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GARAGE DOOR DOES NOT OPEN OR CLOSE

If your garage door does not open or close, there could be several reasons:

Torsion Springs are Broken

Most residential overhead garage doors are equipped with one or two torsion springs. The power of the lifting of your garage door comes from the springs and not the garage door motor so if either spring is broken, the garage door opener may struggle to lift the weight of the door or fail to open the door at all. If your garage door has a broken spring, NEVER try to open the door using your garage door opener. Continuing to try and operate your door using your opener with a broken spring may cause damage to your garage door motor or other parts.

Broken Belt or Loose Chain

If the belt on your belt drive garage door opener breaks over time due to normal wear and tear or if the chain on the your chain drive garage door opener become loose your garage door will not open or close using your garage door opener.

Loose or Snapped Cables

A garage door snapped cable can occur for multiple reasons. Most common reasons may be: Damaged weather strip which can lead to rust on your cable, improperly installed/loose springs, damaged pulleys, or worn out rollers. Sometimes the cable will cause damage to a vehicle or wall, and if a person happens to be in the way of the cable it can cause serious harm. If you cables have snapped your door will not open or close.

Malfunctioning Motor

Malfunctioning motor can cause your door not open or close. This could be caused by a stripped gear and sprocket, worn out board, or other parts of your opener not functioning properly.

Safety Sensor is Blocked or Misaligned

Between the two eyes of your safety sensors is an invisible beam (or photo eye) that when broken, prevents the door from closing. If your door won't close, check to make sure these photo eyes are not misaligned or dirty. Sometimes dirt and dust can clog the eye and block it so a thorough cleaning with a tissue can sometimes dissolve this issue. Occasionally a rainstorm or leak can affect the photo eye and damage it. Give us a call and we can do a trouble shooting for a simple repair or replacement.

Track is out of Alignment
If your garage door track is out of alignment, it can be a serious issue. The metal track that your door runs on needs to be aligned properly for the door to move. If you see gaps between the rollers and rail or bends in the rails themselves you have a problem. The weight for the door can compound these issues over time until it becomes dangerous to operate your door. It may be not too obvious or clearly off track.

 

Opener's Power Source is Disrupted

Make sure that your garage door opener is plugged into a working outlet. Outlets sometimes go out without warning, so can check to see it the outlet is working by plugging another working electronic device into the outlet to see if the plug is working. If your opener's power is working and your opener is not, there are other issues that needs to be considered. Give us a call and we will do a diagnosis and get your door running again.

Does Not Work With Remote or Keypad

When your garage door does not open with the remote or keypad, first check to make sure it is not your dead battery. If the door opens with the wall switch, a simple battery change may do the trick. Also check to make sure that you do not have the lock switch on your wall button. Sometimes just reprogramming your remote may help solve the problem. If your door still does not operate by your remote control or your keypad, your antenna on the motor could be damaged or blocked from the signal or your board in your motor maybe going out. Sometimes other wireless or signaling devices may cause interference with your garage door remote devices.

When your garage door does not operate, give us a call. There are several things that can go wrong with the operation of your garage door but all problems can be fixed to get your door running again. 

OTHER COMMON ISSUES WITH OPENING AND CLOSING OF YOUR GARAGE DOOR:

If you have the following problems, your limit switch on your opener may need adjusting:

  • Garage Door Does Not Close or Open All The Way

  • ​Door Goes Down All the Way, Then Opens Again

  • The Garage Door Opens, But Motor Continues To Run

The limit set on your limit switch tells the garage door opener how far the door should move before it is fully open or closed. If you need help setting your limit switch, give us a call.

Garage Door Closes Part Way, Then Opens Again or Door Reverses When Traveling

Garage doors are designed with a reversing mechanism that prevent them from crushing objects in their path. This can be triggered by an obstacle in the path of the safety sensor.

Automatic Garage Door Opener Runs for a Few Seconds then Turns Off but Door Doesn’t Move
This normally happens when the door is closed and the motor is trying to lift the door and it won’t move. First check the springs and if that isn’t the problem check the track for obstacles. If neither of these issues exists, check to make sure your garage door doesn’t have a built in lock that has been engaged directly.

 

limit switch
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