Garage door not opening?
Discovering your garage door won’t open can be frustrating. If you’re like most homeowners, you’re probably not that familiar with the mechanics of your garage door. This can make it difficult to identify and fix the problem.
We put together a helpful 9-point checklist to help you troubleshoot why your garage door isn’t opening.
Garage Door Not Opening?
When they’re working, garage door openers are a wonderful invention. They allow you to get in and out of your garage without ever having to get out of your car. When it’s raining out or you’ve got kids or pets in the car, it’s ideal. However, like all mechanical items, at some point, it will break down.
If you’ve tried to open your garage door and it’s not working, here are 9 troubleshooting tips that will get it working again, 99% of the time.
Related: Garage Door Won’t Open All the Way?
1. Batteries
Yes, it’s very obvious, but it’s amazing how often dead batteries are the culprit for a non-working garage door opener. Open up your remote, change the batteries out for fresh ones, and try again. Most of the time, this will get the garage door opening again. If it doesn’t work, check the contacts in the remote. If they’ve become corroded, then even fresh batteries won’t work. You can polish them to get them working again.
2. Garage Door Opener has Power
Again, this is very obvious but it’s best to check and rule it out. If the garage door opener isn’t plugged in, then it’s not going to work. You may think it’s plugged in, but it could be that someone unplugged it to power something else in the garage, or it’s somehow worked itself loose. Plug it back in and try it again.
3. Circuit Breaker
It’s amazing what can cause your circuit breaker to trip. Something in your garage may have caused an issue that caused the breaker to trip, cutting off power to the area. Go check your breaker box and see if this has happened. The breakers should all be labeled, so see if the ‘garage’ breaker is no longer set to ‘on’. If this is the case, flip it back on and see if it works. If the power comes back on, then you shouldn’t have a problem. If the power goes back out, there may be a bigger issue in your garage that you’ll need to address first. Call an electrician if needed to get to the bottom of it.
4. Locks & Restrictions
Another very simple issue that gets overlooked is whether the garage door has actually been locked. If you try and open the door when it’s locked, of course, it won’t open. Make sure that you check whether the door was locked before you start trying more complicated troubleshooting tips.
Some garage door openers can be programmed in a way that prevents them from opening at certain times of the day. This provides additional security when homeowners leave home for an extended period of time or want to improve the security of their door during late-night hours.
5. Remote
Sometimes the fault is in the remote itself. If you have a keypad, try putting the code in and see if that works. If it does, then the remote is what’s causing the issue.
Check for dead batteries, and if that doesn’t work, try resetting the remote itself. Sometimes this is enough to clear the issue and get your remote working again. You’ll need the manual for your garage door opener, as the method for resetting the manual is different, depending on what you have. It usually just consists of different button pushes to get it working again though, so it’s worth trying.
Related: How to Reset Clicker Garage Door Keypad without Code
6. Springs
Your garage door uses torsion springs to open it. These springs coil up tightly when the door is lowered, giving it the power it needs when you open it again.
Over time, these springs wear out and lose their tension. If they don’t have enough tension, then they won’t be able to open the garage door. If your door isn’t opening, check the springs. If they’re worn or broken, then they’re going to need to be replaced. A word of warning though, don’t try and change the springs out yourself. You can do it, but springs are incredibly dangerous, so it’s better to let an expert handle them.
7. Clean the Photo Eye
Your photo-eye is a brilliant invention that keeps you and your family safe.
The eye ‘sees’ if anything is in the path of the door. If there is something there, it will make the door auto reverse until it’s open again. The problem is though, that if anything blocks it then the door won’t open at all sometimes.
If you suspect this is the problem, try cleaning the sensor and try opening the door again.
8. Adjust the Force of the Pull
This is something you need to check if your garage door opener is more than five years old.
When you first had it installed, the force will have been set at a certain point. At this time, it was enough to open the garage door without any issues. Over time though, the garage door parts age, and you’ll actually need more force behind your garage door opener to get it open.
If the door is not opening, then you may need to adjust the force. Again, you’ll need to check the manufacturer’s manual in order to see how you do this with your garage door opener.
9. See If the Trolley Was Disengaged
The trolley on your garage door opener is attached to the chain drive and moves along the track when the door is being opened or closed.
When you want to open or close the door manually, you can disengage the trolley to allow you to do this. If your door isn’t opening, it could just be that the trolley has been disengaged. Check your manual to see how to reconnect it, as it’s different with different models, but usually quite simple.
Once it’s back on, the door should open again.
If These Tips Don’t Work
If you’ve run through this guide and your garage door still won’t open, don’t panic. You can get help to get the door open again. Call a garage door repair service to take a look at it, and they’re sure to be able to get it fixed for you.
Follow this guide if you’re having trouble with your garage door opener, and you’ll soon be able to use it again.