What Should You Do About a Broken Garage Door Spring or Cable?
A bang from the garage, a door that suddenly will not budge, a cable hanging slack at one corner: a spring or cable has let go. Here is how to recognise it, why you should leave it alone, and how we fix it across Perth.
Quick Answer
A broken garage door spring or cable is not a repair to attempt yourself. The spring carries most of the door's weight, and both the spring and the cables sit under tension whenever the door is down. The usual cause is wear: springs and cables are rated for a set number of open-and-close cycles, and on many Perth doors fitted in the 1990s and 2000s that count has run out, while salt from the sea breeze on coastal doors rusts both parts and brings the failure forward. Leave the door where it is, do not run the opener, keep people and cars clear, and call us. We are available 24/7 across Perth with no call-out fee, and our vans carry the common spring and cable sizes, so a standard door is usually back in service in one visit.
Common Causes
Worn out after too many cycles
Every spring and cable is rated for a number of open-and-close cycles, and on the original doors in the Ellenbrook, Canning Vale and Joondalup estates that count is running out. Our guide to garage door spring types and lifespan covers how long each type tends to last.
Salt-air corrosion
On coastal doors from Hillarys and Scarborough down to Fremantle, the sea breeze leaves salt on the spring coils and the cable strands. Rust pits the steel, and a pitted spring or cable fails well before its cycle count.
Wrong tension or balance
A spring wound too tight or too loose after an earlier DIY adjustment loads the door unevenly. The overloaded spring, or the cable on the heavier side, is the one that gives.
A frayed cable finally parting
Cables wear where they wind onto the drum and where they anchor at the bottom bracket. A few broken strands become a snapped cable, and the door drops onto one side. It is a separate failure from the spring, with the same danger.
A sudden snap on a tired spring
Perth's summer heat and winter cold expand and contract the steel every day. On an older spring with a hairline crack, one cold morning or one hot afternoon is enough to finish it, usually with a loud bang.
Impact on a loaded door
A car nudging the bottom panel, or a bin or trailer clipping the door while it is moving, shocks a spring and cable that are already under full tension.
What You Can Check Safely
Safe to check yourself
- Look, without touching, at the spring above the door: a torsion spring that has broken shows a clear gap of a few centimetres between the coils.
- Look at the cables at each bottom corner of the door: a slack, kinked or frayed cable, or one hanging loose from the drum, means the cable side has failed.
- Note whether the door sits crooked or has dropped on one side, and tell us when you call. Do not test its weight by lifting it.
- Note whether it broke with the door open or closed. An open door with a broken spring is held up by the opener alone, so keep everyone out from under it.
- Keep children, pets and cars clear of the door and the spring area until it is fixed, and only use the manual release if you know the procedure for your model and the door is fully down and resting on the floor.
Do not attempt
- Do not try to replace, re-tension, wind or unwind a spring or cable yourself. A torsion spring stores enough energy to break bones, and the winding cones, drums and bottom brackets all sit under that load.
- Do not lift, force or prop open a door with a broken spring or cable, even for a moment to get the car out. Without the spring the full weight is on you, and the door can drop without warning.
- Do not cut, loosen or unbolt a spring that has partly failed, and do not touch the bottom brackets the cables anchor to; they are the last thing holding the tension.
- Do not keep pressing the remote or wall button to power through it. The opener can lift one side, twist the door out of its tracks, snap the remaining cable or burn out its own motor.
When to Call a Technician
Call a technician straight away if any of the following apply:
- A visible gap, gouge or separation anywhere along the torsion spring above the door
- A cable that is frayed, kinked, slack or has come off its drum
- The door, or the opener, is suddenly straining against far more weight than usual
- A loud bang from the garage, then a door that will not move
- The door sits unevenly, at an angle, or with one corner off the floor
Recommended Services
What Perth Customers Say
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Joan Paul · Cable Repair
Get Help With This Problem
Prefer to call? 0466 910 028Broken spring or cable? We treat it as a same-day job
A door held up by a broken spring or a single cable is a safety hazard, and it often cannot be locked either. We are available 24/7 across Perth with no call-out fee, and our vans carry common spring and cable sizes, so a standard door is usually sorted on the first visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes, and that is the problem. With one broken spring, a strong opener can occasionally drag the door part of the way up, and a manual door can be heaved open by two people. Neither is safe. Without the spring the opener is lifting the full weight of the door, which strains the motor, can pull the door out of its tracks, and can let it drop if the remaining cable gives way. Leave the door where it is and have the spring replaced first; our garage door spring replacement service covers torsion and extension springs on doors across Perth.
We do not recommend it. The spring is what carries the door's weight, and a sectional door without it can weigh far more than one person can hold. If a cable has gone as well, the door is also likely to jam or twist in the tracks as it rises. People get hurt when a door gets away from them halfway up, and the same goes for closing a door that is stuck open. If your car is trapped inside and you need it, ring us rather than lifting; we run emergency garage door call-outs across Perth around the clock, with no call-out fee, and we come out the same day.
The price depends on the type of spring or cable, the size and weight of the door, whether it is a single spring or a pair, how easy the door is to get at, and whether you need us after hours. The quote is free, there is no call-out fee, and we price the job before we start. Expect us to check the cables when we replace a spring, and the springs when we replace a cable, because one failing puts extra load on the other and one visit is usually less than two.
In most cases the spring is worth replacing. A spring or cable is a wear part, and the door around it can be sound for many more years, especially the steel sectional and roller doors common across Perth. Replacing the door only makes sense when the door itself is on the way out: rust through the bottom panel or curtain, panels cracked at the hinges, tracks bent beyond straightening, or a door and opener both at the end of their life. We will tell you which side of that line your door sits on when we look at it, and there is no call-out fee either way.
It depends on the setup. A door with two torsion springs usually had both fitted on the same day, so when one breaks the other has done the same number of cycles and is often close behind. Replacing both keeps the door balanced and saves a second visit, which is why it is the usual recommendation. There are exceptions, such as a spring that was replaced recently or a door that has only ever had one, and we go through that with you before starting rather than applying a blanket rule.
Cables wear by cycles rather than years, so a door opened six times a day wears its cables out faster than a weekend-only one. Rust shortens that further: on coastal doors from Scarborough down to Fremantle, the salt in the sea breeze pits the strands well before they would otherwise fray. Broken strands at the drum or near the bottom bracket, and rust staining along the cable, are the signs it is due. Have them changed before they part, ideally as part of a service; our garage door cable repair page covers what the job involves.
Stuck door, noisy door,
or time for a new one?
Book a repair visit anywhere in Perth or ask about a replacement door. Either way the quote is free and the price is settled before anyone picks up a tool.