5 Evil Myths about Dock and Door Springs

There are many types of springs: torsion springs, extension springs and compression springs to name a few. While they are a nifty invention and help make mechanical devices work, move or reset, they cause more problems than they solve. And unfortunately, they are brought up most often when they break or come out of adjustment.

New springs won’t need adjustment for at least a year.

Springs are a wear-and-tear item and will slowly lose strength and need to be adjusted. When adjustments should happen depends on many variables. Our data shows that over 15% of new torsion or extension springs on sectional doors or mechanical dock levelers need to be adjusted within one-year.

I can’t predict when a spring will break.

The exact day and time cannot be predicted but all springs have a life cycle. For torsion springs on sectional, rolling steel doors, and rolling fire doors there is a spring rating referred to as cycle count. You can better predict when a spring will break by knowing the cycle count rating of the spring and keeping track of how many cycles have occurred on your door. Most sectional doors can be upgraded to a higher cycle spring, at a minimal cost of replacing broken springs.

​Doors with electric openers (operators) don’t need properly working springs.

Openers are designed to only lift the engineered weight of the door, with properly working springs. Reduce the lifting force of a spring by having it out of adjustment or if it were to break and continue to open with an opener, expect to damage the opener and create a huge safety hazard for employees!

​Springs are impervious to temperature.

​​​Our volume of calls for broken springs goes up dramatically when temperatures warm up above freezing then drop below freezing overnight. The larger the jump in temperature the more broken springs we see.

​Bigger springs can be installed on my dock or door.

This is a BIG no if you expect the dock or door to work properly. Too strong or too light of a spring won’t cut it. While cycle count can be increased it has to be the correct torque or force of spring for the door or dock. On dock levelers it is critical to match the spring exactly when replacing. Some levelers are designed to have up to four different size springs! On doors the IPPT (inch pounds per turn) must match.

Explore Springless Systems

You can eliminate springs with Dock & Door Tec’s Springless Systems for doors and hydraulic conversions for dock levelers.

EXPLORE SPRING SOLUTIONS