Usually, people give a little thought about their garage door springs when they plan the key role in the door’s functioning. While purchasing a garage door and repairing it, you need to pay extra attention to which type of springs are required for the doors.
Knowledge about the springs is not only important for the doors, but it also ensures the user’s safety, as knowing the type will help you maintain the springs and doors. In this article, you’ll get complete detail about the types of garage door springs and which is perfect for a particular application.
If you are excited to know, stay here till the end!
Types of Garage Door Springs
Garage door springs come up in two main types;
- Torsion springs
- Extension springs
Both of these types have their own working mechanism, installation, and maintenance process. And because of all these differences, they offer various applications.
Let’s talk about in detail how both types are different!
1. Torsion Springs
Helical springs which use rotatory or twisting force for the door work is called torsion spring. This twisting force of torsion springs is called torque, from which the spring name originates.
Torsion springs are placed right above the garage door with other components, including torsion metal shaft/tube, metal drums, cables, and end bearings.
The garage door torsion spring manufacturers are also providing all the installation accessories along with various spring types. So, you can buy all the associated things from them.
Working Mechanism
Based on the door width, different numbers of torsion springs can be used, and the whole force of the door opening is equally distributed among all springs by a metal tube.
The pressure is then transferred to both side drums that assist the side cables in rotating equally and balance the whole door weight.
The number, length, and diameter of springs do not affect this whole mechanism.
2. Extension Springs
Unlike the torsion springs, extension springs are installed horizontally to the garage door. Two springs are placed on the uppermost sides of the door.
The end connections of the springs are attached to the pulleys, which help move the springs on track. The moveable pulley is attached to the stud pulley through cable.
Working Mechanism
When the doors are opened, extended springs store energy in them to create an offset to pulling force. The amount of force directly depends on how many doors you open.
When the door is closed, the stored energy is released, placing everything back in its normal position.
The cables used in the extension springs are for safety purposes. These cables prevent the door from closing in case of any damage or dysfunction of the springs.
Based on the ends, extension springs are further categorized into single looped, double looped, and clipped end springs.
Which Spring Type is Better?
Both the torsion and extension springs work in an amazing way with efficiency. However, the torsion springs are the most commonly used springs in both residential and commercial garage doors.
These springs are long-lasting and durable with smooth action but higher in cost than the extension springs. The installation cost of torsion springs is higher, but they are safer than extension.
While the extension springs are way cheaper in their installation than torsion springs. However, these springs have less lifespan and demand more installation space and have many safety issues.
Conclusion
According to professionals, torsion springs are way better than extension springs as they are safer to use and have higher lifecycles. Due to budget limitations, you might prefer the extension springs, but these springs will cost you much after a few times.
