The Most Common Garage Door and Opener Problems

Your garage door and garage door opener both see a lot of use throughout the year. Over time, either part might develop some problems that you will have to resolve if you’re to get back to enjoying normal operation.

Here’s a quick look at some of the most common reasons your garage door isn’t working the way it should be:

• Control needs new batteries: A simple way to test whether the problem is that your control needs new batteries is to try using the opener attached to your garage. If that works, try changing your batteries and see if that makes a difference. Check the manufacturer’s recommendations for battery brand, if applicable.
• Track is misaligned: Check the track to make sure everything is properly aligned. Any bends or gaps in the rails indicate misalignment, which will prevent the door from opening and closing as it should. You will need to call in a maintenance specialist to resolve the issue.
• Door only opens part way before reversing: Occasionally people experience an issue with the garage door only opening or closing part way before it reverses direction and closes back up. This could be a problem with the door hitting something in its way. There are safety features in garage doors that prevent it from crushing people or items in the way of the door. There’s also a possibility that debris in the track is jamming it up and preventing it from coming all the way up.
• Misaligned photo eye: Modern garage doors feature photo eye sensors on either side at the bottom of the door, which track whether there is anything in the door’s path, and prevents it from closing if so. If the photo eye sensor is dirty or out of alignment, this will prevent the garage door from functioning properly. You can clean or realign the photo eye yourself to resume normal operation.
• Opener isn’t moving the garage door: If you know the opener is working but the garage door still won’t open, there’s a chance the disconnect switch on the door could be unhooked. Take a look at your manual to see how to reconnect the switch, or call a professional to come handle the job.
• Door stops after a few seconds: If your garage door stops a few seconds after it starts moving, check to make sure there are no obstacles in its way. There’s also a chance the springs could be damaged, but never touch the springs yourself—that’s a highly dangerous job that’s best left to the professionals.
• Door isn’t opening at all: If the garage door simply won’t open, this could be an issue with worn-out or broken tension springs. Once again, this is a job that should only be handled by professional garage door technicians.

If you’ve experienced any of these common symptoms of garage door problems, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the team at Denton Overhead Door with your concerns. We look forward to helping you get your garage door running smoothly once again!

Categorised in: Garage Door Maintenance