Think about the springs in your garage. Do the springs on your garage door system have some color painted on them? They should. The garage door industry’s leading organization, DASMA, developed a Garage Door Spring Color Code to make it easy to find the right replacement springs.
Springs are an important part of your garage door system and every time the door is opened or closed the springs are in action. General wear eventually breaks down the springs making them nonfunctional. As springs break down it the garage door becomes more difficult to lift and lower, it also makes operating the door more dangerous.
If it’s time to replace the springs on your garage door take a look at the table at the end of this post for help choosing the right spring for your door.
Torsion springs are located above the garage door opening and run on a torsion tube. The tube holds the springs and keeps them from falling, similar to the safety cables on an extension spring system. This type of spring should have cones on the end and if you don’t have winding bars, you should make sure to include them in your order. Winding bars are used to increase or decrease the tension in the springs as necessary, they’ll be needed when removing or installing torsion springs.
Extension Springs
Extension springs work in pairs. There should be at least one on each side of the garage door along the upper tracks. The number of springs on each side will depend on the weight of the door. While torsion springs have a torque motion extension springs are based on resistance. As the door opens the springs are pulled apart (extending) and as the door closes the springs return to their starting positions. Like torsion springs, not all extension springs are the same. When ordering extension springs you’ll want to pay special attention to the spring clip ends to make sure they work with your system.
DASMA is the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association. This organization developed the guidelines and specifications for garage door spring color codes. The color codes aid in properly identifying springs for repair (replacement), ordering and storing. Since the springs look so much alike color coatings make it significantly easier to identify and neatly store each type of spring.
What Are Spring Color Codes Based On?
Torsion springs are color-coded based on wire gauge sizes.
Extension springs are color-coded based on the weight of the door they will counterbalance.
The color code charts below are supplemental aids. It is important to know how to identify springs without color codes as many existing springs often have worn out paint. Verify that you are choosing the correct color by verifying the physical spring measurements.
Below are color codes and charts based on DASMA’s technical sheets, to look at the DASMA’s original PDFs use this link:
Heritage Garage Door has served Southern California homeowners for over 30 years. Explore our website to learn more about us or contact us to schedule a repair, replacement, or installation service.
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