding of the math and what I can find stock of): • 0.225 x 1.75 x 32 (30 is also available) • 0.225 x 2 x 27 • 0.218 x 2 x 23 (not ideal for cycle life, but available) If you have a better fit I’ll try to track it down, but inventory does seem to be an issue.
Would the spring rate change when going to a high lift, I'm going up 4 feet to the bottom of the radius. 15x7 Wayne Dalton 8700 insulated vinyl. 200lbs resting on top of scale without tension.
Old set were mismatched, 207 x 1.34 x 27 and 225 x 2 x 29. Metal pole was pretty bent. Replaced pole. Would 218 x 2 x 22 work as a matched set? How many turns should I start with? Door is 16 x 8 non insulated, 160lbs
Thank you so much for this question. I believe you would do well with a pair of 225 wire Springs by 1 and 3/4 by 33 in long. That should be able to balance the door nicely.
My door and springs are original with the house from '97, the door is wood and I'd assume has gotten slightly heavier over the years due to moisture over the years. At what point should I consider a strong, thicker, longer and/or adding more preload winds to the spring?
Excellent question! When you do a balance test to your garage door, does the garage door stay at a specific level or does it feel heavy and fall? When was the last time you had your garage door service? If you are at a crossroad to have your garage door serviced then there's no better time than now to have your spring system upgraded.
Very helpful video. One of my torsion springs gave out. I'm going to replace both of them of the same gauge and length. Mines are Torque Force. Do you know where to buy that brand or what other high quality brand do you recommend? I appreciate your time and help!
Great question. What brand of wood garage door do you own? What can you tell me about the track assembly to this garage door? When was the last time you replaced the extension springs?
Hello. Thank you for the question. I would be happy to guide you finding the right springs. But I do need a little more context about your garage door. Do you know the brand? Does this door have windows? How were you able to determine the weight of this door? Did you have a professional weigh it?
How do I know which spring torsion to upgrade to? My current one is broken and is a 207-24. I added some foam pads to my garage door. It’s a 2 car garage door.
My door is not good, now figured out the springs are different colors, it lifts but trouble closing. Don't know the springs to use. I have the serial numbers.
how about if my garage door only had 1 right winding spring and it broke so i am trying to replace it. is it ok to buy a pair of left and right torsion spring with same size and length or shorten the length since there're gonna be two of them instead of the single one that was previosuly installed? spring measurements are .250x2x37. great video. very informative! thank you
Advised for get new set of torsion spring ( left and right) , my garage door weight 360 pounds, is 16x8 ft and have a radius of 12 “, thanks in advance .
Great video. Thank you. Problem is though -- there are no numbers on my springs! I want to get the same ones, but without the numbers how can I do that? There is no name on the springs either.
There are a number of ways that you can measure with a measuring tape. Here's a video that might be helpful. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cqoG_AJuJPk.htmlsi=AXDMbQf1gj1hGxK8
Thank you. I made sure to get the same size springs. But the way the long, metal piece from the opener to the door is moving after the new unit and springs were installed is worrying me. It seems to go up and down as the door opens and closes. I don't remember the old one doing that. Is it supposed to "flex" like that?
You should have described how to measure a torsion spring and what the various numbers that you mentioned mean in relation to the spring size. That would have added value to the video.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I actually have another video that does that exact same thing, where I go into detail on how you can utilize specific tools to measure springs. Additionally I highlight how the first number is the wire size, the second number is the diameter size, and the last number is the length of the spring.
Good informative video. I have no intention of replacing my own springs. However, I now understand the process and have a better idea as to what is required, Thank you!
So did I just get screwed. When the guy laid both springs next to each other. They were same length but the new one looked and was thinner. But it comes with a lifetime warranty. 😉. I mean how do you trust garage door repairman? Sometimes they seem worse than used car salesmen
Hello. That's a good question. Do you happen to know if you have a 2-in ID or a one and three quarter inch diameter id? The diameter is important with these Rainer doors because sometimes they could be 2 in or 2 and 5/8 in.
Hello. Thank you for reaching out with these questions. What can you tell me about the door model? Additionally do you know what type of track assembly you have? Is it a 12-in radius or do you have a low track assembly?
Hello!! Thank you for the video. I have a 16x8 garage door uninsulated. There are currently 2 different torsion springs on it from the previous homeowner… one is a .225 27.5” 1.75” and the other is a .218 26.25” 1.75”. The smaller .218 broke yesterday and I am trying to figure out what size springs to replace both of these with. Any guidance? Can I go up to a 2” diameter? Home Depot seems to stock that easily.
Hello! Thanks for sharing these details. The .225 wire springs will offer higher cycles for your garage door. Yet the door tracks, drums, and weight will also play a factor. Therefore if there's a way these factors can also be determined then it might help hone in on the right configuration for your garage door. If it were me I would utilize a pair of .225 1.75 by 33 long springs. Yet, I'd need more information from your garage door.
Howdy. So I Have 243-34-2 Torsion And A Spring Broke. I See 243-33-2 Available But Seems Like 34s Are A Harder Find. What Would Be The Best Upgrade At This Time For My Insulated 16'x8' Double Garage Door ? I Have Been Watching Your Videos For The Last Few Days And They Are Very Informational.
Hello. Thank you for the feedback. I would use a pair of 243 x 2" x 33"s ... The difference in length should not throw off the door balance. You could also use a pair of 243 x 1 3/4" x 38"s.