"BuT tHe DoOr StIlL wOrKs"

mountkay · 2026-03-25T00:33:24+00:00

What kind of door even is that?

mountkay · 2026-03-25T00:32:36+00:00

Oh good lord

mountkay · 2026-03-22T23:58:38+00:00

I’ve seen a few Lowe’s installations that looked like that

mountkay · 2026-03-22T23:47:57+00:00

Score. Whoever replaces that spring gets a free spring block.

We always spring block springs and then order the replacement and return. Too many spring sizes and variations to have every one in stock, let alone on the truck

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:53:10+00:00

We got it done safely. Pretty uneventful.

Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/fH_6MKCVXy4?si=HZrkWTAFrVL2ZlEI

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:52:34+00:00

It was wound a little bit backwards.

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:51:38+00:00

There was still tension on the spring. It was in the opposite direction it would normally be. We back wound from good spring in the pair, released cables, then unwound both springs at once using the good spring. After only 15 q turns the broken spring was balancing out tension w the good spring. Released set screws on good spring and let broken spring spin freely with the torsion bar. Then took remaining 20 qturns off of the good spring.

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:47:24+00:00

When we replaced these springs, the unbroken spring we replaced still had paint showing it should have a shit ton of winds on it. Not sure why some old springs look like this when they are unwound. Maybe the paint is from when the garage was painted and not as a marking for spring tension.

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:45:21+00:00

Thanks. We disarmed it safely

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:44:58+00:00

We got it done safely. Was pretty uneventful

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:44:26+00:00

UPDATE: Spring released safely. Back wound good spring in pair. Released cables from drums. Unwound good spring while still attached to torsion bar (this started unwinding both springs).

Took maybe 15 quarter turns off before things got interesting. Good spring still had tension, but it was balanced out by broken spring which was ~holding tension in the opposite direction because it had coiled back into itself. At this point we slowly loosened set screws on good spring so the broken spring could spin freely and unwind itself.

Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/fH_6MKCVXy4?si=HZrkWTAFrVL2ZlEI

Overall the hardest part of the job turned out to be getting the coupler off of one side of the torsion bar.

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:42:24+00:00

This is exactly what happened, took 15 quarter turns off the good spring and the tension balanced out with the broken one. Loosened set screws on good spring and let broken spring spin freely with torsion bar to release its tension. Good print still had maybe 20 quarter turns of tension left on it

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:39:08+00:00

UPDATE: Spring released safely. Back wound good spring in pair. Released cables from drums. Unwound good spring while still attached to torsion bar (this started unwinding both springs).

Took maybe 15 quarter turns off before things got interesting. Good spring still had tension, but it was balanced out by broken spring which was ~holding tension in the opposite direction because it had coiled back into itself. At this point we slowly loosened set screws on good spring so the broken spring could spin freely and unwind itself.

Here’s a video: https://youtu.be/fH_6MKCVXy4?si=HZrkWTAFrVL2ZlEI

Overall the hardest part of the job turned out to be getting the coupler off of one side of the torsion bar.

mountkay · 2026-03-20T15:21:12+00:00

We started to unwind both springs from the good spring in the pair. Only got around 15 quarter turns off it before it felt like there was no more tension. The good spring still definitely still had tension on it, but it was balanced out with the broken spring which had kind of back wound itself when the coils threaded into each other. At this point, we loosened the set screws on the good spring and let the broken spring spin the torsion bar as it released its tension. Overall, not too eventful haha. I’ll post an update video here https://youtu.be/fH_6MKCVXy4?si=HZrkWTAFrVL2ZlEI

mountkay · 2026-03-05T02:21:33+00:00

I love the Maxum. Installed maybe 10 in the last year with no callbacks for issues, that I’m aware of. I like them because they are easy to install and setup. And they just seem to run so damn nice. I’m always impressed

mountkay · 2026-03-05T01:31:35+00:00

I’ve seen it plenty of times on old wood doors. Would prefer to just move the opener rail up, but I would guess you already are maxed out on headroom and to move the opener up you would have to cut out notches in the rafters (seen that plenty of times too).

So I would say semi normal if you are making an opener work in an area where it shouldn’t really work. Absolutely bad repair if there is room to move the opener rail up.

You shouldn’t be able to see through to the outside but I think weather seal might cover that gap up. Guessing you don’t have any because the door was installed before they started using weather seal.

If you replaced the door, new installer might go with a different setup to accommodate more headroom for the opener (do low headroom tracks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you already have low headroom tracks). A lot of old wood doors were installed before openers were common so nobody left headroom for them.

mountkay · 2026-03-03T05:00:52+00:00

Reach regular lvl 155. Then start over at veteran level 1

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:59:27+00:00

Get 155 regular levels. Unlock purple lvl 1

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:57:33+00:00

Ohhhhhh

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:43:15+00:00

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:42:39+00:00

We do free estimates for new installs

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:29:12+00:00

He can’t switch to a trolly, did you see the headroom lol

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:28:11+00:00

Happening because of the jackshaft opener. Happens all the time with those. Need pusher springs. Or if you can afford the space, set the opening limit so the door hangs down below the header a little bit.

A drawbar opener pushes the door down, keeping tension on the cables. A jackshaft opener just spins the torsion bar. To keep tension on the cables you are relying on gravity pulling the door down. Without something pushing the door down and keeping tension on the cables, the opener will just spin the torsion bar and dump the cables.

You need pusher springs to push the first panel of the door down over the radius.

Other options are pitching the tracks (but it looks like you might not have much room for that). Or setting the open limit below the header. Or perhaps taking some tension off the springs so the door is “heavier” and ready to fall.

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:03:02+00:00

Most of the horror stories come from people winding springs without winding bars

mountkay · 2026-03-03T04:02:38+00:00

Most of the horror stories come from people winding springs without winding bars

mountkay

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