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Homeowner guide

Garage Door Springs: Why Winter Breaks Them

Ask any Utah garage door tech: spring season is January. Here's why cold mornings kill springs, and what you can do about it.

The mechanics

Torsion springs are wound steel under enormous tension, cycling every time the door moves. Steel fatigues with every cycle — springs are rated in cycles (often ~10,000 for standard springs) — and cold makes steel slightly more brittle while thickened lubricants add friction. A spring already near the end of its fatigue life picks a cold morning to let go, usually with a bang like a firecracker.

Warning signs before the bang

• The door feels heavy, or the opener strains and reverses.
• Visible gap in the spring coil, or rust and pitting on the coils.
• The door won't stay half-open during a balance test (door disconnected from opener, lifted halfway — it should hold).

What to do — and not do

• Don't keep cycling the opener against a broken spring — that burns out motors and bends the top section.
• Don't attempt spring replacement yourself; the stored energy injures people every winter.
• Do lubricate springs and hardware with garage-door lubricant each fall, and get a balance check with any service visit.
• Do ask for cycle ratings when replacing — high-cycle springs cost modestly more and last multiples longer.

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