How to confirm it
You can confirm a broken spring from the floor, without touching anything.
- Look at the spring on the bar above the door. A broken torsion spring shows a clear gap of an inch or two in the coil.
- On doors with springs along the side tracks, look for a spring hanging loose or a cable lying slack.
- Try the opener once. If it strains and the door lifts a few inches then stops, the spring is no longer carrying the weight.
- Pull the red release cord only if the door is fully closed. The door will feel extremely heavy. That is normal with a broken spring.
Why it happens
The springs do the lifting, not the opener. Every time the door goes up and down, the spring winds and unwinds, and steel that is flexed thousands of times eventually snaps. Standard springs are commonly rated for around 10,000 cycles. At three or four trips a day that is roughly seven to nine years.
Cold snaps finish off tired springs, which is why so many break on the first cold morning of the year.
What not to do
Do not force the door, prop it open or try to fix the spring yourself.
- Do not keep pressing the opener. It can strip its gears or bend the top section of the door.
- Do not lift the door and prop it. A door with no spring can come down with its full weight.
- Do not try to replace the spring yourself. The winding is where people get badly hurt.
If your car is stuck inside
Say so when you call. With two people a door can sometimes be lifted by hand and clamped safely, but it is a judgment call that depends on the door, and it is better made by someone looking at it.