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How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

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Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#181

Post by itsgrimetime »

amluto wrote: post #126
levocardia wrote: post #5

I 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…

I’m not an expert in how springs break but wouldn’t an ejection of material require the spring breaking in at least 2 places that are close enough to not loop around the rod? I’m curious if anyone’s ever been hurt by one breaking (other than when actively working on it).

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#182

Post by 14 »

wackget wrote: post #4

Is there something I'm missing? A quick search of YouTube reveals tons of garage door spring replacement videos. It doesn't seem like the knowledge or parts are difficult to obtain.

yes this is one of those things that is scaring people but if you pay $500 some other guy can magically do it for you. The fact is that it is not that hard of a job and the dangers can easily be mitigated if you have some basic common sense and knowledge. Unfortunetly common sense is not that common and many people have been hurt doing this job. I myself would not hesitate to do this job like you say lots of information now days on how to do it this site is 22 years old in this post so now days you can see exactly what to do in many videos way before even attempting the job and that alone can take away most of the risk since you get hand held the entire process. I have to say I am a little disappointed in the HN crowd at how shy they are to do this job. All the handy men that do this job now are just humans like you and me and they all had to learn from scratch at some point. Again this is not that hard or dangerous but like the article says it has by shrouded in stories of danger and the trades people would not share their knowledge but told everyone how dangerous it would be so pay them money.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#183

Post by gnicholas »

dylan604 wrote: post #86
YeBanKo wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Potentially throwing away so many good years How much time did you spend changing oil?? It's a 20-30 min job once you have done it coupe of time and know the ropes. I sometimes do it myself not because I want to save few bucks, but because it's sometimes faster than going somewhere.

I'm assuming you're leaving out the time it takes to drive somewhere to dispose of the used oil and driving back. I grew up in the boonies, and my dad was one to dispose of oil "out back". It was such a shock the day he brought home a proper catch can to have it disposed of properly

We just put it out with the weekly recycling.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#184

Post by cruffle_duffle »

cityofdelusion wrote: post #27
the__alchemist wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. I agree on all examples. Absolutely not worth the risk. Not even close. I wince thinking about when I changed my own oil in my 20s... Potentially throwing away so many good years, for so little gain. The car danger can be mitigated if the work is done under a professional lift.

There is pretty much zero risk if the car is either jacked correctly or put on ramps correctly. Dummies that rely on a single 1.5mm o-ring not blowing out on their hydraulic floor jacks are gambling with their life. Always operate on flat terrain, always chock the wheels, always use the parking brake, always use jack stands, always verify no movement in the vehicle by rocking it, never rely on the floor jack.

It’s amazing and honestly kind of sad how risk averse some people are. The reason I don’t change my oil anymore is it just isn’t worth the time and hassle. The “unsafety” of such a task doesn’t even register on my things to be worried about: at all. Jack it up, remember to put on gloves(!!!!) put the fucker on stands and go.

The actual scary thing is I’m pretty sure way back when I was a kid we’d just dump the oil down the storm drain. I hate to think what that was doing to the environment around us.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#185

Post by nradov »

codethatwerks wrote: post #175
imoverclocked wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Garage doors are actually fairly heavy. By balancing the weight with a spring, you do a lot of favors to your mechanical advantage systems. (Eg: less wear, less advantage needed, the door can open in a reasonable amou…

What about a counterweight or a piston instead (pistons are used in pull down beds which might be a similar load)

Sure, but then you have to put the counterweight somewhere which would occupy garage floor or wall space. And the counterweight track would have to be enclosed for safety.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#186

Post by notact »

codethatwerks wrote: post #179
LoganDark wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many people might have a really tough time opening the door manually without those springs I think that would be most people. Who can lift over 450lbs from the ground?

450lbs but because it is not straight up but up and back that probably gives a 2-1 leverage so 225lb or 100kg. using your legs to lift it would be in the realm of a regular male weight trainer but not the average jo or jane.

Sure it gets progressively easier as more and more of the door rides horizontally on its rails. But those first few inches where the door is nearly entirely vertical, must be some significant fraction of the total weight, probably >90%.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#187

Post by nradov »

codethatwerks wrote: post #176
QuercusMax wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are surprisingly heavy, which is why you need such a beefy spring. When my spring broke a decade or so ago, I wasn't able to lift the door on my own, and with the assistance of my wife we were just barely able to lift it. Looks like they can easily be 200-500 lbs depend on materials (steel isn't light, but it's lighter than wood for this application), and I guess the issue is that you have to lift hundreds of po…

Could it be made of lighter material. Ironic how the garage door is perhaps the most armoured part of a house

Lighter materials that would provide the same level of durability, security, insulation, and fire resistance would be significantly more expensive. No one wants to pay for that.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#188

Post by LoganDark »

notact wrote: post #186
codethatwerks wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

450lbs but because it is not straight up but up and back that probably gives a 2-1 leverage so 225lb or 100kg. using your legs to lift it would be in the realm of a regular male weight trainer but not the average jo or jane.

Sure it gets progressively easier as more and more of the door rides horizontally on its rails. But those first few inches where the door is nearly entirely vertical, must be some significant fraction of the total weight, probably >90%.

Not to mention you have to get your fingers or something underneath the closed door in order to begin lifting it in the first place. So the "from the ground" part is not insignificant.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#189

Post by manfre »

codethatwerks wrote: post #179
LoganDark wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many people might have a really tough time opening the door manually without those springs I think that would be most people. Who can lift over 450lbs from the ground?

450lbs but because it is not straight up but up and back that probably gives a 2-1 leverage so 225lb or 100kg. using your legs to lift it would be in the realm of a regular male weight trainer but not the average jo or jane.

Your 2-1 leverage assumption is wrong. The first 1' is full door weight plus all the friction in the system. The effective weight will decrease as the panels transition to horizontal, but deadlifting 400 lbs is easier than overhead pressing 200 lbs.

Re: How I replaced deadly garage door torsion springs (2002)

#190

Post by Projectiboga »

mbreese wrote: post #61
csande17 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would suspect that "unintentional fall" also covers falling over (like, the kind of fall that would happen if you tripped over a garden hose), not just falling off something. The former is the most common cause of emergency visits among the older people I know.

I figured for all ages it would also encompass falling off something. A chair, bed, etc… one type is more predominant for the younger ages (falling from something), the other is likely more predominant for the older ages (falling down, tripping, stairs, etc).

Falls hit 50% fatal above a twelve foot drop. Remember kids gravity is an accelerative force. It isn't a static force. You fall faster and faster every second you fall.
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