A) The amount of turns required on your springs depends on the height of your garage door. If your door is 7ft high then we recommend starting off at 31 Quarter turns on each springs. If you have an 8ft door then start at 34 Quarter turns.
An 8 ft garage door with a standard 12 inch drum, will require 33-34 quarter turns on the spring.
Torsion springs should be wound four quarter turns per foot of door height, plus an extra two turns. Once you're done winding your springs, keep a winding rod resting on the garage door header and tighten the set screws on the spring with a socket wrench.
Increasing A Spring Cycle Life
Another difference between extension and torsion springs is that a torsion spring has the flexibility of increasing its cycle count. The cycle count can increase by using a heavier wire and a longer spring length.
Measure the circumference of the cable drum, and measure the height of the garage door in inches. Divide the height of the garage door by the cable drum circumference, then add one. This is the number of turns that are on your spring.
Ensure the U-bolts are fully tightened and roller door is still strapped and wrapped. Rotate the door two full turns towards the door opening, this will tension the springs.
Torsion springs have a longer lifespan than extension springs and are safer in breakage situations. Doors with two torsion springs also allow for manual operation in situations where one spring fails. Doors with extension springs, on the other hand, absolutely need both springs to operate safely, manually or otherwise.
A good general guideline is one full turn per foot of door height. So, with an ordinary 7-foot garage door, the torsion spring generally takes about 7 total turns. But remember that different door weights and types of springs may change this number. A garage door spring turn chart can be handy here.
Too much tension: Your garage door will not close completely or will remain closed and blocked.
You Can Damage the Garage Door Opener - If garage door springs are too large, they offer more strength than is required. The door will open with more force than needed, rolling up quickly and endangering its safety.
Standard residential torsion springs are found on a shaft above the center of the garage door. These springs typically come in 1 3/4", 2" and 2 1/4" inside diameters. If you have a broken torsion spring, read below to make the measurements you need, and then purchase a new garage door spring or springs.
A) The amount of turns required on your springs depends on the height of your garage door. If your door is 7ft high then we recommend starting off at 31 Quarter turns on each springs. If you have an 8ft door then start at 34 Quarter turns.
An 8'x7' garage door uses an 8'x7' FINISHED opening. A little less than that is fine since the garage door sits inside the opening. If you are using 3/4" trim boards then you want the rough opening to be 94.5" (8' minus two 3/4" trim pieces.).
Look at the torsion spring winding cone. Right hand wound springs coil clockwise from the winding cone. Left wound springs coil counter clockwise from the winding cone.
But because the torsion spring sits on the wall above the center of the door and runs parallel to the door, you really only need one. And, until recently, that's all you got. These days, however, it's becoming common for doors to have two torsion springs.
Undersized torsion spring length can't support garage doors
Undersized torsion springs won't hold the door in place or move it up or down and could collapse under the tremendous weight. For example, if you try to open the garage door, it will fall back down and harm anything underneath it.
One of the most common reasons a garage door won't stay closed is that the travel limit setting is off-kilter; this feature is responsible for how far up and down your garage door goes, so if it's not properly set, your garage door may fail to close completely.
As far as most residential garage doors are concerned, you will need at least 10 rollers to operate. This is most especially the case if you have a 7-foot high garage door. But if you have an 8-foot tall garage door, you will most likely need 12 rollers total.
As a rule of thumb, it is generally 4 quarter turns per foot.
To get started count 10 or 20 coils on the torsion spring. Measure the coils with your tape measure. Take the measurement and then divide by the number of coils you counted (10 or 20). The answer to the equation would be the wire size for the spring you just measured.