I swear on my mother this just happened.

[LuckyCharms]

I have two extension springs on my garage door. They were replaced in 2021. I know that because I remember talking to the installer about my brother dying.

He replaced the springs and left. I went out and looked at the job, and called him back because there were no safety cables running through the interior of the springs. He added the safety cables.

I've been having nightmares since I left the hospital last week. One of the first nightmares I had was that I was standing under my garage door, and the spring snapped and killed me because there were no safety cables on it.

I spent this morning blowing leaves, taking out the garbage, cleaning up downed limbs, etc.

When I was finished, I was standing directly under a spring and the fucking thing snapped while I was under it. Sounded like a shotgun blast. Would have taken my head off if there was no safety cable.

Garage door company is coming tomorrow to repair.

How in the FUCK can your mind anticipate these things?

[Probatim]

1. Username checks out...

Glad to hear you're ok LC. While not too high on my list of home worries, garage door springs can be deadly.

[Lochloosa]

5. Unless you know what you are doing, don't ever work on them.

It's amazing the amount of force released when they go.

[LuckyCharms]

15. Please see post #9. I meant that to be a response to you. Put it in the wrong spot.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

78. No, it did not

Lucky Charms was not "lucky."

Lucky Charms was intelligent and wise, leading to analysis and pro-active prevention.

I strongly believe that "good luck comes from good planning" -- not directly of course, but by preparing the ground for seeds of luck.

"The more I practice / know, the luckier I get."

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/14/luck/

In conclusion, Gary Player probably did not craft the aphorism that links practice and luck. It appears in 1961 or earlier. The golfer Jerry Barber was credited by Player and did use a version of the maxim linking hard work and luck. But the version linking hard work and luck appears in 1949 or earlier. A version linking knowledge and luck appears in 1896 or earlier. Thanks for your question. QI wishes you wonderful luck obtained through whichever method you prefer.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. This begs a question.

"I was standing under my opened garage door, and the spring snapped " When the garage door is opened....aren't the springs in a relaxed, no tension state? Your dreams are playing with you, I think!

[LuckyCharms]

4. I misspoke in my adrenaline rush. The door was closed. I'll post pictures in a response below.

I'll' edit the OP as well.

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. Just having some fun with you.

Anyways, you got me thinking about that now. I would think these types of springs are engineered not to be anywhere near their max elongation so as to effect a tensile strength failure.

[LuckyCharms]

11. I had one fail about 10 years ago. I was napping in the downstairs bedroom. There were no safety cables in that spring.

It smashed a hole through the drywall.

[BWdem4life]

66. That's not a direct quote

He said he was standing under the spring. Didn't say the garage door was opened at the time. He was standing under the door in the dream though - but things can happen in dreams that can't happen in reality.

[OAITW r.2.0]

72. I believe Mr. Charms deleted the worrd "open" from his OP.

[BWdem4life]

73. Ok, but still that happened in the dream

and anything is possible in a dream.

[quaint]

3. Not over-doing the labor thing, are you?

tch tch
Be well!

[LuckyCharms]

16. I'm trying to get back on the horse slowly.

I limited myself to two hours.

Trying to keep moving, because sitting around is making me depressed.

[LuckyCharms]

6. Just took these pics:

The first pic is of the right spring, extended, that has not snapped. It is about 5 or 6 feet long and you can see the cable running through it.

The second pic is of the spring that collapsed to maybe a foot and a half long.

[OAITW r.2.0]

12. I wonder if the installer f'd it up?

Last edited Thu Oct 17, 2024, 05:42 PM - Edit history (2)

The pully wire should be where the tension on the Springs should be controlled. The spring manufacturer's has to have a recommendeded "not to exceed x length" on expansion. With the door down the wire cable should control the setting where this "not to exceed" length is within the spring manufacturer's safety length. Of course, the longer the stretch, the more assist the spring gives when raising the garage door.

[LuckyCharms]

18. That's quite possible.

I was told those springs should last no less than 10,000 opens/closes.

It's only been 3 years, and I use the side service door whenever possible, instead of the overhead door.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. I Don't Believe That 10,000 Number

We have the same configuration as you, LC.
Admittedly, we have a heavy, high R Value door, but we break a spring close to every year.
That would require 7 openings & closings per day, every day for 2 years.
There may be days where there are 14 cycles, but not every single day.
I have a hard time believing we're opening & closing 10k times before failure.

[LuckyCharms]

27. That sounds correct.

I open that door no more than say 5 times a week because i don't keep a car in there.

5x52 weeks x 3 years = 780. Less than 1,000! Those things scare me!

[ProfessorGAC]

61. Well, Mine Is More Often Than You

But, that 10k seems awfully high.
The overhead door guy suggested replacing them with a torsion spring, but the lines for the hot water heat to 2 bedrooms is right there, so there's no room for the spring without rerouting heating system lines.
It also isn't cheap to have them come over & fix these springs.
Not sure what we're going to do

[LuckyCharms]

62. I'm going to ask about torsion springs. They seem a bit safer.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

26. After reading all your responses....

it makes me wonder if the guy installed the wrong springs for your door's weight. If they were over-stretched beyond their elastic limit, that would explain the failure.

You may want to talk to their manager.

BTW, love your garden hat......

[LuckyCharms]

38. Thanks! I love that hat too!

[Hekate]

34. Jeez you have a clean garage!

[LuckyCharms]

36. I have racedeck tiles on the floor that are 1/2 inch thick.

And I vacuum the garage a few times a week!

Yes, I vacuum the garage.

Please don't judge me.

[Hekate]

48. I am overcome with admiration is what I am. My BIL is the same as you, absolutely clean & tidy...

He operates a couple of garage-based businesses based on probably being the last guy for hundreds of miles around who fixes sewing machines, among other things.

When I met him he was a bank manager, but he’s always kept his hand in with, well everything you’d do in a garage. As a result, he will never “retire”

[Wonder Why]

71. That comment about vacuuming caused my spring to break. And I don't mean the garage. 🤢

[ChazInAz]

76. Same here.

I vacuumed my shop once.
It had gotten kind of terrifying.

[bsiebs]

60. Damn LC...your garage is cleaner than my kitchen!

[Permanut]

7. The human brain is so complex..

There's still a lot we don't know about how it works.

Okay, enough philosophy, that was a weird thing that happened. OMG, the sound of those things when they go off!

[debm55]

9. So sorry that happened to you LuckyCharms and you are alright.

[LuckyCharms]

13. I've changed latches on the door before, and also...

I've done so much sanding in that garage that the roller brackets and the rollers themselves were covered with dust because someone had greased them long ago.

I decided to change the brackets and the rollers myself after doing a few days of research.

It can be done safely by a homeowner if there is no tension on the springs. But I was still scared shitless. I would never even attempt to change a garage door spring though. They have killed people.

[Karadeniz]

10. Good lord! So happy youre okay!!

[Diamond_Dog]

14. Holy cow. Glad you are all right!

Those springs can be extremely dangerous! I begged Mr. Diamond not to work on ours one time but he insisted he knew what he was doing. I was a nervous wreck the whole time.

[SWBTATTReg]

17. Wow! Glad no one was hurt!! This is scary enough to put a 'spring' in your step!!

[LuckyCharms]

19. It's one of the scariest sounds you can hear.

[SWBTATTReg]

21. I bet!! That would be truly scary. Now you got me worried about the springs on my garage door, they're about

11+ years old.

[LuckyCharms]

33. Please either get them replaced or have cables run through them...

if they are not there already.

[appleannie1]

20. I have had 'thoughts' before events a number of times.

I think we are all born with that ability but living life blocks it over time for most people but there are a few that it only gets stronger. All I know is that it is wise to pay attention to them and take care because sometimes they are warnings we should heed.

[surrealAmerican]

22. You probably noticed something wrong yesterday - something so subtle ...

... it didn't make it into conscious memory. The door may have sounded a little different, or the light reflected off that spring in an odd way.

[LuckyCharms]

23. Could be!

I look at those springs all of the time though because I've been paranoid since the first one snapped a while ago.

[eppur_se_muova]

25. I was sitting in our living room - directly above the garage door - when ours snapped.

Sounded like every utility shelf in the garage had collapsed at once. No one else heard it !

The repairman advised us to give the springs a good coat of PTFE-based grease to slow corrosion. Others have recommended white lithium grease or silicone grease. One source said to lubricate them three or four times a year -- I guess that makes sense if you use your door twice a day.

[bernieb]

28. Wow!

Your angels were sure looking out for you! This stuff happens. It's called, "Precognition." And, no, I don't believe it was coincidence.

[Teacher of the Year]

29. You'll have to ask my mom that one.

She's the one who, when I was a kid, refused to get on a United flight in Denver. I mean, my super polite, super nice mom, who I have only heard yell at me or my. brother my whole life (mostly my brother) just snapped. I was standing there wide-eyed as my mom screameded at the poor United Clerk: "YOU.DO.NOT.UNDERSTAND. ME. WE. ARE. NOT. GETTING.ON.THAT. PLANE!!"

They got our luggage back, a couple was called up to the counter and told that there were now two seats in first class if they wanted them and the woman looked at my mom and said, "Thank you, we have an emergency and have to get home."

United flight 173 took off but never landed. It fell out of the sky and the people in the first three rows of first class died.
That couple never made it. home for their emergency and my mom absolutely refused to discuss it until, as she lay dying herself, out of nowhere she brought it up. Since 1978 she and I both walked the face of this earth because she listened to a voice in the back of her head. A whisper, a feeling, but a dead serious one, that ordered her not to get on the plane.

[hlthe2b]

30. Glad your luck has held! Whether it is a "hunch," "intuition," or whatever you call it, I don't discount..

If the feeling is strong, I pay attention. And... I likewise trust my dog(s)' assessment of new people or other unusual behaviors.

[Niagara]

31. What a terrifying experience, Lucky

I'm relieved that you're safe and sound. I'm hoping this is still under warranty for you.


Please don't overwork yourself.

[Martin68]

32. Your poor mother!

[usonian]

35. Purely logical!

Sometimes, the things we fear actually DO happen!

I find that every disaster situation that I prepare for never happens. It's the universe trying and succeeding to make a fool of me, but I get the last laugh!

I wonder if a counterweighted door might be the answer.

You don't see elevators run on springs, for obvious reasons. So why garage doors?

https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/8692/why-arent-counterweights-used-more-for-garage-doors

Done.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

56. Deduct at least 10% of total clever points for the way those pvc pipes were cut

Hacksaws are cheap and don't produce the easily breathable pvc dust that the angle grinder with cutoff wheel does.

[intrepidity]

37. I take such things as signs that we are living in a simulation

Although, the post upthread suggesting that you subconsciously noticed something amiss, is also high on my list.

[iscooterliberally]

39. oh man! That happened to me!

When we first moved into the house we rent I was coming in from the garage and I hit the door opener to shut the garage door. One of the springs snapped and shot across my garage and put a nice dent in the fuel tank of my portable generator. If that had been my head I would most certainly have been killed. I'm glad you're OK! I'm going to have to check to see if I have safety cables installed. I didn't even know about that. Thank you for your post!

[LuckyCharms]

41. When I had the guy come back to put the cables in, he rolled his eyes.

I repeated "PUT THE CABLES IN".

Yes, please get that done if they are not in there. Good luck.

[Hekate]

40. I am so GLAD you are safe! Precognition does happen, & it's complex...

Sometimes your subconscious mind just assembles all kinds of tiny clues — and sometimes it’s a complete mystery — but I happen to believe in both kinds.

As for garage door springs, quite a long time ago this happened to us and fortunately no one was in the garage. Later on I read of a case where a spring embedded itself in the far wall, and another case where the spring killed a man.

Lucky Charms, you got lucky.

[intheflow]

42. I have a theory about deja vu and these kinds of predictive feelings.

I experience deja vu and predictive feelings/experiences often (like, at least once a week). Most people think I'm nuts when I tell them my theory, but I honestly believe it's logically sound. But I am not a scientist and don't know how to test this theory. Anyway, here goes:

While we humans experience time as linear, moving from past to future, physics tells us that linear time is an illusion. Time is omnidirectional at the quantum level. As we are part of the quantum universe, we are also subject to its laws. So while we don't "remember" things that haven't happened yet, on a quantum level they have indeed already happened. Flashes of insight like this is our brains interacting with the quantum time elements within ourselves.

My 2 cents, FWIW. Glad you didn't get killed by your garage door!

[MLAA]

43. Wow. Add this event to the unexplainable.

I’m so glad to hear you felt like getting outside and blowing leaves!

[multigraincracker]

44. Installing those springs is not a job for the home owner.

I tried and failed.

[Mosby]

80. My BIL almost lost a finger.

And broke a bunch of bones in his hand.

[Clouds Passing]

45. Intuitive self-preservation.

Glad you paid attention to it

[Figarosmom]

46. You likely noticed something

And it stayed in your subconscience and never reached the surface so instead your mind told you in a dream. I don't know

[ms.pamela]

47. Garage door

Why did you have a dreadful feeling? Well, you really are lucky, and maybe someone wanted you here just a while longer.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

49. Dear Lord.

I have never ever had a garage door spring snap. At the present I have been in my current place some 15 years, the door goes up and down several times a day. Should I be worried?

[LuckyCharms]

63. i wouldn't worry, but it might not hurt to get them replaced or at least checked out

if they are extension springs that look like the ones I posted in one of my responses above.

If they are, at the very least, have them run a cable through them. Or, look into getting another type of spring called a torsion spring which works differently.

[The Madcap]

83. Our garage has torsion springs

We have had two snap over the years. They make a loud noise, but because there is a long metal shaft within the spring, the broken spring doesn't go flying through the air. Still, replacing them is a job best left to the pros.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

68. I'm moving in about a month.

New owner can do it.

[peppertree]

50. Your guardian angels, looking out for you Lucky Charms.

[Backseat Driver]

51. Our daughter and SIL's double garage door spring let go Sunday night - a lot of that going around I guess.

They found a contractor to fix it after 11:00 pm for big bucks and no injuries, thank goodness. They were to get up 4:30 a.m. ish to meet grandson's tour bus at school for the 8th grade trip to Washington, DC... Packed the car for his trip, getting ready to put it to bed in the garage, then BOING!

Weather changes, maybe? Upper 70s in daytime; frost warning overnight.

[DFW]

52. We bought our house in Germany from the guy who built it

He had escaped East Germany, and wanted to show off, so he bought a decent plot of land (for Germany) and, to save money, did a lot of the interior wiring himself. Shortly after we bought it, the electricity kept going out and short circuiting here and there. We called an electrician, thought he would be there an hour or two. He was there a week. He was yelling and cursing, asking what maniac did the wiring? There was a 400 volt current coming out of most of the electrical outlets, and the only thing he didn't quite get is why the house hadn't burned down long ago.

[Joinfortmill]

55. Yikes

[Joinfortmill]

53. Synchronicity. Its a strange world. I'm a believer.

Glad you paid attention when the Universe spoke to you.

[barbtries]

54. I don't know.

some people say it's ESP.

Years and years ago, when my oldest son was a rebellious 14-year-old (might have been 15), I had a nightmare that was so bad I couldn't go back to sleep. There was a stolen car involved.

Decided to go around the corner and tell my friend Linda about the nightmare then go back to sleep. Went outside; car gone. My son had taken it for a joyride.

He got caught that night because I had that nightmare. I had no idea he wasn't safely asleep in his own bed at the time.

[Mr.WeRP]

57. I have had a similar experience with these springs!

Maybe you heard the stress of the spring but it didn’t register consciously but did at some lower level.

[LudwigPastorius]

58. "How in the FUCK can your mind anticipate these things?"

To quote Bill Shakespeare, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,...".

I once had a dream that my mom hurt her eye. I called her the next day, and sure enough, she had hurt her eye the evening before. The dream was correct right down to which one it was and where the injury was precisely located.

Cue the music, "doo dee doo doo, doo dee doo doo..."

[MustLoveBeagles]

59. Thank goodness you're okay

[txwhitedove]

64. Hi. #1 So glad no injuries and you are fine. #2 pre-cognition, clairvoyance, is real, happened to me all

my life. Just last week was guessing each present before the tissue paper was off, to the pojnt my granddaughter's eyes snapped and she said "How are you doing that?" Listen to your inner voice.

#3 Bravo, applaude your garage organization.

[PatrickforB]

65. Ah, as the Bard famously said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosoph

I often have so-called 'prophetic dreams' of stuff that I need to take care of, or be careful of.

Best to heed these kind of dreams when you have them. I have no science-based explanation, except maybe referring loosely to what Jung called the 'collective unconscious.'

I have always believed that intuition legitimately be called a sixth sense - you'll be puzzling out some problem, you know, and all of a sudden you'll have a gestalt where you just know the solution. That is one example. Your garage door spring is another.

The real issue with the garage door deal, though, is you had a guy who omitted the safety rope. He should have been trained better. This is the issue - I tell people this all the time - we are in a structurally scarce labor market where there are not enough Americans to fill all the American jobs (Trumpy doesn't see it that way, but I do because I am an economist who assesses labor availability for a living).

What this means is that, like with truck drivers, they used to know what they were doing. I got into a blizzard on I-80 going through WY, and it was terrible. I got behind a semi. This was years ago, and I figured the driver knew what he was about. This proved true, and when we got to Rawlins, we turned into a motel and I told the guy we didn't care, we'd take a closet if they had it, but we could not go on driving in the blizzard.

Now, pardon the pun, but these new drivers are straight out of a three week 'crash' course. And that isn't funny at all. It is dead serious.

[Shermann]

67. Those shouldn't give out in only three years. nt

[beemerphill]

69. Luck Helped

Luck helped, but you didn't get hurt because you were smart enough to insist on the safety cables. When you are careful and pay attention you will usually be luckier than when you walk through life unaware of what is happening and trusting everything to work the way it should. Being careful and thoughtful about other things in life has probably saved you a time or two already. This time it was just more obvious. I am happy that you are OK and shared this with us.

[mountain grammy]

70. Thank you for this good story that ended well

I will be calling the woman who bought my house (I am holding the mortgage,) and make sure she checks this.

We built the garage in 2013. First brand new actually built for me thing I ever owned and I loved that garage. We lived in the mountains and our road and dirveway were unpaved, so I swept my beautiful garage twice a week, even at 25 below zero and scraping the ice off the floor, and my husband telling me "you're crazy" but the alternative was staying in the house with him.. He'll never know how many times that garage saved his life

Now we're back in the city where there's a lot more oxygen, but no garage. I just spent 30 minutes sweeping the parking lot of my condo building.

Glad you're well enough LC to get out there in that garage.

[HeartsCanHope]

74. I'm so glad your mind anticipated this!

You've been through so much already, and we don't want to lose you! Glad you are okay, my friend. You take care!

[malaise]

75. Lucky you

Damn. That was scary.
Hope you recover quickly.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

77. Chance. 30,000 people of 300 million had the same dream this year. For one, it happened

When very numbers of people are involved coincidences will happen.

[LuckyCharms]

79. All fixed. Door company was here for about 15 minutes.

Service call about $100.

2 new springs and safety cables about $80 total.

With tax, about $200 total.

Not bad.

I was going to replace the extension springs with a torsion spring, but that would have been about $500.

I figured since the safety cables saved me yesterday, they will probably save me again, and anyway, I'll probably be dead by the time the new springs snap.

[MontanaMama]

81. In our house, we call these things "universal whispers".

I don’t know what they are…but they absolutely happen. I have countless examples. I would add that the more you listen to and acknowledge them, the more they occur.

I’m really glad you’re okay. That’s a frightening thing to have happen.

[Icanthinkformyself]

82. Microtubules

in our cellular structures perform several functions. Roger Penrose, the theoretical physicist and colleague of Steven Hawking, has written several books about quantum consciousness and related subjects. How the tubules were discovered by one of his collaborators, Dr. Stuart Hameroff, and how Penrose made the connection to consciousness is fascinating in it's expansive view. Quantum Consciousness can explain many of the mysteries of how our body communicates with itself and our connection to the universe.

[IbogaProject]

84. I remember when you spotted that oversight

And I will be forever grateful to know about that sleeping hazard.

[4catsmom]

85. Don't know how the mind knows it

but glad it does