Troubleshoot Garage Door Openers

There are many reasons why a garage door opener may not be working, and although issues within the garage door opener itself can be the cause of the problem, there are many other reasons why these problems can occur. The garage door opener issues that are discussed below are fairly common and can be easy to fix. However, be cautious and make sure you are confident in what you are doing since you want to ensure that no additional damage occurs.

The garage door opener may not be functioning both through the keypad or the remote control. This could mean that the issue lies within the keypad or the remote control and not the opener. Either they might just need new batteries or the source of power may be out. Check the motor unit if the latter is the problem and ensure that it is plugged in properly. You can also check the circuit breaker or the fuse, and if they have been tripping, the garage door opener’s power may be short circuiting. Check the motor unit and the garage door opener to identify the cause of the trip and have them repaired, or replaced if necessary.

Out of Range

Another reason why the garage door opener may not be operating through the wall switch or the remote control is that you might be out of range from the opener while operating the garage door with the remote. Try moving closer to the opener and make sure that the antenna on the motor unit is facing down and not damaged for everything to work smoothly. If you can open the garage door through the wall switch but not the remote, as mentioned above, it might just need new batteries. In other cases, electrical components like keypads can lose their programming and need to be reset. For that, you can consult the garage door opener manual or call up a garage door service for advice on how to reprogram your specific garage door opener, as different garage door openers have different reprogramming settings.

Limit Switch/Safety Sensors

One issue you may face with the door itself is that the door may not close or it may close and then reopen. For that, take a look at the limit-switch which makes the motor run for a certain period of time to operate the door. It may need to be reset to run for the proper amount of time for the door to close fully. All you have to do is readjust the switch, however, do it in increments to make sure that you do not turn it too much as the switch is sensitive. Safety sensors can also cause the door to not close properly. This is because they need to be cleaned, realigned, or have objects removed from their way. If any of the three scenarios is causing the door to stay open, it means that sensors are sending a signal to the opener to stop running. Make sure to take a good look at the sensors but problems are usually easy to detect since the sensors have lights that begin to flash when something is wrong. In addition, inspect the rollers in the garage door tracks to make sure that they are not rusty or dirty since they can also stop a garage door opener from working properly in closing the door.

The garage door may close but reverse before it even closes fully. This might be because the closing force of the garage door opener may be sensitive and the rollers may have added friction, sending signals to the garage door opener that the garage door is fully closed. To rectify this problem, take a look at the garage door opener and change the opener settings slowly and carefully by decreasing its sensitivity. In such a case, dirty or rusty rollers can also contribute to this problem, so clean and maintain your rollers to prevent this from happening.

Weather Changes

Weather changes can also affect the way that your garage door opener operates, especially as the weather gets cooler. You might find that, in the winter season, your garage door opens with great difficulty and this can be because of the rollers in the tracks. They can become stiff and affect how the door opener works. In some instances, you may have to adjust the sensitivity of the door opener to rectify this problem. In other instances, you may have to lubricate the rollers so that they continue working properly as the weather gets cold. If you are unsure what needs to be done in such an instance, you can always contact licensed garage door technicians and they will be happy to assist you on how to proceed.

Although this is a rare problem and can usually be detected as soon as you operate the garage door opener for the first time, you can find that the motor keeps on running even after the door has fully opened or that the door does not open fully and the motor shuts off before it does. For this, you will have to adjust the position of the up-limit switch, moving it closer to the motor unit if the door does not fully open and moving it further away from the motor unit if the door opens fully but the motor keeps running.

You can go through these steps to isolate the problem with your garage door opener and then address the problem. Only do so if you are familiar with garage door openers or are confident that you can rely on the garage door opener manual for a fix. If not, contacting a licensed garage door company is your best option as that can prevent further damage and can guarantee a quick solution.