Garage doors springs color code

Springs are an important part of the mechanics of garage doors. Since garage doors usually weigh hundreds of pounds, opening them without springs is almost impossible for most people and maybe beyond the scope of an automatic garage door opener.

How do garage springs work? When the door closes, the spring swirls, accumulating energy within itself, and releasing the energy that they stored to raise the doorway.

Types of garage door springs

Before we get to the color coding that you find on the garage door springs, let’s see what they are.

Torsion springs

Torsion springs save energy by tightly wrapping when the door closes. After the door is closed and at rest, the torsion spring accumulates a huge amount of electricity, and when you want the door to start the spring, it helps, unwinding and releasing this force. Torsion springs sit against the wall through the door.

Extension springs

Extension springs run parallel to the doorway tracks and are usually located above the gate guides. The tension springs, when the door closes, store energy, stretching, and when the door opens, they release accumulated energy.

Garage door torsion springs color code

The color-coding of torsion springs works a little differently. The color code on the torsion spring indicates whether it is a “right” or “left” spring.
The black color indicates the right direction.
The red color indicates the left direction.

In addition, the torsion spring is color-coded so that technicians can determine the depth or size of this wire. Thus, a technician who replaces or repairs a spring can quickly determine its caliber without having to quantify it. Torsion springs also have a straight line through the spring, which helps technicians find out the state of the spring. This line will be geometrically distorted, as the spring is “exposed”. This geometric distortion can be read from the technology and will help him determine how tightly the spring is wound at any given time.

Torsion spring coding table

WIRE DIAMETER	COLOR CODE	20 COIL COUNT
.177	GOLD	3 1/2″
.1875	BLUE	3 3/4″
.192	ORANGE	3 7/8″
.207	YELLOW	4 1/8″
.2187	WHITE	4 3/8″
.2253	RED	4 1/2″
.2343	BROWN	4 5/8″
.2437	GREEN	4 7/8″
.250	GOLD	5″
.2625	BLUE	5 1/4″
.273	ORANGE	5 1/2″
.283	LT BLUE	5 5/8″
.289	YELLOW	5 3/4″
.295	WHITE	5 7/8″
.3065	BROWN	6 1/8″
.3125	TAN	6 1/4″
.3195	GREEN	6 3/8″
.331	GOLD	6 5/8″
.343	BLUE	6 7/8″
.3625	ORANGE	7 1/4″
.375	LT BLUE	7 1/2″
.3938	YELLOW	7 7/8″
.4062	WHITE	8 1/8″
.4218	RED	8 7/16″
.4305	BROWN	8 5/8″
.4375	TAN	8 3/4″
.4531	GREEN	9 1/16″
.4615	GOLD	9 1/4″
.4687	BLUE	9 3/8″
.490	LT BLUE	9 3/4″
.500	YELLOW	10″
.5312	WHITE	10 5/8″
.5625	RED	11 1/4″
.625	BROWN	12 1/2″

 

Garage door extension springs color code

When it comes to expansion springs, the purpose of the color-coding system is to help the organization in supporting your garage doors in determining the lifting force of their springs. This is important because different doors take different numbers into account, and you need springs with the correct load capacity for your individual door.

Extension spring coding table

DOOR WEIGHT	COLOR	SPRING CODE
10 LB	WHITE	25-42-10
20 LB	GREEN	25-42-20
30 LB	YELLOW	25-42-30
40 LB	BLUE	25-42-40
50 LB	RED	25-42-50
60 LB	BROWN	25-42-60
70 LB	ORANGE	25-42-70
80 LB	GOLD	25-42-80
90 LB	LT BLUE	25-42-90
100 LB	TAN	25-42-100
110 LB	WHITE	25-42-110
120 LB	GREEN	25-42-120
130 LB	Yellow	25-42-130
140 LB	BLUE	25-42-140
150 LB	RED	25-42-150
160 LB	BROWN	25-42-160
170 LB	ORANGE	25-42-170
180 LB	GOLD	25-42-180
190 LB	LT BLUE	25-42-190
200 LB	TAN	25-42-200
210 LB	WHITE	25-42-210
220 LB	GREEN	25-42-220
230 LB	YELLOW	25-42-230
240 LB	BLUE	25-42-240
250 LB	RED	25-42-250
260 LB	BROWN	25-42-260
270 LB	ORANGE	25-42-270
280 LB	GOLD	25-42-280
290 LB	LT BLUE	25-42-290
300 LB	TAN	25-42-300

VIDEO: How to choose the right replacement garage door spring

How to find out the type of spring parameters

The garage door uses 2 types of springs, so it is extremely important to buy the right ones for your doors. Fortunately, determining which type of spring your doorway uses is simple:

• When the springs are connected to the wall directly above the doorway, you have torsion springs. Some doorways use a single spring, while most new doorways use two springs.
• When the springs can be found above the tracks and run away from the doorway to the opener, you have an extension spring.

Now let’s see how to choose the right torsion bar or extension spring.

Torsion Spring Direction – Before you can get the perfect torsion spring, you want to know how it is wound. Look at your springs in the garage. Most new garage doors will have two torsion springs, separated by a partition located in the middle of this doorway. The spring on the right is “left”, and the spring on the left is “right.” Therefore, if the spring to your left is broken, you would like to buy a “right” spring.

Torsion spring wire size. Sizing the wire is also a simple process. Just measure the distance between 20 turns of the spring and use the waistline above to determine exactly your spring.

Internal diameter and the total length of the torsion spring. In some cases, the internal width of the torsion spring is indicated on a static cone between the two springs at the midpoint of the doorway. “1.75” means that the inner diameter is 1 3/4 of an inch. “2” means that the inner diameter is only two inches. If you cannot find the size sign, simply measure the inside diameter. In terms of determining the total length, just take a tape measure and quantify it at the place where the spring begins, where it ends. If the spring is broken, simply measure its auxiliary spring, which will be exactly the same length.

Choosing the ideal extension spring. Although quantifying torsion springs to be sure to get the perfect spring is pretty simple, getting the perfect extension spring is a lot easier. This is because the garage door springs have a color strip on them, which means that their sizes. Therefore, all you have to do is find this color index and pass the color you found (yellow, red, blue, orange) to the extension spring supplier.

But what to do until the spring is replaced, do not use the garage? Do not worry, how to open the garage door with a broken spring, we already told!