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A broken spring is the most common serious garage door failure, and the one most likely to cause injury when handled wrongly. Five minutes of reading here can save an emergency room visit.
How to know it is the spring
- A single loud bang, often heard at night from inside the house
- A visible two-inch gap in the coil on the shaft above the door
- The opener strains, lifts a few inches and stops
- The door is impossibly heavy by hand, or slams shut when released
- On extension-spring systems, a stretched or detached spring alongside the track
What to do immediately
- Leave the door where it is. Closed is safest. If it is open, keep people and vehicles out from underneath.
- Do not use the opener. Every attempt drives an unbalanced load through the gear, board and cables.
- Do not lift it by hand. Without counterbalance you are lifting the full weight — commonly 200 to 400 pounds — and it can drop.
- Unplug the opener if others in the household might try the button.
- Call for service. If a vehicle is trapped, say so; that makes it an emergency dispatch.
Why never DIY a torsion spring
A wound torsion spring stores enough energy to break bones and destroy the winding bar it is set with. Correct replacement requires winding bars of the right size, knowledge of the wire gauge, inside diameter, length and wind direction, and the ability to measure the door's actual weight to size the replacement. This is the single repair we most often see attempted and most often see go badly.
What a correct replacement looks like
- Both springs replaced as a matched pair, sized to the measured door weight
- Cables, drums and bearings inspected and replaced if damaged by the failure
- Door balanced so it holds position anywhere with the opener disconnected
- Opener force and travel limits reset for the new balance
- Safety reverse tested; cycle tested before the technician leaves
Full detail on the service is on our spring repair page.
Preventing the next one
Springs are a wear item with a finite cycle life, not a permanent part. In Florida, corrosion is usually what ends them early. Once a year: look at the coil for pitting and rust, listen for a change in the door's sound, and do a balance test — disconnect the opener, lift the door halfway, and see whether it stays put. High-cycle galvanised springs, fitted in pairs, are the practical upgrade for coastal homes.
The short version: Leave the door closed, do not use the opener, do not lift it by hand, and call. Replacement should always be a matched pair sized to the door's measured weight, with the opener recalibrated afterwards.
