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Focused Door Service: Troubleshoot Garage Door Openers

Most homeowners just expect that their garage door will function appropriately every day. Think about it – do you really think much about the garage door as it opens up? You press a button from inside your vehicle, before you even pull all the way into the driveway. Then, you watch as your garage door opens. But without every single part of the garage door working correctly and in sync, you wouldn’t be able to easily open your garage door. There are transmitters, cables, sensors, rollers and so on that have to work together for everything to operate smoothly. Without extensive experience working on garage doors, you wouldn’t easily be able to discern which part is at fault if something goes wrong. But we are here to tell you that opener problems are not very unusual. Here, we are going to delve into garage door openers, what they do and how to troubleshoot them. 

Garage Door Openers: What They Do

The garage door opener has a big responsibility, and that is that it needs to close and open the garage door. When you press that button on your remote, the garage door opener is kicked into gear. You might think the opener is what supports the heavy weight of the garage door, but this is actually the even smaller springs. The length of time your opener will last depends largely on the brand, type, condition it was bought in, weather and how often it is used. If you open and close your garage door numerous times a day, versus the usual handful of times, the opener will not last as long as one that is not used as often. It is important to keep it maintained and to have it professionally installed to avoid problems.  

The garage door opener needs to be able to reverse the heavy garage door if something is in its path. When the very handy photo eye sensors detect an object, pet or even a person underneath the door, it should not close. This is a system that was designed to prevent injury and damage. While there are garage door locks available to secure your garage door, the opener does play a part in keeping it secure. Not just anyone should be able to open it, especially if they don’t have the matching remote. 

Various Garage Door Openers

There are different kinds of garage door openers: belt drive, screw drive and chain drive are all quite popular. Which one is best for you? Which one do you have? If you have a chain drive opener, you might notice that it is the most affordable one. It’s also fairly noisy, which is something some homeowners don’t want. A belt drive opener is fairly quiet in operation but it is pricier. A screw drive opener has a lengthy lifespan and is fairly easy to maintain. What do all of them have in common? They still can all have problems, which need to be looked at by a professional. Here, we will discuss some things that you might be able to troubleshoot on your own. 

Troubleshooting Garage Door Openers

Do you have a garage door opener that does not react to the remote control? Do you think there is a potential issue with the wall switch? If so, there are a few things you can try. First and foremost, replace the remote’s batteries if need be, but ensure you are within range. Also, ensure everything is plugged in – the motor unit could have become unplugged from the wall socket, which would cause an issue. Another issue could be that a fuse is burned out. 

Do you have a remote control that isn’t doing its job of opening and closing the garage door? If so, see if you are close enough with the remote. Replace the batteries in the remote if you are within range. Finally, make sure the motor unit’s antenna is not damaged. 

Does your garage door fail to completely close? If so, the issue could be as simple as needing to adjust the close-limit switch. If this doesn’t sound simple to you, then worry not – you can just call a garage door expert. 
Does the garage door reverse prior to fully closing? Are you unable to completely shut the garage door? If so, maybe the photo eye sensors are to blame. Make sure they are clean and that nothing is in front of them. This could actually be enough to solve the problem!

Call an Expert, If in Doubt!

You might not have the experience, know-how, or tools to troubleshoot and fix the garage door problem by yourself with an expert. Let’s say electronic parts are severely damaged. Maybe something has even burned out. It is best in these cases to call a professional. You have to bear in mind that the garage door is very, very heavy. If you were to make a mistake and if it came crashing down, not only would you have a damaged garage door with a likely voided warranty, but you could end up getting hurt in the process. 
An expert has all the experience needed and should have the license and insurance required to deal with your specific garage door opener problem. If the opener is damaged to the point that it simply can’t be fixed, then an expert in garage door services will be able to replace it for you. Perhaps they can even point you in the right direction if you want a new garage door opener but don’t know which one to get. 

We hope that this information has been useful to you, and that you have a better understanding in regard to how to troubleshoot issues with garage door openers. Thanks for reading!