# Help with Gas Spring solution for Trap Door



## sthomasen (Jun 9, 2016)

Google has failed me, so I was hoping someone here might be able to steer me in the right direction.

My  husband and I bought a house last year that has a trap door leading  down into the basement.  The previous owners had a system in place using  gas springs to assist lifting the trap door up (it's pretty heavy, we  are waiting on finding a scale to use, but my husband is estimating  150-200lbs), but shortly after moving in, one of the springs popped off  the side and we think it was broken from the get-go.  Currently I can't  access our basement (which we use heavily for storage) without having my  husband man-handle the door, and then we just stick a plank of wood in  there to keep it propped open.  Definitely not safe, and definitely not  useful!

I've been browsing McMaster-Carr for parts to replace the  old system, but I'm not much of a DIY-er, and this is just completely  out of my realm.  I really like the gas spring system and want to stick  with that because I'm pretty sure the old one failed because it wasn't  rated for the weight of the door or was installed improperly.

I've  gone through and found a gas spring that is similiar in measurement  (extended length) to the old one, and is rated for 150lbs.  But I'm just  not understanding which type of bracket I need to order with the  spring.  

Anyone have any advice?  Anything I'm maybe  overlooking?  My husband brought of the idea of using a counterweight,  but the door opens directly to stairs that curve around, so I don't want  a weight hanging right over your head when you open the door, and I was  worried about making sure I would be able to close it against the  weight.

Here are pictures of the trap door closed (we have a hook that we use to get it lifted off the ground and then lift from there. Before the system broke, once we got it about an inch off the group, the springs kicked in and lifted it from there.  To close I was able to just pull down on the door and once it was close to the bottom, put the hook back in and lower it all the way).






Here's the old gas spring that's still attached.









This link to imgur has a couple other pictures of the mountain equipment that failed.
http://imgur.com/a/woFxS

Thanks for any help or suggestions.  I'm hoping if I can just order the right parts, it'll motivate my husband to actually install it.  But who knows, maybe this can be my first house DIY? ;-) I'm open to any other suggestions for a system that allows people of all sizes to open and basement door.http://www.houserepairtalk.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## kok328 (Jun 9, 2016)

First off, welcome.  Secondly, nice door. Thirdly, what is the length, width and thickness of the door?
Can we get a pic of the bottom of the door and the stairwell opening from a little further back, from the top and bottom side?
I think we definitely have some room for improvement once we can see the whole picture.
To replace what's there shouldn't be that hard, appears the mounting hardware is already attached.
Some of the problem could be the ideal length of the strut, rating of the strut and postitioning of the strut angle for maximum effectiveness.
Any Engineers here?  Guess I should have paid attention in geometry class.


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## nealtw (Jun 9, 2016)

We can see the ball on the clip is bent, is that what failed?


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## kok328 (Jun 9, 2016)

Ok, now I see it in the imgur pics.  That pivot ball is put in a hole in the bracket and then peened over on the back side by a press.  Too much weight/stress has caused to start to pulled through the bracket, causing an angle on the socket of the strut, similar to it's ideal removal angle.
I'd recommend beefing up your entire setup instead of repairing the existing.


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## nealtw (Jun 9, 2016)

http://www.dictator.nl/Downloads/EN/Reg.6/614-E-Selecting_and_Calculating_Gas_Springs.pdf

http://www.dictator.co.uk/usa.html


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## sthomasen (Jun 21, 2016)

Sorry for the delay - my husband injured his back and thus was unable to lift the door for me to get pictures.  He's better now, so here are the additional pictures that were requested.

http://imgur.com/a/dChlS

I was planning on replacing the springs on both sides of the doors, in case that was unclear.  I don't want to keep the one that's still on because obviously it's not functioning at the capacity I need it.

I checked out McMaster-Carr.com for parts because they have them (and I've been unable to find anything locally where I'm at), but I'm just not sure what sort of connectors I need for the springs to attach to the door/wall.  I feel like this solution should work because it's what commercial cellar doors use.  I really think the previous owners just bought springs that weren't strong enough for the door.

Thanks for any help!

*EDIT:* The door measures 89" long, 39" wide.  It's a little hard to tell you the thickness, as you can see there's the thin layer of the laminate floor that is about 2" thick, and then more wood on the door that looks like just support but isn't completely solid (that probably doesn't make sense but you can see it on the pictures).


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## slownsteady (Jun 21, 2016)

I'm going to guess that there are specs of some sort printed on the existing springs. perhaps a rated load limit or something similar. If there is no sticker or plate, the info may be etched in to the metal. Use that as your starting point and go to a heavier spring. The type of brackets look okay as they are, so you may not have to reinvent the wheel, just get the same style of bracket, - also sized up for the new spring.


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