Torsion spring

A torsion spring is a coil spring fitted on the barrel of a roller shutter door or on the shaft of a sectional door, which winds up as the door comes down and gives back that force when it is raised. Thanks to it, a very heavy shutter can be lifted by hand with little effort.

Over the years and with use, the spring loses strength. You notice it because the shutter gets harder and harder to lift, will not stay up or drops suddenly when you lower it. If it breaks, the shutter becomes almost impossible to move.

The most important advice: do not try to tension it or take it apart yourself. A loaded torsion spring stores a lot of energy and can cause serious injury if it is released. On manual shop shutters we check the barrel springs, as we explain in roller shutter repair. Those on sectional garage doors are a job for a garage door technician.