What does a broken tension spring look like?

A broken garage door spring is easy to identify visually. On a torsion spring, the giveaway is a clean two-inch gap in the middle of the coil where the spring has snapped, often with the broken ends slightly separated and the coil no longer wound tight. The cone on one side may also be loose or rotated. On extension springs, a break shows as a visibly hanging or stretched-out spring on one side of the door, often with the safety cable still threaded through but the spring itself dangling, separated, or missing coils. You may also notice the door feels extremely heavy, the opener struggles or only opens the door a few inches, or you heard a loud bang from the garage.