How To Balance A Garage Door With A Torsion Spring

Pull down on the emergency release handle to disconnect the door from the opener track.

How to balance a garage door with a torsion spring.

Adjustment to torsion springs can be dangerous because they must be adjusted with the door down and the spring under tension. Numerous websites and videos showing you how to change them yourself using galvanized or oil soaked some will count the number of coils within a certain measurement to determine the wire diameter of the torsion spring some will use a spring gauge to determine the wire diameter of the torsion spring. Adjust the springs on both sides of the door the same way. Retest the door balance as you did in step 1.

With an extension spring door the goal is to take all the tension off the door before you even think about touching a spring you can do this by opening the door all the way and propping it up with a ladder. Adjusting an extension spring door. The bar also has a pulley at each end through which the garage door cables that open and close it pass. Once the spring is free of tension remove from its track hanger.

Open it just as wide as you can without hitting the garage door opener s stop bolt and place a clamp on the track on both sides to keep the door in. Stand a stepladder at the area of the motor and unplug the power cord to the opener. If it was opening too quickly move it to the next lower hole. Close the garage door.

Spot the bar that runs parallel to the top of the garage door and has 2 springs on it. Torsion springs must be adjusted with the door in the down position. A problem with the spring tension could cause the door to open or close unevenly improperly or at the wrong speed and adjusting the springs will likely solve the problem. Look at the wall just above the garage door.

If the door was closing too quickly move the spring to the next higher hole on the bracket. There are many schools of thought about garage door torsion springs and their replacement. Be sure to have all your tools inside before closing the door unless you have an alternate access door to the garage.