Dan's Garage Door Blog

From time to time DDM Garage Doors hits upon ways to assist our customers with cost savings when they order garage door springs or other parts.  One such experience came recently when one of our customers ordered springs. We had him consider converting from longer 1 3/4″ springs to shorter 2″ springs, while maintaining mechanical integrity.   This saved the customer over $6.00, as the 2” springs fit in a large flat rate box.

We will be back with more ideas to help you save on garage door parts.

Installing Clopay extension springs has become easier with the Ideal/Clopay Ez-set winding unit. It wraps the cable around a spool to stretch the spring.  Sometimes installers open the door all the way and then attach the extension springs–a dangerous move.  Or when installing the door, technicians might install the first two sections, then open the door and hook up the springs. Following this they hold the door down with vise grips while installing the other two sections.

For Clopay garage door spring users, these methods can be averted with the Ez-set winding unit.

Three main products in the area of safety have been introduced in the last 20 years:

Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster springs (shown installed above) wind with a drill.   The TorqueMaster is the first system to offer a counter balance spring sealed inside the door tube.  Because TorqueMaster springs have a smaller mean diameter, they need to be longer to match the lift of a spring. To keep the springs from being too long, however, Wayne Dalton uses smaller wire size, which leads to problems with cycle life.  As a key advantage, if you have two springs on your garage door, there is a winding unit at each end, which makes drill/socket winding a breeze.

Clopay/Ideal EZ-set springs have their own hardware, winder, and winding cone.  Stationary cones can be the standard variety.  Room is limited on the shaft for these.  EZ-set springs are somewhat limited on cycle life, but they are pre-gapped and held to the proper length so that the coils will not bind. As a result these springs appear more slinky-like as compared to standard springs.

Ez-set spring installed

Spring King: Industrial Spring’s Spring King utilizes a drill-winding system for use with standard torsion springs. Spring King is a product well-suited for the do-it-yourselfer who would be hesitant to face the task of conventional spring winding.

Spring King Set

About 20 years ago, galvanized garage door torsion springs broke into the garage door parts market as an alternative to oil-tempered springs. Later, electro-coating on oil-tempered torsion springs augmented the buyer’s set of choices.

Because traditional oil-tempered garage door torsion springs have an oily residue owing to their oil-enabled manufacture, installers often leave dirty smudges from the springs on the doors, to the ire of the customer. Many technicians install about 6-8 spring systems per day on a tight schedule and need to keep moving with repair work. As such they find little time to wipe up, though some take the time. Galvanization came about to address this common and vexing issue.

Most in the garage door service industry, though, ably identify the problem with galvanized springs. Galvanizing weakens the spring. Anyone hammering a 16-penny galvanized nail knows metal weakening results from galvanization. And the results of galvanizing seem to prove no different with springs. Here is a shot of a galvanized spring from the Clopay Ez-set system, now broken. Click to enlarge if necessary, and note the almost Fibonacci-style black line around the spring.  Two curves in the line indicate a loss of two turns of tension at the point of breakage.

Garage door owners, too, voice objections to galvanized springs because of high maintenance costs. Upon installation, one can count on an adjustment six months later, and then another at a similar interval. And so, the owner will need to “adjust” expectations when dealing with galvanized springs.

And so, a tough situation may arise. If a door loses significant tension from a galvanized spring installation, this may result in insufficient lift to open the door. If you seek to remedy this by adding extra spring tension in a “hot” installation, you necessarily decrease the spring cycle life. If you do not add the initial tension, you get higher maintenance costs, especially when the cable may come off the drum, and a service call to rewind the spring and rectify the cable issue follows.

About five years ago an article with a galvanized vs. oil tempered motif appeared online. Although the author attempts to steer clear of taking a position in the debate, the assertions made may do little to sway those with direct field experience on the subject of garage door springs. Simply talk to an experienced technician for his or her perspective.

One proposed solution to the galvanized spring dilemma was the coated spring, thereby covering the oily residue. With these, a paint-like material coats the spring by means of a special electrical bonding. Does this make the spring a lot cleaner? Maybe at the outset, but untimely decay of the finish has been observed on stocked items. Also, due to their initially clean appearance, coated springs do not often get oiled by installers. If a gap in the coating occurs, moisture may get into the dry crack in the spring, causing rust-and under tension–premature breakage.

And on the subject of lubrication, there is no case in which a newly-installed garage door spring should not be lubricated for protection against decay. Coated springs need to be lubricated, given the possible spottiness of coating coverage. Galvanized springs need oiling as well. DDM plans to show a video soon about the noisy results of not lubricating a galvanized spring. And yes, original oil-tempered springs could stand some additional rust-fighting lubricant once the springs are safely installed, of course with towel nearby.

Do you have the Clopay Model 150 garage door?  I am pleased to announce that DDM has the hardware and parts for this Good Housekeeping seal-earning door.

To facilitate your installation or repair, do you need any of the Clopay parts below?  (Part numbers can also be seen in the Clopay 150 Installation Guide).

Roller Carriers cbpc 00-04

Safe-T Roller roller guards

Safe-T bottom brackets

Safe-T Hinge intermediate hinge guard

Safe-T Hinge roller carrier hinge guard

All Clevis pins, hinge pins, and fasteners

Hinges 002, 003

Brackets

Using the Clopay Pinch Resistant door system to help enable child and general safety doesn’t have to put you in a “pinch.”  These parts can be purchased from DDM Garage Doors by calling, fax, or via e-mail order.  See contact info at left.

DDM Garage Doors recognizes and appreciates La Grou Distribution for its business and loyalty over the years.

Chicagoland warehousing and distribution services from La Grou roll on since 1964.  Notable among La Grou’s logistics prowess is many years of helping facilitate the summer favorite, “Taste of Chicago,” which sees millions of visitors annually from the US and even abroad.

La Grou counts DDM Garage Doors a friend in their ongoing drive to supremacy in the distribution warehousing market.  Aided by DDM’s parts and training, the garage doors of the Chicago area-based food distribution firm have been consistently and effectively maintained through this mutually beneficial relationship.

Building manager Roy O’ Donnell of La Grou Properties, which oversees the West Chicago facility, first found DDM’s supply catalog in the mid-1990s, and gave Dan Musick a call.

Dan initially came out and trained Roy’s staff in the maintenance and repair of their 48 sectional and overhead doors.  The distinctive and careful training approach worked well for the technicians.  Since then, armed with the trusty catalog, Roy ably does job estimates and orders garage door tracks, cable, springs and more parts on a regular basis, thereby keeping more doors in shape for longer periods.  This is no small benefit, given the number of garage door repairs that may crop up in a busy dock environment.

Also compelling for Roy is timely and accurate parts order fulfillment.  Eventually, other La Grou locations began purchasing parts from DDM, and receiving them via transfer from the West Chicago facility in addition to direct ordering.  And all has been received in a cost-effective way that encouraged repeat ordering and a trusted business relationship.

But most important to Roy is the personal angle.  He remarks that Dan “put a face with the name.”  This refers to the thorough in-person training and follow-up Dan provided to help keep La Grou’s garage doors smoothly operational.

And indeed the forging of this business relationship has furthered Dan’s passion for the garage door industry, and helping people in it.

Here’s to La Grou as we both roll into the future!

“Almighty God, thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee…”

-St. Augustine of Hippo

Did you ever notice an often physically-felt, stressful reaction when something breaks?

It seems that the fact of breakage triggers a slew of quickly felt, negative thoughts like “New expense!” “Time-consuming!” “Burdensome,” and “Frustrating.”

New items are only new for a while.  Wear-down, and eventually breakdown occurs.  This extends to plant and tree life.  The same goes for the animal kingdom, and in the human sphere as well.

But there is an inborn–and often subconscious–desire for order, beauty, and functionality.  When someone gives a wedding gift to the bride and groom, they do not give a broken one, obviously.  Besides tackiness and lack of usability, it also speaks of disorder–at a time when this beautiful new relationship is about to commence.

So we gravitate toward a sense of order, despite the evident breakdown we see around us every day in varying forms.  But just what is broken in the universe?

At this Easter season, we invite you to visit our “Only Thing In Life That Really Matters” page (see left) to learn more. 

Wikipedia says troubleshooting is “a form of problem solving most often applied to repair of failed products or processes. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved, and so the product or process can be made operational again.”

Garage door operation consists of parts (electronic and mechanical) in process, in delicate balance, fine-tuned to open and close the door safely and smoothly.  And every so often, there is some trouble we would want to “shoot.”

So it was not surprising to see many garage door questions in sites like Yahoo! Answers. Question types I have observed in scanning this site can probably be ranked in frequency order: 1. “Why does my door go part of the way up, and then back down?” and 2. “Why does my door work some times and not others?”

With increased recreational and commercial use of the garage, residents and businesses may notice door problems starting.

DDM has laid out answers to the above questions and many more in our troubleshooting page you can connect to from do-it-yourself instructions at left or above.  There you will find a logical resource, with the research done, and backed by years of experience.   Sometimes, the issue requires part replacement, and other times part correction and/or lubrication.  But in any case, no one needs to go on with a jerky, uneven, stuck, or inoperable door.  DDM has it covered!

Meteorological Spring made its glorious arrival this past Monday, and Daylight Saving Time will kick in next Sunday the 14th.  What kind of winter has it been around your house?

With garage doors getting a workout all winter in the “car protection” mode, it is possible that you may find a few pieces of hardware (screws, nuts, bolts) strewn on  the front half of your garage floor.  After picking them up to avoid a flat tire, have a look around on the door to see where they came from.  If you can’t make out from where, how is the garage door functioning lately?  Run a cycle on the door and watch.  If you observe buckling or strange noises while in travel, you may need a low-involvement repair.  Call Dan at DDM and get confidence, with knowledgeable advice.

This advice may necessitate a repair, or simply a lubrication.  But if you get it addressed now, you can save trouble and expense down the road.  Have a GREAT spring!

(Warning:  As always, be careful around garage doors and their parts, and call a professional for the work if you have any doubt about your ability to service them safely).

Greetings!  DDM Garage Doors owner Dan Musick has been busy for some time, and this accounts for the absence of posts you may have noticed.   But I’m ready to get writing to keep you abreast of Dan’s thoughts, ideas, tips, and happenings, and so put the DDM blog on a consistent stream again.  Stay tuned for more on a weekly basis.

I am Jim Quattrochi, the support contact for DDM.

I have published numerous articles discussing garage door ideas and garage door-related service at sites like ezinearticles and eHow.  Feel welcome to navigate the full DDM site for the wealth of information Dan offers from his storehouse of more than thirty years’ experience in the industry.

I will be posting to this blog on a regular basis.  The aim of this journal will be to keep the community posted on stories, events, and ideas.  Always, there will be a view to convey their import for those who desire to maintain and repair their own garage doors, buy quality parts, or obtain the best professional garage door service possible.

Sincerely, Jim