This is a list of garage door system problems and solutions for your typical overhead garage door. If after reading this you still have issues, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Problem – The door doesn’t move with pasword input/button pushed.

First of all, you can open and close the door manually at any time by pulling the emergency release cord, which detaches the trolley from the opener, and using the interior or exterior door handle to open or close the door yourself.

Safety tip:

Insure the spring is not broken before detaching, since the door will come crashing down if it is. Also keep in mind that if the spring has not been wound correctly the door could be too heavy for you to lower it at a controled rate, it might drop out of your hands and come crashing down.

Solution:  

1. If the opener motor is running and chain/belt is moving, then the emergency release handle has probably been pulled down, detaching the door from the opener chain/belt. If this is the case, the door can be re-engaged to the opener by using the handle to pull the lever upwards until it snaps into place. (make sure its in the proper position before trying to close again)

2. If there is a wireless keypad or clicker, the battery probably needs replaced.

3. Make sure the door has not been manually or electronically locked.

4. If solutions 1-3 do not fix the issue, and you are sure the opener is getting power, then it’s probably a bad logic board on the opener, broken keypad, or in rare cases, the wire running to the keypad could be chewed thru by rodents.

Problem  – The door briefly starts to go down, but then stops and goes back up.

Solution:

1. Make sure nothing is in the path of the door/photo eyes, check photo eyes to make sure they are lined up correctly, (both should glow green) adjust if needed.

2. If neither of these work, either the opener needs repaired/replaced, or the photo eyes need repaired/replaced. You can often still force the door to shut by pressing down on the close button for the entire time it takes for the door to close and come to a stop, but be aware this overrides the photo eyes so if there is something in the way make sure to clear it first.

Problem  – The garage door makes a loud knocking noise when it closes.

Solution: 

Try oiling all moving parts where there is metal on metal rubbing. Check each panel for gaps, (a properly installed panel should have a small gap between each one) if there is not a gap, that means the panels are rubbing together whiles the door is closing, you can normally change the size of the gap, by adjusting the position of the hinges with a screw driver.

Problem – The garage door closes but then re-opens after touching the floor.

Solution:

1. Often times this is caused by an overload on the opener, or the door might be hitting something at its base, even an electrical wire, underneath the door,  can sometimes cause the opener to overload and return to open position.

2. A maintenance and inspection schedule can prevent many of these problems from occuring. If you want this done, but don’t want to do it yourself, we can get you on our calendar, give us a call.

Is your problem not listed? Call us, we can help you find a solution.