My Garage Door Won't Open - Tips That May Save You The Cost Of A Service Call
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Door Will Not Open
Most people assume their opener is the cause for their door not opening when the real culprit is a broken spring. A standard steel double door will on average, weigh roughly 170 Lbs. and have two torsion springs. When one spring breaks the opener now has to try to lift the full weight of the door which it is not designed to do. If the springs are destroyed, call Five Star Doors for fast, affordable spring replacement
Opener Hums For 3 Seconds Then Stops, But Door Doesn’t Move
First, check for a broken spring, if that isn’t the problem check the rails for obstacles. If neither of these issues exists, you may need a gear and sprocket replacement. Shredded plastic gears are a common dilemma with chain and belt drive garage door openers. When a spring or cable breaks or the door is grossly out of balance, the opener suddenly has to lift the full weight of a 200+ lb. door. To save the opener motor from burning out, the gears are designed to give way first.
Garage Door Off Track
Sometimes your garage door can get off track if it tries to shut and there is an object obstructing its path. Or, it can come off track from a damaged or bent rail or the garage door panels may get out of alignment from a broken hinge. Another reason for doors to fall off their track is a damaged cable. In this case, the part of your door off its track/rail is a secondary indication of your garage door equipment issue. Cables may tear due to normal wear and tear over many years.
Photo Sensors out of Alignment
If your garage door opens, but will only close when the wall button is engaged, look to see that your safety sensors are clean and in alignment with each other. A small green light should be on each sensor if they are in alignment and no obstacles are between each sensor. Occasionally garage door sensors do go bad, if no light is present, they may have to be replaced.
Door Opener Runs but Door Doesn’t Move
By law, door openers come with an emergency disconnect (usually red cord) in the case of a power outage allowing someone to exit the garage safely. The red cord at times can get caught on a vehicle and release the door from the opener. Open the door all the way until it clicks back into the locking mechanism. Then try opening or closing the door again with your remote.
Dead Batteries
Include the wireless keypad, remotes and sometimes the transmitter on the wall in your garage. You should be aware that when one battery goes, the rest are sure to follow sooner than later. Chance are, they will quit at the same time because you probably installed them on the same day.
Garage Door Opens/Closes Randomly
Is your garage door opening and closing at random times? The first thing to check is your remotes. Make sure the buttons are not stuck in the operating mode or the remote not wedged between the seats or floor mats. Remotes are rather fragile on the inside, dropping or hitting remote can damage the frequency. If it’s an ongoing issue give us a call to help you resolve this issue
Garage Door Closes Part Way, Then Reverses
Openers are designed with a reversing safety mechanism that protects children and objects from being hurt from the door closing on them. Check for debris or for broken rollers in the door tracks. Also, if the photosensors detect any objects in the doors closing path the door will reverse.
Door Closes, Then Opens Again
If this happens, your open and close limit settings of your opener need to be adjusted. Open and close limits tell the opener how far the garage door should travel before its closed. If the settings are too high, the door will reverse when it hits the floor because the opener assumes an object was hit. Check our FAQ garage opener page for how to adjust.
The Garage Door Closes Very Quickly
There are two possibilities. The first is a broken torsion spring that should be countering the weight of the door and the second option is a broken cable. In either case, you should contact another professional repair company to address right away or us.
