Garage door springs are the most important springs in your garage’s opening and closing mechanism. They work together with the torsion springs on your overhead door to help it open and close properly and safely. While most people only think about the springs when their garage door is springy, the truth is that springs play an important role in a lot of your garage’s everyday operations. If you want to know what makes the garage door springs, here are five things you might want to know about them:
The tension springs are the heavy, industrial-grade springs that help your garage door springs to open and close. The purpose of a garage door springs is to counterbalance the force of gravity pulling on the garage door in the upward direction. In essence, this simply means that the garage door springs is meant to make the doors easy enough for you to lift it easily, or for the energy of the garage door opener to effectively lift it up. To this end, the tension springs should be kept as long as possible, since even the smallest misalignment or torsion could potentially break them. If you have a manual garage door opener, you should check it once or twice a year for obvious signs of wear and tear in the torsion spring arrangement.
Lastly, the compression springs help move the garage door up and down and both help to keep it stationary as well. They are often located near the bottom of your overhead door, near the side wall of your garage, and in some cases even in the middle of your garage. Because the compression springs help to regulate the garage door’s movement, they can sometimes become worn out. You’ll need to lubricate these springs with oil at least every few years, but always make sure to use oil that is compatible with your garage door opener’s oils.