Repairing Your Own Garage Door? Understand These Terms
If you are going to take on your own garage door repair, it helps to get familiar with some of the terms that will be thrown around. It's a good idea to know what the following things are.
Torsion Spring
Garage doors can have several types of springs for them to operate., and one of them is the torsion spring. You'll find this spring above the garage door itself on the wall, and it twists to exert force to raise or lower the garage door. These springs work by storing energy and then exerting force as it moves.
Duplex Spring
When two torsion springs are used in combination with each other, it is known as a duplex spring. This is used for large and heavy garage doors that are incapable of being lifted with a single torsion spring.
Extension Springs
What makes extension springs unique is that they are used to counterbalance force when they are stretched out, which is why they're often referred to as stretch springs. You'll find these springs running parallel to the tracks that hang horizontally above the garage.
Safety Cable
Your extension springs will have a safety cable that runs through them. The purpose of this cable is to prevent the springs from hitting people and items in the garage if the spring were to snap. The goal is to contain the spring to the safety cable instead of injuring somebody in the garage at the time that it snaps.
Electronic Eye
Every garage door will have a safety mechanism known as the electronic eye, which is placed near the bottom of the garage door to sense things that cross the path of the door as it is closing. It will reverse the direction of the garage door to ensure that it does not close on anything in the path of the door.
Emergency Release
Another safety feature of garage doors is the emergency release, which allows you to manually disconnect the garage door from the opener in case there is a power outage or other emergency. There are regulations stating what color this emergency release needs to be and how far off the ground the cord must be located.
These are just a few terms that you need to know when working on a garage door. Ask for help from a garage door specialist if you need help making sense of all the different components of your garage door. For more information, contact local professionals like those found at American Garage Door.
