| This spring has no safety cable, and could break with disastrous results. See the accompanying diagram to see how a safety cable is attached. Garage door designs may vary from this one, but the principle is the same. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has issued a warning after a Taranki man had a near miss when closing his automatic garage door. When the door was halfway closed one of the garage door springs snapped and flew across the garage. These springs are under high tension and the force would be comparable to being hit by a sledgehammer. The spring hit and damaged the man’s car, but could have seriously injured him or his three children who were in the garage at the time. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is asking people to check that their garage doors springs are secured by a retaining cable. This simple measure will ensure that as the springs wear, they do not present a danger should the spring break. Unless your up-and-over garage door springs are secured by retaining cables, they could fly off and damage your car, your walls or yourself. Protect yourself from an unexpected missile by checking and securing the springs on your garage door. The problem affects both manual and automatic up-and-over garage doors. If your door is old, or does not open smoothly, the springs may be under extra pressure. There is a voluntary standard for garage door springs (AS/NZS 4505) which recommends that a spring should last 10-15 years. Not all springs will comply with this standard. So if your garage door is more than five years old, you might want to get the spring changed and secured at the same time. |
|
