Troubleshooting Your Garage Door

Mar 20
18:49

2011

Aaliyah Arthur

Aaliyah Arthur

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Your garage door is wonderful when it works. Hit the button and it opens up to welcome you home! But when things don't work right, it can be frustrating, especially when you've invested in an expensive system. Here are three common problems.

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The Wall Button Works But The Remote Doesn't

When only the wall button works to open or close the garage door,Troubleshooting Your Garage Door Articles this means that something is blocking the signal. It could be caused by some physical obstruction, dirty eyes or busted sensors. Make sure that everything is clean around the eyes and the sensors because sometimes dust can cause this problem.

You can also check to see that the eyes are pointed towards each other like they should be. If this doesn't work, you might have a wiring problem. Check all of your wire connections around the sensors and the motor head. You can also try simply unplugging it and plugging it back in; that sometimes works. If all else fails, check the remote control battery to see if you remembered to put it in.

It Works Sort Of... Depending On How You Define "Works"

When you hit the button and the garage door groans up or down cocked to one side and generally dragging along, this probably means that you've got a problem with the spring cable. The torsion and extension springs can get worn, frayed or broken, and it will still go up and down, kind of.

It might go halfway and then stop or it might be a little bit lopsided. The first thing to do is to check for obstructions along the track. Clean up and if you find anything, remove it. If that doesn't do the trick, call the repair pros. The springs are under lots of pressure, so it is incredibly dangerous to try and fix them yourself. If a spring breaks while you're working on it, it can whip you very hard and this can be fatal. Call a professional.

The Garage Door Keeps Going Up And Down By Itself

If you're garage door is going up and down by itself, it doesn't mean that your house is haunted. It's not a poltergeist that's playing with your doors, but instead probably a neighbor who is doing it unawares. These openers work on radio signals. What is probably happening is that someone nearby is on your frequency.

When they hit the button to open theirs, yours opens as well. The easy way to deal with this is to change your remote's code. Check your instruction manual and it will tell you how to do this. If the problem continues, bring in a medium. They'll make a call to the spirit world so that you can communicate directly with the disembodied spirit and ask them why they're messing with your garage door.

When none of these things work, contact your nearest garage door repair professionals. You can't handle every problem by yourself, so leave it in the hands of a skilled professional who knows what they're doing.