"So now as a homeowner, we're in this awkward situation to where I know because I can do the math and I have the app and I have to look at you and I have to tell you it's the wrong spring, but you just had it replaced a year ago."
"So now as a homeowner, we're in this awkward situation to where I know because I can do the math and I have the app and I have to look at you and I have to tell you it's the wrong spring, but you just had it replaced a year ago."
- Jon Phillips, Garage Door Expert
Jim Klauck - AKA Check A Pro Joe has invited Jon Phillips from A1 Garage Door Service, headquartered in Phoenix, AZ stops by to talk about garage doors.
Check A Pro Joe asks Jon this question: "What Is A Garage Door Spring Phone App?"
Check out this episode for the answer to this commonly asked question...
For assistance with your garage doors please call A1 Garage Door Service -
(844) 214-2025.
Log on to - www.a1garage.com
Podcast Episode Transcription:
Jon Phillips from a one garage door service is joining me here on the program.
Hey,
Jon,
how you doing?
I'm doing good Check pro how you been?
I'm living the dream.
Thank you so much.
So I understand that you can help people homeowners find the perfect spring for their garage door.
And you tell me that there's this newer technology today.
It's not just some math that you guys used years ago or the real good guys,
just take a look and say,
hey,
I know what spring you need and they pull out of the truck and put it in.
You actually have uh an app for this.
Yeah.
Uh before getting to the app to kind of kind of explain.
So springs are rated in,
in IP P T and you can imagine that a door comes in a bunch of different weights and sizes and that weight is contributed to the type of rollers,
the hinges,
the struts door supports the type of track that it's in the type of drums that carry the cable.
There's a lot of variables and then when it comes to the spring,
springs are essentially the coiled wire and there's a lot of variables,
but there's the wire size,
the internal diameter And the overall length.
Now you can do a bunch of math to find this out.
This is how I was trained when I first started.
So figuring out the wire size,
counting 20 coils over,
maybe you get a spring ruler like this.
So you put this in there,
you count 20 coils over,
then it gives you the wire size.
That's a quick way.
Or you can do it in an old school method way to where you measure 10 coils,
do a little bit of math.
And then you can find out the wire size and then we gotta somehow on a spring when it's broken,
it's very easy to find the inside diameter,
right?
But whenever a spring just isn't holding tension anymore from the outside.
Well,
I want to find the inside diameter,
not the outside.
So then we gotta do math again to figure out the outside diameter.
Take that minus the actual spring gauge itself.
So then we'll be able to find the ID.
Well,
and then we got to find out the weight of the door,
right.
So we gotta weigh the door.
So when doing this,
we gotta get a bathroom scale or a livestock scale.
And then what we gotta do is we gotta take the tension and put it back off the spring and let all the weight sit there and,
and by the way to use this.
You also have to have a winning bar and actual tools to do this and you gotta make sure that you don't throw the cable and completely throw the door sideways whenever you do this.
And,
but that here's a public service announcement.
Homeowners do not do this yourself.
No,
no,
not at all.
This is,
should only be done by a professional,
but there's a,
there's a lot of steps in this and then you gotta take length divided by the wire size.
So you'll find the total active coils.
You take the total active coils minus the unused coils to find the active ones.
And then you take the constant when,
then you take that divided by the active coils and then you'll figure out the IP P T and then you need to find that M IP,
which is the max inch pounds,
you know,
divided by the IP P T.
So you can figure out how many turns are on.
It gets complicated.
Well,
now it's on an app.
Wow.
Now it's all in an app from service Spring Corp.
Uh,
they have the S S C app to where we can just put in door data and it tells us exactly.
So no more writing it on paper in the human error.
It tells us exactly the total IP P T needed for that door.
Now,
here's where it benefits the client.
I come to a lot of doors And I weigh every door that I go to,
every,
everyone at a one does,
the door should weigh less than £5 on the ground.
Typically,
we don't want,
the motor can maybe pull up to 10.
But once we start getting above that,
your motor's life is gonna go down from the wear and tear on it.
So I go to the door,
it weighs about 20-40 lbs on the ground.
And then I'm like,
hey,
we might want to take a look at these springs and they say,
oh no,
we just had those springs replaced a year ago.
Ok.
So I look at it and it's the wrong spring.
So now as a homeowner,
we're in this awkward situation to where I know because I can do the math and I have the app and I have to look at you and I have to tell you it's the wrong spring,
but you just had it replaced a year ago.
So,
how are you supposed to trust me?
So,
how about instead of trying to break down everything it takes to find the IP P T that your door needs and the IP P T that the spring is capable of.
I have it in this app where I can show you really quick to put in your specific door data and show you that,
that spring is wrong and the correct springs that should be on the door.
So it doesn't,
don't take my word for it.
Anymore.
I'm gonna show you in this app.
So that's why I can take technicians from this company and we're right.
Every single time there's no guessing game,
there's no double work and then you can check our work to make sure that the right springs are on the door every time.
And I didn't,
really can't think of anything more valuable than that and transparent.
I agree.
It's kind of like a navigation app today.
You don't have to pull out the map or say,
let me draw you the map because that's what you guys used to do.
When you had to figure the size of the spring.
You had to basically use your own experience and so forth.
Like drawing a map or pulling a map out.
Now,
we don't use maps,
we don't draw diagrams.
We use apps.
So if someone says,
how do you get from point A to point B and you pull out a navigation app,
people are gonna believe it because it's like it's there.
Yeah,
same thing right there.
There's no guessing game anymore.
Uh A lot of human error,
uh labor hours are cut down completely because it's one shot.
And at a one garage door,
we're kind of in the business of fixing a door one time.
Yeah.
Do it right.
The first time we don't like to piece it together,
we don't like to play the guessing game.
We just want it done to where you don't have to see us ever again.
Unless you want to,
maybe you like the technician so much.
You want them to come over for dinner or the holidays,
which is completely fine.
That's what we like.
Yeah,
a one garage door service.
Fantastic company Jon.
As always,
you never fail to educate us on the latest and greatest technology when it comes to garage doors.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me check,
bro.
All of Jon's information from a one garage door service is listed in the description of this podcast.
So to reach them,
it's a quick click away.
Thanks,
buddy.
