I was given 2 different sized springs on a recent garage door repair. Why?

In July I had a broken spring. Hired someone to repair them, and got them both replaced. Fast forward... yesterday I had my opener replaced by a different company (although I tried to rehire previous company but didn’t respond in time). He mentions my new springs (did not share that I had recently had these replaced) and says one is not the right size. I was given one brown (correct) one white (too small but is was overwound to try and compensate). Over time the new belt on my opener, springs, etc. would wear sooner than it should. Also, it was very apparent my door does not operate correctly manually now (when opener is disengaged). He suggests to have last guy back to “make it right”.

Last guy says new guy is trying to sell me two new springs. I state he never offered, suggested, or quoted that. Then he says he has no brown springs and will contact me when he gets some. Then ends with “I know I had reasons for making that adjustment.” However, he couldn’t remember why and he didn’t disclose it when he came out either.

I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Why would two different sized springs, especially one that is too small, be used?

Sorry for the late reply but I didn't see your post. Garage doors can have two different sized springs (and I'm assuming you are talking about torsion springs). It's rare and more often seen on wood doors years ago. In short, the springs are calculated on the weight of the door, the size of the cable drums, the height of the door and how much lift is needed above the door. A door that has a row of glass may have two different size springs. As the door raises the first couple of feet it is going to be very heavy but as the glass section rolls around the radius track the weight the springs are pulling is going to become much lighter so the difference is compensated in the two different size springs.

That being said I've never seen color coded torsion springs. There is a color code for the extension springs but I can't ever recall seeing one for torsion springs unless it's a certain company that's doing it for their springs. The main thing is the door should be balanced. It shouldn't take too much effort to lift it and when get to the half way point of opening it you should be able to let go of the door. If the door slams back to the ground or flies open then the door isn't balanced.

In the end a door can have two different size springs and balance a garage door properly but it doesn't sound like your door is. Any good repair company should be able to weigh the door and calculate the correct springs for the door. There are programs where you just input the door info and it calculates the springs for you (unlike the good old days when we had to use charts and a calculator ).

Hope this explains it a little. Good luck.

No glass, not wood. I don’t know which kind they are called. But they are at the top center of the garage door opening. The edges had spray paint on them designating their size.

And yes, repair company 2 was showing me how it slammed down halfway through so I would say my door was not in balance. Repair man 1 did come back after some back and forth. He said he’s been doing it for 15 years, and I am his first call on it. He insists it was fine but came for my piece of mind and because his wife made him. :-)

I'm glad to hear that they came back and made it right. If he's been doing it 15 years then he knows that if the door was slamming closed then it wasn't balanced properly.

No one else has said anything to him because everyone has garage door openers and that hides the problem. No one lifts their garage doors manually unless they have to. It's always a good idea to pull the emergency release cord once a year and test the door manually by opening and closing it to see if the door is balanced. You'll also feel if the door is catching or hanging up in spots. While doing that lubricate the door hinges, rollers, bearings and springs. A little lubrication every year will increase the life of the door and springs.

a lot of companies use a color code system for torsion springs. a 2" dark blue / light green = .262 x 2 x 35

Color coded torsion Springs are an industry standard and are controlled by DASMA, in my 20 years I dont know if I've ever seen a torsion spring without a "spritz" of color on the coils at one end or the other, covering about 10 coils. With that being said, it's very common to see 2 different sized torsion springs on a door for many different reasons however, white is a .218 and brown is a .234 and that is a pretty wild difference in wire sizes, not something I would usually pair together.....my 2 cents