OK, what is a torsion spring? If you are standing inside your garage with the door down, the torsion springs are located directly above the door and look like a tight wire spiral around a steel shaft. Most garage doors have two torsion springs that alleviate the stress that the door uses to operate. Torsion springs are most commonly used on double wide doors, but are occasionally on a single door. A garage door cannot operate without torsion springs due to the weight of the door. Have you ever had to replace the torsion springs on your garage door? Chances are, you figured this out when the door wouldn’t function, or, perhaps you heard something that sounded like a shotgun going off! Which leads to the next question, how long does a torsion spring last?
When garage door manufacturers rate the springs on their doors, the standard is 10,000 cycles. This means how many times the door goes up and down. Up and down is one cycle. Generally, torsion springs will last between 4 – 7 years, depending on how often you use your garage door (think in cycles). Other factors that hinder the lifetime are extreme temperatures, due to the fact it’s a mechanical moving part, and another is lack of maintenance.
If only one spring breaks, we always recommend that you replace both due to the fact they have similar duty cycles. Thus, it may cost more to replace both, but you will save money in the long term by not spending the money on another service call because the second one will most likely break shortly thereafter. Make sense?
So, you think you can fix it yourself? Unless you have been trained and know what you are doing we do not recommend it. In fact, people have been seriously injured and even killed by a torsion spring. We do not sell torsion springs over the counter to the public due to the extreme danger. We do recommend you hire a professional garage door company to provide this service.