Troubleshooting Guide for Garage Door Not Opening or Closing Correctly

There are several potential problems that can cause a garage door to not open or close correctly. This guide will help you pinpoint the problem with your garage door.

Why Did My Garage Door Stop Working?

Your garage door is usually the largest and heaviest moving object in your home, so it can quickly become a safety hazard if not maintained regularly. Many factors can cause your garage doors to stop working, including:

Dead Transmitter Batteries

Garage door openers operate using radio frequency (RF) transmitters. If the batteries that power these transmitters die, your garage door won’t respond to commands from its remote. This could cause the door to stop responding while in operation. Check the batteries on your remotes before checking anything else.

Photo-Eye Out of Alignment

The photo-eye — an optical sensor — is embedded in the door’s upper track near the opener. If a car or other obstruction blocks it, the photo-eye can’t detect when the door opens and closes. The result is an out-of-alignment door that might not close properly or doesn’t close at all. Sometimes you can adjust the photo-eye, so it faces a clear path again by loosening a screw and rotating it slightly. Other times, you’ll have to replace the photo-eye entirely if it has been damaged by debris or another object getting in its path.

Misaligned Track

Look at your tracks for any damage or misalignment. Check if all of your track pieces are correctly connected, and there is no debris such as leaves, dirt, or stones covering the sensor.

Ultimately, something might be caught in the door or latching mechanism. Check inside and outside of the door for any obstructions and clear them away (don’t operate the door while you’re doing this). Also, check that all latches are securely fastened in place (including latches on both sides of a double door). If it still doesn’t close, lubricate hinges or rollers as needed.

Why is My Garage Door Not Opening or Closing Completely?

If your garage door doesn’t open or close smoothly, check if both sensors are aligned on the same horizontal plane. If they’re not, they will send two different signals to the opener’s control board, and it will not be able to determine which one to follow leading to malfunction of the door.

Tightening the screws on the sensors will help ensure that they are properly aligned. If your door still won’t close or open all the way, there is a chance that the sensors are dirty. Fixing the sensor is simple. First, you’ll want to wipe off any dirt with a soft cloth. If that doesn’t work, you might have to replace it. Sometimes sensors get old and corroded. You can test them by pulling up on the garage door while it’s in motion – if it stops moving when you let go, then your sensor is bad and will need replacing.

Why Does My Garage Door Only Open a Few Inches, Then Stop and Go Back Down?

If the garage door opens a few inches and then stops, it’s usually because the spring assembly is not working properly. If the springs aren’t adjusted correctly, the opener has too much weight to handle. The only solution is to adjust the garage door springs.

When adjusting your garage door, you must ensure that the door opens and closes properly. It should open and close with ease. Any more resistance means that your spring assembly would need more twisting. However, this can be quite dangerous to do on your own and it is recommended to reach out to a professional.

How Do I Know if My Garage Door Spring Is Broken?

There are several telltale signs of garage door spring failure. If your door makes a strange noise or feels like it’s about to break, you may have a broken spring. Springs can break due to wear and tear or overloading, which can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the door. A garage door that’s only opening a few inches should have the limit opener released and get an inspection first. These devices are very sensitive and usually require special skills to set up and install. The wires that connect the terminal unit to the door are more vulnerable than some of the other components but may not be damaged if moisture is present.

Whether you need to repair your broken springs or change them, it is extremely important to ensure they are installed correctly and safely.

Why Won’t My Garage Door Open All the Way in Cold Weather?

The common cause of a garage door not opening all the way in cold weather is a frozen spring. Springs can become stiff and difficult to move. The spring needs to absorb energy from your motor and convert it into lifting force, yet, when the spring itself is frozen it makes it quite difficult for your garage door opener to lift the door.

When this happens, you may be able to manually lift your garage door with relative ease using the hand crank on top of your door. You can also lubricate the springs to unfreeze and make them resume their normalcy.

How Do I Reset My Garage Door Opener?

There are two ways to go about the resetting process. You can do it using the garage opener unit, which hangs over your garage. Alternatively, you may use a separate door control panel if you have one of these.

Inside newer garage opening units there is a button labeled ‘Home’ or ‘Learn’ and next to this button will be a LED light, varying in color depending on your garage door brand. Open the door to access the ‘Home’ or ‘Learn’ button that is usually located near the unit’s antenna. Press and hold the button for six seconds or until the LED light turns off. This will reset the opener. The light bulb will then flash to let you know the reset was successful. The remote or keypad will not make the door open if the reset worked. If you have a separate control panel follow the same instructions as listed above.

With all the remote controls and keypads unlinked from the opener, you can now program the devices to be able to operate the opener. You can use the opener unit or control panel.

To link your remote control, first open the door on the opener unit and locate the ‘Learn’ button once again. Press the button once and the LED should light up. Then proceed to press the button on your controller that you would like to activate. The light bulb will blink to let you know the remote is programmed. Test the controller by pressing the open button, if the programming was successful the garage door should open.

If you use a keypad to operate your garage door, access the LEARN button inside the garage opener unit and press the button once. The LED light next to the button will light up. Input the four-digit PIN in your keypad and press the ENTER button. You should complete this step within 30 seconds of pressing the LEARN button.

The light bulb will blink on and off to indicate that the keypad is programmed. Press the ENTER button on the keypad. The door should open to indicate that the keypad is programmed to the opener.

If your garage door opener unit comes with a separate control panel, check out these easy steps to program the remote and keypad. If your panel is a doorbell style panel, simultaneously press and hold the side and front buttons until the light on the panel comes on solidly. For motion-detecting and multi-functional panels, press the LEARN button twice. The LED light next to the button will light up. For a smart control panel, press MENU, press the down arrow to PROGRAM then press the side arrow to select. Use the down arrow to navigate to REMOTE and press the side arrow to select. Press the button on your remote control you would like to program.

Listen out for two clicks, an indication that you have successfully programmed the remote. The garage door opener lights will also go on. Press the programmed button on the remote control to check if it opens the garage door.

If you operate your garage door using a keypad, press the LEARN button on the control panel twice. The LED next to the button will flash. Input your preferred 4-digit code on the keypad and then press ENTER. Have someone keep an eye on the light bulb in the opener unit. The bulb should flash to indicate the keypad has been programmed. Press ENTER on the keypad to check if the device opens the garage door.

At Open Sesame Garage Doors our professionals can help with any troubleshooting questions and also provide services to replace any broken or malfunctioning parts on your garage door. Please do not attempt to fix your garage door if you are unsure how to repair it. Contact us today for an estimate and we will be more than happy to offer our services.

Our professionals understand that torsion springs should last at least ten years or 10,000 cycles. Proper installation guarantees you value for your money, protects you from business disruptions, and lowers the risk of accidents and injuries at the garage. Don’t hesitate to call us whenever one of the springs stops working, or you suspect an imminent failure in the system. One of our professionals will come over to your place, inspect the door, and recommend a fix to whatever is broken.

What Are the Signs I Need to Repair My Garage Door?

If your garage door is not opening or closing correctly there could be a number of reasons that include, broken springs, misalignment of the tracks, malfunctioning sensors, or the photo-eye is out of alignment. These of course are just a few examples of what may need to be repaired. There are some telltale signs of a malfunctioning garage door which you can diagnose and then you should reach out to a professional in order for them to repair it.

One sign that you should repair your garage door is if it is unbalanced. An unbalanced door can cause one or more of the springs to break and the door will fail. It is possible your garage door only needs new torsion springs and replacing them should be pretty inexpensive. However, because these are heavy-duty springs, there may be additional costs involved with the repairs if other parts have been bent or have broken.

If your garage door is slow it could be lacking the proper lubrication or be succumbing to old age. After adding lubrication to your garage door hinge’s and it is still slow, the door itself is not responding correctly which can be dangerous.

Any jerking or an extreme amount of shaking suggests that the rollers are going off track or there are loose screws or hinges. Any excessive movement could turn into something worse and it is recommended to contact a professional as soon as possible.

Does Garage Repair or Replacement Have a Good Return on Investment (ROI)?

Yes, many homeowners see upwards return on new garage door replacement investment. Why? Because doing so increases the value of your home. Homes with updated garage door replacements are much more appealing to prospective buyers than ones with older-looking doors. If you’re thinking about selling anytime soon, it might be wise to consider investing in garage door replacement so that you can get the most out of your sale.

Always Work with a Professional

Regardless of your handyman skills, it is never advisable to go about fixing a garage door on your own. Using a broken garage door, let alone trying to repair it, is extremely dangerous. Professionals from Open Sesame have both the expertise and equipment required to understand the issue at hand and get around it safely. Even if an accident did occur, all our technicians have insurance cover against any injuries sustained or caused during work.

While it is extremely inadvisable to work with a broken garage door, business operations should never come to a halt just because of a pair of conked out springs. Always call a garage door repair professional to help you fix the issue. In the meantime, these tips can help ensure your garage continues to serve its purpose:

• Don’t open or close the door forcefully. If you are struggling to open or close the door, then it is advisable to avoid using it altogether. Garage doors can weigh up to 500lbs, and a small slipup can result in costly damage and injuries.
• Leave opener engaged. If the door stops working while open or when you open the broken door, consider leaving the opener engaged as it may be the only support holding the door up and preventing it from plummeting.
• Call Open Sesame Garage Doors. Explaining the issue to our professionals will not only prepare us for the task but also give us an idea of what you are going through so we can figure out safety tips to recommend to you before we arrive.