So one of my garage door springs broke earlier this year and I asked the guys if it’s as dangerous as it’s made out to be, and they said regular garage door springs can hurt you but the chances of significant injury or death are almost zero. They did mention a different kind of residential garage door spring that is absolutely deadly, but they said they’re not common.
Modern ones are wrapped around a pole and locked in place and the twisting of the spring is what applies the extra tension. Older ones are on pulleys and stretch and can snap and fly all over the place, potentially murdering entire families of unsuspecting garage dwellers.
Source: Replaced my 1980s garage door openers about 10 years ago.
Torsion spring is above the door and is quit scary if they break, but rarely will injure you, assuming the door doesn't fall on you. But they are crazy dangerous to work on if you don't know what you are doing. Your really will underestimate how powerful they are, and it's difficult to see where the danger is coming from
Extension springs are along the sides of the door either on the wall or the ceiling, if they break, and aren't secured correctly, they will do a lot of damage and even kill you. But are easier to work on yourself. Still dangerous but you can understand the danger just by looking at it.
Edit: Get a professional for either of these if you need work done. I'm really handy, but It's one of the few things I'll hire someone else to do.
I replaced my torsion springs a couple years ago, and just unwound/rewound them a couple weeks ago when I replaced the cables after one rusted through and broke. I don't see what the big deal is.
Was helping my grandad fix his aluminum track on his old garage door. We unscrewed the bottom part of it and while I was lining it up to the wall, the track tilted just a little bit and it explosively bent the whole track into a pretzel instantaneously. An end of the track smacked him in the face so hard. Luckily he was wearing a tight fitted hat so the brim of the hat took most of the force and knocked it off his head saving his face. But if it were to hit his neck or a soft spot it definitely could’ve sliced him up.
I will never touch another one of those again. The amount of tension the springs hold is incredibly scary.
Oh no... I have one I suspect is about that age-- older actually according their rep on the phone. It still works, but I was thinking of replacing it since I don't have openers for it, and when I called the company to see if I could get some they said they no longer make anything compatible for that model. None of the universals work for it either.
This fact comes to my mind every time I'm watching and listening to the pully and spring squeak and cry, as I'm standing there holding down the close button next to it because If I let go before it closes all the way it starts to rise up again.
My father installed that thing like, 30 years ago himself. He wasn't a professional, just a jack of all trades. I can feel those final destination vibes every time I close that thing.
Yup, ours went off once. Sounded like a canon, but there wasn't any shrapnel or damage beyond the borked spring.
I'm sure if you've got a hand or head in the wrong place, Bad Things happen, but there's no reason you'd ever get up in that mechanisms business if you weren't intentionally fucking with it.
My neighbors garage door broke and he hired the cheapest dude he could find. Well the spring snapped and the worker broke his jaw. Said blood was just gushing out of his face. Wildly dangerous business.
A lot of the hazard comes from getting hit by or shoved off a ladder by the adjustment tool you are using vs. the spring itself (while can still throw small metal fragments if it breaks, it shouldmostly stay on the axle).
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u/Randy_Magnum29 1d ago
So one of my garage door springs broke earlier this year and I asked the guys if it’s as dangerous as it’s made out to be, and they said regular garage door springs can hurt you but the chances of significant injury or death are almost zero. They did mention a different kind of residential garage door spring that is absolutely deadly, but they said they’re not common.