With so many sizes and specifications available, choosing the right spring for your garage door is essential not only for financial reasons but mostly for safety reasons. Friendly Garage Door specialists offers helpful tips to determine the correct size of garage door spring to work best with your garage door.
When selecting a garage door spring you’ll need to calculate the height and weight of your garage door so you can install the right spring that can properly lift and balance the door.
The most common size for a garage door torsion spring is 728 (where 700 is the wire gauge and 28 is the spring’s length) but there are more variables like if the door is insulated and how heavy-duty the spring needs to be in order to lift it.
Before any measurement is done you need to determine if you have a two-spring system, because if you do then you need to measure both springs specifications separately.
How to Measure the Right Spring for Your Door
In order to get the accurate measurement of the spring you’ll need to check 3 key factors: the wire diameter, the spring’s length and its inside diameter. There is a special ruler you can use that is dedicated exactly for this task but if you can’t put your hand on one you can use a simple tape measure and a caliper to measure the wire thickness. The length of the spring should be measured only when the spring is not under tension and the inside diameter is usually stamped on the spring itself. If you are not sure or perhaps the old spring is worn out that you can’t see the numbers on it ir we highly recommend to call a garage door repair company and let their certified technician handle it. Correct measurements ensure smooth and safe operation which reduce the risk of damage or getting injured.
What Can Happen If Choosing the Wrong Spring
Using the wrong spring size can lead to several issues some are even very severe including difficulty opening or closing the door, complete failure of the spring which could lead to serious damages and fatal injuries. Installing the wrong spring can definitely harm your garage door and how it works, it creates serious safety risks and put you and your loved ones in danger. Correct and proper sized springs will not only keep the door balanced but also make it easy to open by hand or with the opener. If you are not 100% sure about the right size or type of spring your garage system needs it’s best to ask a professional garage door technician for help.
