Why Your Garage Door Isn't Working
There are a few common reasons why your garage door isn’t working. Boulder Garage Door in Boulder, Colorado offers this list to help figure out what may be wrong. If you can pinpoint the issue, it may be something you can take care of on your own without having to call in the professionals. However, some repairs on garage doors can be downright dangerous, so use good judgment and know when to let us handle it instead.
Okay, let’s get to it and take a look at 5 common reasons why your garage door isn’t working:
- The batteries in your transmitter are dead
This one is a no-brainer and probably the first thing you should check if your garage door ceases to respond when you push the button. Transmitters won’t work without power, so if the battery has died, you can go to town on your transmitter but your garage door will not budge.
Luckily, it’s easy to check and fix if this is the issue. Try to open your garage door from the transmitter on the wall. If it works, that’s a good sign that the transmitter batteries are the culprit. Simply pop open the little door on the back of your transmitter, (some models may have a little screw holding the door in place and require a screwdriver to open), swap out the batteries for fresh ones (be sure to line up the pluses and minuses right), and give it a try. If your garage door opens, you’ve fixed it! If not, give us a ring for further investigation.
- The photo eye is dirty or knocked out of alignment
This one is another pretty easy issue to fix. If you find that your door opens just fine but refuses to close, the problem could lie with the photo eyes. You may be wondering what these mysterious photo eyes are, but it’s not that complicated. Any garage door that was made after 1993 has photo eyes on either side of the door. They transmit a beam between each other that if broken, (as in a person or animal or other object is blocking the path) the door will not close. The point is not to crush anybody or anything under the heavy garage door.
It’s a handy little system until one or both of them get too dirty to “see” the beam or knocked out of alignment. First try cleaning the lens with a streak-free cleaner and a soft cloth, taking care not to scratch the surface of the glass. If that doesn’t do the trick, check the alignment. The eyes have to be perfectly lined up, or they won’t “see” each other and the system won’t work. You can even use a level for absolute accuracy. If the door is still not functioning properly after the eyes have been cleaned and aligned it’s time to call in the professionals.
- The track is out of alignment
Also on the list of common reasons why your garage door isn’t working, is track alignment. You can tell if there’s an issue by inspecting the rollers and rails. If you see gaps in the rollers or bends in the rails of your garage doors, there’s a good chance this is your issue. If the door is still opening and closing, you may hear a rubbing or squealing sound when the door reaches a misaligned spot on the track, or it may slow down as it has to work harder.
You may be able to remedy this by loosening the screws holding the track in place and gently tapping with a rubber mallet until the track is properly lined up again. To ensure accuracy, it’s a good idea to use a level. Inspect the entire track in case there are other trouble spots and when you’re finished tighten the screws firmly to keep the track from vibrating out of alignment again.
If the door is refusing to open at all because the track is so far out of whack, don’t try to tackle this yourself. Now is the time to bring in the garage door repair professionals as trying to do this kind of repair yourself could be dangerous.
- There’s a problem with the transmitter
If your garage door is opening and closing randomly, the culprit may lie with the transmitter. It’s certainly one of the common reasons why your garage door isn’t working. Check to see if one is lodged somewhere where the button is getting accidentally pushed. Sometimes this can happen if one falls under your car seat or in another similar tight space.
Another possible reason is that one of your neighbors is using the same transmitter frequency. They may be opening and closing your garage door along with theirs and not even know it. Consult the owner’s manual to find out how to change the frequency. If this doesn’t work, you’ll probably have to reprogram the system.
- Something’s in the way
If your garage door begins its descent but then reverses direction and goes back up, there could be something in the way of its path. Check for anything obvious breaking the photo eyes beam on the ground, like a garbage can or a toy.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be very big. The culprit may even just be a small rock or dirt buildup on the track. It doesn’t take much for the door to go back up to ensure that the heavy door doesn’t crush anyone, or anything, underneath it. You may have to pull out a step ladder to check the top part of the tracks as it can be something too small to see easily from the ground.
These are just a few of the common reasons why your garage door isn’t working so if you’ve checked all of these and still haven’t found what’s wrong, don’t despair, it still might be an easy fix. If you’re not sure what else to look for, simply give us a call here at Boulder Garage Door. With over 40 years of experience, we will most certainly be able to help you figure out what the trouble is with your garage door.
