Single Torsion Springs Need Attention

© 2002 Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Fall 2002
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Page 46


TECHNICAL TIP

Single Torsion Springs Need Attention

For a garage door using a single torsion spring, the spring bearing bracket needs special attention.

This bracket is subjected to bending back and forth each time the spring winds and unwinds. This action not only stresses the bracket and ultimately its fasteners beyond capacity, but eventually can cause the bearing itself to fall apart.

This leaves the torsion shaft rolling on sharp metal edges instead of inside the bearing. The torsion shaft may eventually be sheared into two pieces.

Ken Martin, a member of the Commercial & Residential Garage Door Technical Committee, suggests that a double-flange, side-bearing bracket be used on single spring doors. He notes that this bracket is normally fastened to both the top of the horizontal track angle and into the wall.

This solves both the problem of the single spring, but as Ken also notes, "Whenever there are two torsion springs on a door, and they are more than two wire sizes apart, the same sidewards thrust is felt by the brackets, and thus can cause premature failure."