5 Quick & Easy Ways to Troubleshoot Your Garage Door Opener

You’re running late for work, so you’re a little pressed for time. And now your garage door won’t work. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

First of all, don’t panic… Here are the most common problems and their causes.

1. Is there a power outage in your area?

In this case, you only have one choice: disable your garage door opener by pulling the red emergency cord and operate the door manually.

If there’s a latch installed on the side of the door, you can use it to secure the door. Make sure to shut off the power to your garage door opener so no one can use it. If someone tries to open the garage door with the latch set, this could seriously damage both the door and the door opener.

Keep in mind that certain models of garage door openers are equipped with an emergency battery.

2. When you try to close the door, it won’t close.

The most common cause is a misalignment of the photoelectric safety system. All you need to do is realign the skewed sensor unit with the other unit. Check the wall-mounted control panel to see if there’s a blinking light. The blinking will stop once the two parts are correctly aligned.

3. Your remote won’t work, even though you’re only a few feet away from the door.

There are at least three possibilities:

  • The battery in your remote is dead. Try replacing it. You can also use your external key pad, which works like a remote.
  • In your haste, you didn’t hold the button down long enough. Count at least two seconds (one Mississippi, two Mississippi…) to make sure that the receiver antenna gets the signal.
  • Although rare, maybe there’s interference with the signal. Make sure that the garage door opener antenna (a small wire about 6” long) is sticking out far enough from the motor housing. If the problem persists, contact a garage door professional. It may be necessary to extend the receiver antenna outside of the garage.

4. Your garage door doesn’t open or close all the way.

All you have to do is adjust the ascent and descent limits using a screwdriver. The buttons for making these adjustments are often located on the side of the motor. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions in the maintenance manual, which you can find on the Internet if your garage door opener was made during the past 10 years.

5. Your door opener makes a horrible noise.

It may not necessarily be the garage door opener. Open and close your garage door and observe carefully to determine where the sound is coming from.

  • Is there a broken spring?
  • Is one of the tracks out of alignment?
  • Is the door opener chain or belt loose?

In any of the above cases, immediately contact Hicklin Door Services at 515-276-3700 to have the problem corrected as soon as possible.

Remember that your garage door is the most important moving part of your home. Perform regular maintenance on your garage door system (at least twice a year) or have it done by a qualified technician. The most important thing to you is that everything works right… time after time!

For a preventive maintenance or repair service done by professionnals contact us now. We serve DesMoines, Ankeny and Ames areas.

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