How To Tell If Your Garage Door Spring Is Broken
Garages are wonderful inventions that make life very convenient. Unfortunately, however, garages, or, more specifically, garage doors do sometimes run into problems. One of the most common problems is a broken or otherwise damaged garage door spring. The good news is that because this problem is so common, it's usually easy and inexpensive to fix.
The key is just to detect the problem first, which isn't hard either, at least not if you know what to look for:
Faulty Opening
One of the most important functions of a garage door spring is to help your garage open. As such, if your garage is suddenly have trouble opening, then your spring probably needs some attention.
Sometimes, when the spring is suffering, the garage door won't go up at all. When that's the case, check to make sure there's nothing wrong with your opener, such as dead batteries. If the batteries, the sensor device, and the remote are all fine, it's probably the spring. Some garage doors simply won't go up all the way, and that is almost definitely caused by the spring.
Strange Sounds
When your garage door goes up or down, it should do so rather soundlessly. If you hear a lot of groaning, whirring, grinding, or other unpleasant noises, that's a pretty good indicator that something is wrong with your spring.
Even if the garage door appears to be acting normally, get it checked out if you notice odd sounds. Even if the spring hasn't broken yet, those sounds are a good indicator that the spring and the door itself are under a lot of pressure and that unnecessary and damaging wear is taking a toll on your garage door.
An Unbalanced Door
Take a look at the bottom of your garage door. Does the bottom make a long, straight line? If so, good, and, if not, something is wrong with your garage door's spring. More specifically, something is probably wrong with the torsion spring cable.
This cable usually doesn't snap entirely until long after a problem has been present, so it's probably just frayed. Still, though, immediate attention is necessary to get it back in proper, safe working order.
As a word of advice, never attempt to fix the springs or spring cables yourself. These devices are under a lot of tension and can easily snap, injuring a person severely.
For any problems associated with your garage door, contact a qualified garage repair service. To learn more, contact a company like All Seasons Garage Door with any questions or concerns you have.