Short answer: no. If a spring on your garage door has broken, do not lift the door by hand, do not run the opener, and do not prop the door open. Leave the door where it is, keep people and pets away from it, tell everyone in the house not to press the wall button or a remote, and call a garage door technician.
That is the manufacturers’ position, not just ours. Genie’s safety guidance says not to operate the door, by hand or with the opener, when a spring is broken. Amarr, a door manufacturer, calls a broken spring a safety hazard and tells owners not to try to operate the door.
The same goes for a lift cable that is loose, frayed or off its drum. Amarr says not to operate a door whose cable has come off the drum, and Chamberlain says not to move a door by hand when its springs, cables or rollers look broken or damaged.
Why a broken spring changes everything
The springs do the lifting. They counterbalance the door so that you, or the opener, only have to guide it. Chamberlain’s support guidance explains that garage doors are heavy and rely on spring tension, and that a door with weak or broken springs can fall quickly and without warning. With the spring gone, the door’s weight rests on whatever is holding it: your hands, the opener, or nothing.
DASMA, the association of door and opener manufacturers, describes the garage door as the largest moving object in the home, and its safety guidance says spring systems should be repaired only by trained professionals.
A broken spring does not make the other parts safe to touch. A second spring, the cables and the bottom brackets can still be under full tension.
What not to do
- Do not lift the door by hand, alone or with help. Genie and Amarr both say not to operate the door at all when a spring is broken. There is no safe “just this once.”
- Do not prop the door open with ladders, blocks, clamps or lumber. A prop can slip, and the door comes down with nothing to slow it.
- Do not run the opener. Amarr warns that broken or worn springs make the door heavy, put extra load on the opener, can be dangerous for the opener’s reversing mechanism and can wear the opener out early.
- Do not pull the red emergency release while the door is open or partly open. Chamberlain says to use the release only when the door is fully closed, if possible, because a door with weak or broken springs may fall.
- Do not touch the springs, cables or bottom brackets. Genie, Amarr and DASMA all warn that these parts are under high tension and tell owners not to remove, repair or adjust them.
What the red emergency release does, and what it does not do
The red emergency release handle disconnects the door from the opener, and that is all it does. It does not release or reduce spring tension, and it does not make a door with a broken spring safe to move. Chamberlain also says never to use the handle itself to pull the door up or down.
If your car is inside
A car stuck inside does not change the answer. The manufacturers make no exception for it, and a door that drops can injure someone or land on the car. Call a technician and mention that a car is stuck inside. If you have to go somewhere before the repair, use another vehicle or get a ride.
If the door is stuck open or partly open
- Keep everyone, including pets, out from under the door and away from the opening. Do not drive or park under it.
- Do not pull the emergency release, and do not try to close the door by hand or with the opener.
- Call a technician and say that the door is open, so they know the garage cannot be secured.
- Until it is repaired, keep valuables out of sight and lock the door between the garage and the house.
A power outage is a different situation
Everything above is about a broken spring or cable. If the springs and cables are fine and the power is simply out, the emergency release is there so you can move the door by hand. The steps below are only for a door that is fully closed. If the door was open or partly open when the power went out, our advice is to leave it where it is and wait for the power to come back, or call a technician.
These steps are based on Chamberlain’s guidance:
- Check that the door is fully closed. If it is not, stop here.
- Look before you touch anything, standing clear of the door. If a spring, cable or roller looks broken or damaged, stop. These steps do not apply, and the door should not be moved.
- Make sure the doorway is clear of people, pets and objects. If the door has a manual lock, unlock it.
- Pull the red emergency release to disconnect the door from the opener. Keep hands and feet away from the door sections and hinges.
- Lift the door, and lower it again, by its handle or another solid grip point, never by the red release cord and never with your fingers between the door sections. A balanced door moves smoothly. If it is difficult or noisy to move, will not stay up or drops, stop. Chamberlain says a heavy door points to a spring problem that needs professional service. Do not reconnect or run the opener, and do not prop the door open: the broken-spring advice at the top of this page now applies.
- If the door moved smoothly, reconnect it once the power is back, with the door fully closed again. Follow the steps for your opener. The release is reset differently on square-rail, T-rail and wall-mounted openers, and the wrong motion can leave the door disconnected. Chamberlain’s article shows each type, and your opener’s manual covers other brands. Then, with any manual lock unlocked, run the opener through a full open and close cycle.
Stop if the door feels unusually heavy, will not stay open or slams shut. Chamberlain says to stop immediately and contact a garage door professional. Until the door has been checked, do not run the opener and do not prop the door open.
How to tell it is the spring
A breaking torsion spring often makes a loud bang, and Amarr notes that the broken piece stays on the shaft above the door. If the door is closed, you may be able to see a gap in the spring from the floor, standing clear of the door. Look only, and do not touch anything. An opener that strains and stops, or a door that suddenly would not lift, points the same way. If the door is open or partly open, do not stand under or beside it to look. Skip the check and call. Our guide on how to tell if your garage door spring is broken covers the signs in more detail.
What the repair involves
A technician replaces the broken spring with one matched to your door. DASMA recommends replacing both springs when a door has two, even if only one has broken. After the repair, the door’s balance should be checked. In DASMA’s monthly test the door starts closed, is disconnected from the opener and lifted by hand, and it should stay in place about 3 to 4 feet above the floor. The opener’s safety reversal should be tested too. See our garage door spring repair page for the service itself.
Need a hand in Madison, Milwaukee or Rockford?
If your spring has broken, leave the door alone and call the team that serves your area: Madison (608) 420-2377, Milwaukee (414) 800-9271 or Rockford (815) 800-2025. Twins offers a $0 service call with repair.
