Reminds me of the old engineer joke:
"Did you know you can save $27.00 if you build your own refrigerator?"
How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
121–130 of 344 posts
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because if someone needs to open the door and the power's out, or the motor has failed, many people won't be able to do it. That might be acceptable day-to-day, but, if opening the door is what's required to escape, say, a house fire, it's very much not acceptable.
Should be a door or egress window in any garage.
Kind of hard to get a car out the door or window. Usually getting a car out of a garage isn't a big deal, because who actually puts their car in there? But also, you don't need to drive your car out if your structure is on fire ... OTOH, you may want to drive somewhere else if your power is out, especially if it's out for an extended period of time.
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#123I was hoping this was going to be a new technology making these springs obsolete.
The alternative is counterweights. Not exactly new, but there looks like there is enough space for them in this case. The ones in the house I grew up in were a pair of concrete cylinders on either side of the door, maybe 10-15 cm in radius and 1m in length, mounted vertically. Not sure why they're not more common - seemed a completely reliable system.
Some gas piston would be cool.
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#124I had a teacher in high school who was blinded (I think only in one eye) trying to do this repair. You could not pay me enough money to do this repair. >This work is risky, but the risk is comparable to doing your own car repairs, or climbing on the roof of your house to clean your gutters. Notably, "unintentional fall" is the #1 cause of emergency department visits for adults [1], which is why I'd hire a professiona…
When my spring broke I called a someone local (maybe via Yelp), he came out within 30 minutes, replaced it in 20 and charged me $75. This was only a couple of years ago.
Likewise with brake fluid changes. I can do it, but the risk/hassle just ain't worth it for the cost of a pro.
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#125Nobody seems to mention keeping the springs lubed for longevity. What's the groups thinking on that? I keep a spray bottle of lube by the door and shoot it every few months, which is probably overkill, but it's so easy. Then just wipe off the excess and grime maybe yearly.
At least according to the article, the main failure mode is fatiguing, so I’m not sure lube would help with that, unless the corrosion is really bad. Most materials have a finite amount of cycles in them (although I’m a bit skeptical of the authors 7 year estimate…it seems low to me)
Doesn't the rubbing of the coils against each other contribute to fatigue?
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#126I had a teacher in high school who was blinded (I think only in one eye) trying to do this repair. You could not pay me enough money to do this repair. >This work is risky, but the risk is comparable to doing your own car repairs, or climbing on the roof of your house to clean your gutters. Notably, "unintentional fall" is the #1 cause of emergency department visits for adults [1], which is why I'd hire a professiona…
I don’t understand why it’s even considered safe to have one of these springs in one’s garage without a solid shield of some sort. While the energy involved is small on the scale of energy storage devices (Which brings to mind some rather different designs. A rather small motor with a lot of mechanical advantage can easily open a close a garage door, and if a DC or low voltage AC motor is used, it could do so quite a few times even if the power goes out.
You can even buy off-the-shelf springless garage door systems!
(I’m honestly not sure why springs are common at all in this application. IIRC I grew up with a garage door driven via a motor with a worm gear that engaged with a long threaded shaft, and there were nonetheless a pair of springs. Surely the added cost of a better motor and some upgraded mounting hardware for the motor box would have been less than the cost of those springs, especially installed. Maybe these designs are all essentially unchanged from decades ago when a ~100W (shaft) motor that could operate at a controlled speed even under negative load would have been exotic and expensive?)
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#127the people you pay to do it aren't going to do it any safer than you would and if they get hurt you're liable. You may as well watch some youtube, take your time, and do it yourself.
I question whether it's actually true that they "aren't going to do it any safer than you would". I'd expect the typical person I hire to have a lot more experience than me which would give them a chance to be safer, to the point I'd expect it to overcome even the fact that they're probably not taking their time as much as I would. Separately, being liable for something happening to someone else and that same thing h…
Experience brings complacency.
Averagely experienced woodworkers loose fingers most often.
When you are new to something you are super careful. When you are veteran you made or seen somebody make all mistakes already.
When you are averagely experienced it's the most likely time for your confidence to exceed your capability.
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#128> Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 Richard J Kinch Why is 2013 missing?
Presumably because the document was not updated in 2013. So no part of the document was first published in that year.
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#129My grandfather is in his 70s and does this as his "retirement job", it's generally around $500 last I asked him...
Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)
#130My dad would do anything, with confidence.
This is the one thing he wouldn't touch.
Me too.