Garage Door Troubleshooting | A Quick Guide To Common Problems

Your garage door is an essential part of your home and contains multiple parts that allow it to work seamlessly and serve your needs for multiple years. However, robust as it can be, your garage door can sometimes malfunction and leave you in an inconvenient position. That’s why we will talk about garage door troubleshooting with this quick guide to common problems.
Knowing how to quickly troubleshoot your garage door can be a lifesaver when a simple problem can cause things to get stuck.

Garage Door Troubleshooting: A Quick Guide

Various things can go wrong with your garage door. It can be stuck closed or open, not open or close all the way, hesitate or make noises while in operation, or not respond to remote button presses in either direction. Follow this guide to start troubleshooting your garage door:

• Check for power.

  Your garage door opener motor won’t work if not supplied with power. Try turning on the lamp on the opener. Also, try plugging something else into the opener’s outlet. If the outlet doesn’t have power, try resetting the corresponding breaker. If the outlet works fine, but your garage door opener is nonresponsive, it may be malfunctioning and need repair or replacement.

• Check your safety cord.

  Is your opener working and responding correctly, but your door doesn’t move? You may have accidentally pulled the safety cord. When the door is closed, “close” the garage door opener and latch the safety cord back into position.

• Check your remote.

  If your garage door lamp seems to be working fine, but the door won’t open, the problem may lie with your remote. Install fresh batteries into the remote and check for operation. Try another remote or reprogram the remote if that doesn’t help.

• Reprogram your remote

  . Sometimes, a remote may need reprogramming after a battery change. Most garage door openers work similarly: hold the LEARN button on the opener for a few seconds or until you see an LED indicator light up or flash. Then, simply press the button on the remote to open the garage door.

• Check your sensors.

  If the door doesn’t close properly, your sensor may be obstructed or faulty. Check for anything blocking the sensor or any dust, mud, or debris that it may have accumulated. If you clean the sensor to no avail, you may need a new one.

• If your garage door doesn’t open correctly, it might be out of balance.

  Close the door completely, and then pull the safety cord to unlink the opener from the door. Then, try to lift the garage door by hand. If it doesn’t open properly, is too hard to lift, or goes back down after letting go, you may need to change the springs or adjust the tracks.

Anyone can follow these basic steps to troubleshoot common problems with their garage door. However, if you need to change your springs or adjust the door’s movement, it’s best to call a professional.+

Garage door springs are coiled with immense force and can be hazardous or fatal if improperly treated. A professional garage door installer can perform any troubleshooting needed safely.

Need more help? Call Garage Door Doctor!

Garage Door Doctor is your local, family-owned-and-operated installation and repair provider for garage doors and garage door openers. We offer quality work for an honest, fair price. Also, we have over 75 years of combined experience in the business. On top of that, we’re fully insured for your protection. So, if your garage door is giving you trouble or you need help programming your garage door opener, call us at (281) 855-9300. We’ll be right on our way!