GARAGE DOOR OPENERS – HOW TO TROUBLESHOOT THEM
What should you do when your
garage door opener stopsworking? Our Dunwoody Garage Door Repair shop sometimes gets this question.
People wonder if they should buy a new one. Or, should they throw their old
remote in the trash? Will any opener system work once installed? Can they
troubleshoot their model and if so, how? There are so many questions about
opener units. It’s odd because until they stop working or perform sporadically,
most people never give their openers a moment’s notice! They have them and
expect them to work, every time and on demand. It’s when they don’t that the
questions start coming.
We love convenience!
Sure, our garage door openers afford us some nice
convenience. In the “old” days, we had to manually open or close our garage
doors. No one complained; that’s just what you did. What choice did you have?
Garage door openers changed all that. We could simply tap a button and move
that several hundred pound wood or metal door up and down with ease. With our
remotes, we could do this from the inside of our vehicle and even inside our
home!
Is it raining hard and you don’t want to get wet? Drive up
to your home, push the remote button and drive into your garage where you can
stay dry the whole time. Are you listening to your favorite song or to an
important news story? You don’t have to interrupt it or miss part of it! Just
tap your remote and glide into your garage without missing a beat!
Safety and security
Our garage door openers also give us added security as well
as convenience. We never have to actually leave the safety of our cars in order
to open or close the garage door. Think about that. Let’s say you drive up to
your home and you have to physically get out of your car to open the garage
door. Your car is still running and your purse or wallet is still in the
vehicle. So are your registration, insurance papers and driver’s license. So
are your house keys and car keys. What’s to prevent someone from driving off
with your car and important documents? How easy is it to mug you or force you
to go inside the house while you are vulnerable outside of the car?
Actual
troubleshooting
Ok; so you know how vital your opener system is to your
safety and convenience. So how do you go about troubleshooting your system if
it doesn’t work? Try checking your remote’s battery. This often overlooked task
is too often the problem. You don’t really need the professional services of a
Dunwoody, GA garage door repair shop if all that is needed is a new remote
battery! Simply take yours out and test it for power. Do you have a home
battery tester? Use it. If not, take your battery to a local home improvement
or retail store. They test batteries for free. You can always buy a good home
tester for less than20 dollars. Check online or in local stores. You might even
be able to find a slightly used one on Craigslist or at a yard sale.
Safety sensors
Your garage door’s photoelectric safety sensors might be the
culprit if your remote’s battery checks out. If something is blocking the
signal, your garage door won’t close. If the sensor beam is not aligned, your
garage door won’t open or close at all. Many are sometimes fooled into thinking
that their remote is at fault. Some even want to buy a whole new opener system.
Make sure that your sensor beam is working correctly. Most sensors are easy to
manually adjust so try moving them gently until they are correctly in place.
You can view any number of videos online that show you in close up detail how
this should be done. You can also check your owner’s manual that came with your
garage door opener for step by step instructions. It’s easy to call a local
garage door repair shop and order service but this is one adjustment that is
quick, easy, and perfect for do-it-yourselfers.
Is it your remote or
your opener that has a problem?
If your opener remote has a working battery and firm battery
terminals, the problem may be your opener system itself. Try this. Push the
wall switch power button inside your garage. Do this to see if the garage door
opens this way. If not, unplug the opener system from the electrical outlet in
the garage ceiling. What you want to do is plug something else into that outlet
and see if you have power. You might try a hair dryer, small radio or power
drill. If it works, your power source is not compromised and the problem is
most likely your opener’s motor. If your small appliance test fails you might
have a loss of electricity or a blown fuse. You should find your fuse box and
look for a tripped or blown fuse and reset it.
Check your vacation
lock
Not all
garage door openers have this feature but if yours
does, check to see if your vacation lock is activated. These locks prevent any
remote from opening your garage door when activated. It was designed to protect
property while the owner was away on a trip or vacation. If someone got access
to the remote control (like a house guest, neighbor, or burglar) the garage
door would remain locked until the vacation lock was released upon the owner’s
return. Your system may or may not have this feature. To check, refer to you
owner’s manual or call the manufacturer of your opener system. You can also on
online and search for a PDF of your brand and model to see if this feature is included.
Do you give up?
If you are still unable to troubleshoot your garage door
opener, don’t be afraid to call for help. There are plenty of full service,
highly professional garage door repair shops in the local area so call one near
you and get your opener system working right again!
