Did my installer give me the wrong overhead door springs or is my motor just too weak?

Question

Spring finally snapped after many decades. Called someone in to replace the spring.

Backstory, the spring is 30+ years old. couple years ago I lubed up the spring with lithium lubricate and cleaned all the hinges and wheels and it has been working wonderful since then. The motor is just as old as old as my springs. The garage door we have is a wooden door. 9' x 8' x 1.25'' thick.

First Visit: Tech came out to measure my door and determine the correct type of spring required to replace the broken spring. During this visit we discussed at great length whether to install the same exact single spring or to install two springs. I wanted him to put the same exact spring and he pushed hard on 2 springs to due safety. After a day of me researching, I agreed with him.

Second Visit Tech came after 2 days with 2 new springs. Installed them while I was working around the house. After he was finished, he was testing the garage door and the door had issues moving all the way up or down with the motor. I'm not sure if he was able to push the door up and down manually, but he quickly said these springs are too strong and the side cables were loose. He said he would need to special order my springs. The problem he claimed was that he mis-measured my garage door. Which is kinda of bullshit because I measured the door for him and when he showed up the first time, he confirmed the spring and measurements.

Third Visit Tech came after 10 days with 2 new springs, and began quickly installing them. After he was finished. He was able to manually open and close the garage door himself, I witnessed this myself. But when trying to open and close the garage door with the motor it would not complete the cycle. I don't remember how it failed, but it did fail. I believe it would get 80% of the way then return or something. He instantly began to lube all the hinges tinker with the garage door thinking the issue was with my door somehow. He also did mention the springs he got were a couple inches longer or shorter than what his garage door measuring app indicated was the proper length. At this point he claimed the motor was too weak for my garage door and that the motor could have gone bad or weak once the spring snapped. The motor needed to be replaced.

Tech began claiming the motor we have is not strong enough to open and close the door properly, yet before the spring snapped, the motor was opening and closing the door just fine. He kept telling me the motor is too weak. Mind you he kept opening and closing the garage door to keep testing, so the motor is working. And on his first and second visit he never mentioned the motor was WEAK a single time or the motor could be an issue. I nicely asked him to remove the springs, put everything back the way it was, and I would have to think about it and discuss it with the family. Just to get him out of the house to do more research for myself.

Did he give me the correct type of springs based on the information above?

Or is the issue that after so many years my motor has gotten weak or so weak to the point it will not pick up or close the garage door anymore?

When pulling the garage door manually, does it matter how much force is required?

EDIT: I've put a lot more detail into my question this time around, I didn't think I would get such an overwhelming response.

Answer 1

Your installer either does not understand how garage door springs work or he's lying to you because he thinks you're an idiot and will believe any crap he says.

The facts are that the springs are NOT affected by the strength or weakness of the motor in any way. The springs are there to balance out the weight of the door to that is can be opened by a low power motor or, if needed, the door can be hoisted by hand in the event of a power outage or other problem.

The springs will break over time just because they develop cracks in the steel from being stretched and loosened 100s or even 1000s of times as the door is opened an closed. My experience is that the springs last 10-15 years with normal use. When one breaks they both should be replaced.

I recommend that you choose a different installer who either knows what he's doing and doesn't treat you like an idiot.

Answer 2

Automatic door motors are optional.

Every garage door is designed to work manually without a motor. You use your hands and a stick to push it up, and a rope to pull it down. The door action should be easy and effortless, even for a large and heavy door. There should be little force except the inertia of the door.

This works because springs are fairly linear, and the door is moving from vertical to horizontal at about the same rate as the spring. Thus, the door spring should be in balance in all positions - top, middle or bottom.

Now here's what happens when there's no motor. You work the door by hand everyday and it's effortless. Then it starts being a little stiff, or sticking at one point. You notice this, so you go up and fix it - replace wobbly rollers, clean the track, repair a bad hinge, whatever the case may be. And it's back to peak performance again.

Here's what happens when a door is motorized. The door starts being a little stiff, and the motor just FORCES the door. This creates a vicious cycle, worsening and spreading the damage, until it's so bad that the door won't lift at all anymore or catastrophically fails, and finally somebody notices. This is the fate of all doors whose custodians don't understand doors.

So the answer is, the repair person doesn't even need to know you have a motor drive! Disconnect the motor from the door, attach a rope to the bottom roller, and ask a new repairman to fix your door. About the motor, say "Posh, that thing hasn't worked for 10 years. We just operate the door manually and that's fine by us".

This will "separate the men from the boys".

Once the repairman has your door dialed in so you can open it with your pinkie, and has left... reconnect the motor drive.

Answer 3

Direct experience with exactly the same circumstances. The general understanding of door springs is that when disconnected from the track, the door should open without excessive force and should remain closed when pulled downward.

After a spring break, the repair tech installed two springs which were too strong. The door would not stay closed when pulled down. I had expected that the tension could have been adjusted to allow the door to close, but the tech replaced the pair with a single spring of greater strength, but less than the combined values for the pair it replaced.

The door then closed to the floor and opened easily while disconnected from the motor.

When the drive system was replaced, the operation was smooth and within load limits for the motor selected.

Answer 4

The most likely cause of a garage door spring failure is hydrogen embrittlement of the very hard steel; Nothing to do with the motor and little to do with the load. Caused by corrosion ( moisture condensation with temperature changes) , so coating with oil could help . I recently had one break and called a competent service man. In 2 hours, he replaced both springs from inventory in his truck, works fine.

Answer 5

The way I always understood if the spring were correctly tensioned that you should with out the door drive motor engaged lift the door half way and it should set or rest in that position. If the springs and cable are not binding it may just be as simple as a reprograming of the opener limits witch should either be electronic with pushing of correct buttons, or physical movement of micro switches on the travel track on the middle bar of the drive. sorry hope this helps

Answer 6

To answer your question as written: no, the spring would not break due to a weak opener motor. However, it is unclear what is actually going on because you talk about "the garage door would not open and close all the way yet again." Is that with the motor, or by hand?

You then say "the tech could open and close the door by hand when the new springs were installed" which indicates the springs are correct for your door. If the door opens properly by hand but not with the motor, then it is the motor at fault. I think that is your real question, not about weak motors breaking springs.

Answer 7

To answer the question about wrong springs. You select springs according to door weight. You do not use gut instinct to say two springs should be used instead of one. After doing that everything else is a circus act and who knows, maybe he broke something in your motor through ignorance.

Anyway ... If you had one spring you replace it with one correct spring. You have to weigh the door to determine what spring to buy. You don't guess. Weighing the door is a little tricky and dangerous so watch a bunch of YouTubes on the topic before you do it.

You then can tune the spring tension slightly. If you install the right spring, and set it correctly, with the motor disconnected the door will not rise or fall by itself in ANY position. By hand you can move it up or down effortlessly regardless of where it starts.

Once you do that there are a bunch of adjustments on the motor to ensure it reaches the top and bottom with just the right force. Read the manual for that. Definitely needs doing after replacing springs and definitely your guy should not do it.

Answer 8

I saw some kind of Dateline type investigation on garage door repairman and EVERY SINGLE ONE they tested ripped them off and upped the price.

It was actually unbelievable how sneaky they would be down to reinstalling the customers own original parts by cleaning it up and putting new stickers on it and saying it's new - often making the customer wait a couple days saying it had to be "special ordered" etc

I'd put a hidden camera and snag the guy. They would often tinker with stuff and break things.

BTW you said the door only closed 80% - did you check the sensors (you know, so if, say, a kid runs under the door it automatically stops)? Because another trick was to misalign the sensors or tape over one side.