Garage Door Torsion Springs

Nowadays, garage door torsion springs are more widely used in homes compared to their extension counterparts. This is because they do an excellent job and tend to have a longer useful life. In general, without them the door's operation would be impossible.

Most residential overhead doors use a single torsion spring

It is mounted over a shaft which is set above the door. Usually, the component is positioned in the center of the shaft. It is loaded with force which corresponds to the weight of the door. This makes it possible for the spring to balance the door. Basically, the hardware component is responsible for holding the whole unit in place.

At each end of the spring shaft, there is a drum. There is a lift cable going over each drum. The other end of the cable is secured to the bottom end of the door. When the opener starts lifting the door, the spring releases the force that it holds and applies it to the drums which transfer it to the cables. This is how this energy is used for lifting the door to fully open position. It is important to note that the opener provides only a very small amount of energy for the lifting action. It corresponds to the energy that you would use to lift the door manually.

All modern garage door springs are made from steel and are quite strong. The current industry standard for the cycle life of these components is 10,000 cycles. This means that they can open and close the door 10,000 times before breaking. This makes them quite durable, but breaking is inevitable. When this happens, immediate replacement is required. 

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