Torsion and extension springs
Garage Door Spring Repair and Replacement in San Diego
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One loud bang, and now the door will not lift. That is a spring, and it is the single most common garage door failure in San Diego.
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The short answer
A broken garage door spring is replaced, not repaired. We fit code-compliant torsion or extension springs, balance the door by hand, and test the opener force afterwards. Call (619) 324-8173 for a free estimate. Springs are stocked work for us and most jobs are finished on the same visit.
The spring is the only part of a garage door system that holds the weight of the door. The opener does not lift the door, it guides a door that the spring has already balanced. That is why a healthy opener still cannot raise a door with a failed spring, and why forcing it burns out an opener that had nothing wrong with it.
How to tell which spring you have, and whether it is gone
Open the accordion that matches what you can see from the doorway. Do not put a hand near the spring, the bar or the cable while you look.
A single bar across the wall above the door
That is a torsion system. One or two springs sit on a steel shaft above the opening. A broken torsion spring shows a clean gap of about two inches in the coil, and the two halves stay on the bar. This is the common setup on San Diego attached garages.
Long springs down each side, above the horizontal tracks
That is an extension system, usually on older doors and on lighter single-car doors. Extension springs stretch as the door closes. They should always have a containment cable running through them, and if yours does not, we fit one when we replace the pair.
The door lifts about six inches and stops
Classic broken torsion spring. The opener pulls, the safety reverse senses the load, and the door drops back. Stop using the opener at this point, because every attempt is loading the drive gear against a door the motor was never sized to lift.
The door is heavy to lift by hand
With the opener disconnected, a balanced door should hold its position at waist height and move with one hand. A door that slams down or fights you has a spring that is broken, fatigued, or was never the right rating for the door weight.
One spring looks fine and the other is broken
On a two spring door we replace both. They were fitted on the same day and have run the same number of cycles, so the intact one is at the end of its life too. Replacing one means a second call and a second labour charge within months.
The door bangs, jerks or hangs crooked on the way up
Either the spring tension has drifted out of balance or a cable has started to unwind unevenly on its drum. Both are corrected in the same visit as a spring replacement, and both get worse quickly if the door keeps running.
Why springs break, and why San Diego springs break where they do
Springs are rated in cycles, and one cycle is one open and one close. A household that uses the garage as its front door runs through cycles far faster than the door in a rarely used detached bay, which is why two identical doors on the same street fail years apart.
The second factor here is coastal air. Doors within a few miles of the water in San Diego carry salt on every metal surface, and corrosion pitting on a spring coil is a stress riser that brings the break forward. If your door is near the coast we look at the cables, the bottom fixtures and the rollers at the same visit, because those corrode on the same clock.
What shortens a spring's life:
- High cycle use, several openings a day, every day
- Salt air on coastal and near-coastal properties
- A spring rated for a lighter door than the one fitted
- An unbalanced door forcing one spring to do more than its share
- Rust from a garage that stays damp, common in older detached bays
Why this is not a DIY part
The comparison people have in their head is a part that costs less than the visit. The part is not the job. A torsion spring is wound to a specific number of turns with winding bars, and the energy stored in that coil is what makes the door liftable by a person. Released wrongly it takes fingers and wrists, and the internet is full of the results.
There is also a sizing problem that is invisible from the driveway. Wire diameter, inside diameter, length and wind direction all have to match the door weight, and a spring that is close but not right will balance the door today and destroy the opener over the next year. We measure the existing spring and the door before quoting.
What a correct spring job includes
Replacing the coil is about half of the work. The rest is what makes the door last.
On every spring replacement we also:
- Replace both springs on a two spring door, not just the failed one
- Check and re-spool the lift cables on their drums
- Balance the door by hand at three heights with the opener disconnected
- Reset the opener force and travel limits to the new balance
- Test the safety reverse on the floor and at the sensors
- Lubricate hinges, rollers and bearings and report anything else that is wearing
Spring work we do
Torsion spring replacement, single and dual spring doors
Extension spring replacement with containment cables fitted
Correct re-sizing where the fitted spring was wrong for the door
Spring bar, bearing plate and centre bearing replacement
Cable replacement and drum re-spooling alongside the springs
Door balance and opener force reset after the change
Roller and hinge replacement while the door is apart
Maintenance and tune-ups to push the next failure further out
Three steps, start to finish
- Call or send a photoA photo of the bar above the door tells us the spring type and often the size. Call (619) 324-8173 or use the estimate form.
- Measure and quote on siteWe measure wire, inside diameter, length and wind, weigh the door balance, and give you the price before anything is wound.
- Replace, balance, testNew springs fitted, cables re-spooled, door balanced by hand, opener limits reset and the safety reverse tested with you watching.
Where we work
We cover San Diego County. These are the areas with their own page.
Questions people ask before they call
Can you replace just the broken spring?
On a two spring door we replace the pair. Both springs have run the same cycles, so the surviving one is close behind. Replacing one means paying for a second visit shortly afterwards.
How long does a spring replacement take?
A standard residential door is normally finished in a single visit, including balancing and resetting the opener. Doors with damaged cables, drums or bearings take longer, and we tell you before we start.
Is it safe to use the door until you arrive?
No. Leave it closed. Running the opener against a broken spring strips gears and bends track, and the door can drop if the emergency release is pulled part way up.
Do you fit code-compliant springs?
Yes. Torsion and extension springs are fitted to code, and extension springs get containment cables where they are missing.
My door is at the coast. Does that change anything?
It changes what we inspect. Salt air pits springs, cables and bottom fixtures together, so on coastal properties we check all three rather than only the part that failed.
Do you work weekends?
Open 24/7, nights, weekends and holidays. A broken spring with a car trapped inside is an emergency call, not a Monday job.
Related services
If the fault turns out to be something else, these are the pages for it.
Garage Door Opener Repair in San Diego
Garage Door Cable Repair and Off-Track Door Repair in San DiegoGet a free estimate
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Open 24 hours, every day
- Licensed & Insured
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- Locally Owned & Operated
- No Hidden Fees
- Emergency Service
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