Most of the time, the problem is as easy as a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker.
Sometimes it can be as simple as replacing a loose door spring. Fixing it yourself could save you several hundred dollars and may also allow you to avoid those inconvenient service fees.
Reasons Why Your Garage Door Won’t Open
Before you call a repair person because your garage door won’t open, first check for broken torsion springs and rollers on garage doors. Do not attempt to raise or lower them by hand, they’re under extreme tension and can cause severe injury if mishandled. If they need attention, call a specialist. Check the track and look for a bent door track on both sliding and rolling types of garage doors. If the door doesn’t roll easily or makes noise while it is rolling up or down, something is wrong. Also, look for lumps and ripples in the door track of a sliding type of garage door which might indicate that objects are lodged between the door panel and tracks.
If you find nothing wrong with the torsion springs, rollers, tracks or hardware on your garage door then read on, it’s probably time to call in some help.
Typical problems include:
- Cable broke on one side (turn tension screw), tightened other
- Cables tangled
- Broken spring(s)
- Out-of-align opener
- Worn parts (seals, bearings)
- Dirty photo eye lens
Garage Door Seals and Bearings can Be Replaced
A garage door, not opening can mean lot’s of things, so first make sure the opener is unplugged before attempting to replace a broken spring or cable. You could always hire a professional for this type of project. The power to open and close your garage door could always be disconnected when you’re working on your door unless it’s an emergency, in which case call a licensed service technician to handle repairs right away.
Rollers are attached to the bottom of the doors with screws, you may find multiple screws at each roller location throughout the total perimeter of the garage door. Remove them with a screwdriver and pull out any debris that may have lodged into tracks along with old rollers. You can purchase replacement rollers from local hardware stores for about $10 per pair up to around $35+ per pair. A professional can help you tremendously with this.
Worn Parts
Noisy garage doors are often caused by dirty or worn out parts. The door could make very little noise while rolling up or down if it is balanced correctly. If your garage door makes strange noises while operating it may be due to loose hardware (track), roller bearings, guide bearings (roller wheels) pulling away from their sleeve on both sides of the door which would require replacement of all rollers/bearings that surround the perimeter of both sections of your garage door. This could be an expensive repair if the garage door is over five years old.
Rollers are the easiest to inspect, check for wear on all rollers by applying pressure to either side of the roller with your hands, there could be very little movement in rollers that have no play or loose action. Also, recommend inspecting any plastic parts that look brittle or cracked along with hardware where necessary. If you find damage to these items replace them immediately due to safety issues and neglecting replacement can cause more serious problems down the road.
Lubrication
Garage doors have multiple moving parts involved when they are being operated which means there are multiple areas that need lubrication to keep them operating smoothly and quietly. Please see your garage door manufacturer’s recommendations for what types of lubricant to use.
Clean the Photo-eye
You could regularly clean the photo eye lens when the door is down and the light is off.
Excess dirt and debris on photo-eye lenses can cause them to not function properly and you may experience frequent “humming” from your opener. Simply wipe it clean with a damp cloth, if replacement is required they can be purchased at hardware or home improvement stores. Photo-eye can be removed and replaced without tools.
Worn Out Tracks
When the garage door is not operating smoothly you could inspect the track on both sides of your garage door for any flat spots or dips that would indicate a problem with either the rollers or track itself. Replacing parts in this area may require removing the entire track from each side of the garage door, a professional can usually do this in less than an hour.
Broken Springs
If you have a broken torsion spring on one side of your garage door it is advised to keep the door down until all repairs are made. If you attempt to move any of the broken torsion springs without doing this you could find yourself injured or worse under the weight of the door.
When you do need to repair a broken torsion spring, it is important to hire a professional for your safety and their expertise in garage door repairs. There are several different types of springs used on traditional residential garage doors including torsion, extension and counterbalance which may each require specific procedures for a replacement that take into consideration the weight capabilities of other springs on the door.
A professional may be able to determine which type of spring your door uses and if it is safe for them to repair or replace it with a similar type. They also have an assortment of springs in stock to choose from when they are replacing broken ones. Once repairs are done, you can lift the door open.
Reprogram the Remote Controls
If your garage door won’t open, it might be the remote’ at fault. To fix the problem, you’ll find detailed programming instructions in remote user manuals provided by manufacturers for all brand-name garage doors and their respective remote control devices such as car openers. If you choose to program the remote yourself then we recommend that before making any adjustments or changes that you pull the cord and turn off the electricity. Also, follow instructions very carefully within the manual while matching up strip colours which are black for power, green for safety sensors and red/yellow which are your limit settings.
The garage door remote opener needs to be reprogrammed if you have any of the following changes
- You change the remote control(s) on the garage door opener
- You changed the car’s battery in your vehicle with a different remote model
There is an interruption between both devices where they won’t communicate properly, meaning that when you press the button the garage door won’t open. Protecting your home begins by making sure that you have working equipment on all entry points, including doors around your property especially garage doors.
Call In Help
If you’re looking for a company to maintain your garage door opener call a professional that deals with openers and other hardware on these doors, not someone who only deals with the remote control part of it. The reason being is that there are several important safety features located within the garage door opener itself that could always be taken care of by a licensed professional in order to avoid serious injury or worse.
If none of these situations applies and a garage door won’t open, then contact a local garage door service provider if one is available in your area. They may inspect your garage door and provide you with an estimate for repairs/parts replacement if needed based upon their findings after inspecting your door. Repair professionals can charge anywhere from $50 up to about $125+ per hour. If you are in need of garage door opener service only then the fee could be about $50 per hour or less depending upon what is wrong with it, they may check for loose hardware on the door track, worn parts if your existing opener doesn’t have safety eyes installed yet, they may lubricate all moving part areas that require it and test all functions to make sure it is operating correctly for both opening and closing smoothly.
Remember not all garage door openers are created equally so don’t assume yours is the same as others in your neighbourhood.
Garage Door Motor Running but the Door won’t Open
This is a safety issue due to the springs being under extreme tension which can cause serious injury or death.
If you have purchased your home recently, chances are pretty high that you inherited your garage door opener with it. The previous homeowner may not have had an extended warranty for this particular model of garage door opener so if any repairs are needed now they may have to be taken care of by you. Depending upon what’s wrong with it, these repairs could run anywhere from $100 up to about $300+ depending on how extensive the damage is and if there are parts that need replacing like sensors or safety eyes. Your best bet would be to contact someone who deals with garage doors and openers only as they may know exactly what parts need replacing it and the professional could be able to get this repaired for you in a timely fashion.
If your garage door opener is more than five years old then you do run the risk of having some wear and tear issues arising with it so keep close tabs on what type of condition it is in. If there are several moving parts involved when operating your garage door, these parts may wear out over time and may need replacing down the road after many millions of cycles. If something does go wrong with your opener then chances are that most manufacturers offer extended warranties that can cover nearly all types of failures related to their garage door openers. It’s better to avoid any future hassle if possible by taking care of things right away before they become worse than buying extended warranties when they are needed.
Types of Battery Charging Systems
There are two types of charging systems used by most manufacturers today:
- A rechargeable battery pack that mounts inside the motor housing
- A stationary rechargable unit that’s wired to the garage door opener that can be ceiling or wall-mounted, near where your motor is located.
These stationary units typically have a LED light indicator that tells you how much charge is left in the battery at any time which can be very useful when you need to know how much time is left before your garage door opener stops working.
Most modern units use Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries which are much better than the older lead-acid batteries because they hold more of a charge and they don’t suffer from memory effects like the older ones did.
Battery Backup Power
Some openers provide a lead-acid rechargeable battery that is trickle charged when connected to your home’s electrical system, but there are others that use less traditional methods for recharging such as solar-powered batteries that never need replacement and they never lose their charge even if the main AC power source fails.
Solar-powered Batteries
These types of batteries can be wired directly into an AC socket just like any other device plugged into the wall in your home so there is no need for recharging them on a regular basis.
They usually come with a backup system that utilizes a lead-acid battery when the AC power source fails which ensures your garage door opener may still open and close whenever you need it too even if there is a blackout or other type of energy outage.
Since they are solar-powered, they’ll never need to be replaced and they don’t lose their charge, unlike rechargeable batteries which eventually become useless over time. This means you won’t have to worry about mangled or torn cables caused by corrosion in the future, but this requires routine maintenance because if these cables aren’t kept free of debris like leaves, etc then they can wear out more quickly than normal causing reliability issues.
Replacing Batteries
If your garage door won’t open, it might be the battery. You’ll know when it’s time to replace your garage door opener battery system when the LED light starts to flash rapidly or when you notice that your garage door opener doesn’t seem to be opening or closing your doors reliably anymore.
When it’s time for a new battery pack, they are usually sold in 6 volts and 12-volt varieties so check the specs on your current system before you buy one because they are not interchangeable. Most units also have a built-in safety feature that may stop the opener if it senses an issue with charging, but this is no guarantee that your doors won’t get stuck open or closed.
Types of Control Boards
The control board is where all of the parts in your garage door opener system communicate with each other so if you don’t receive consistent performance out of your device then one or more control boards could be malfunctioning. Each control board is different depending upon the manufacturer and their specific claims, but they all basically do the same thing when it comes down to it so don’t spend too much time worrying about these because by replacing a defective unit you’ll get smooth functionality again without any real noticeable differences.
The safety sensors are what you need to watch out for because if these stop working properly which could happen if debris enters the sensor’s opening, etc then this can result in serious injury or possible death, so make sure that these devices are installed correctly and that they never get damaged by looking at it periodically to see if there is any sign of wear.
Periodic Inspection
Periodic inspections are necessary to ensure that your garage door opener system continues functioning as intended without producing any problems, but these inspections only need to be carried out one time per year or less often depending upon how often you use the unit and how it’s treated. Overall, this device is unparalleled when it comes down to convenience and ease of use because they make life easier for anyone who wants reliable performance but make sure you choose a good manufacturer before making your final purchase decision(s) so that you don’t end up with sub-par systems that could result in damage or injury due to malfunctions.
Garage Door Motor Luxury?
Some people think that automatic garage door openers are a luxury when they’re actually integral for your family’s safety and the overall functionality of your home, so if you want to make sure you get all of the benefits associated with these types of systems then make sure you understand how everything works in advance before making a final purchasing decision because your lifestyle can be seriously impacted by installing or using one of these units improperly. Like we said above, this is an incredible device that makes life easier but only when it’s used correctly and maintained properly.
