Garage door openers, especially a wifi garage door opener, make using your garage door from afar an absolute breeze with the tap of a button.
While the lifespan of a garage door opener is long–spanning from 10 to 15 years on average— this doesn’t mean that the opener won’t need repairs from time to time, especially since the majority of homeowners use their garage doors multiple times a day.
How To Indicate An Issue with Your Garage Door Opener
Before attempting to fix your garage door opener, it is important to make sure that it is indeed the opener causing your garage’s issues and not other parts of the garage door’s mechanism. One easy way to check the performance of your garage door is by pulling the emergency release cord while it’s closed, which separates the door from the opener.
From there, you can open and close the door manually, which will help you determine if the garage door guides through its tracks smoothly and steadily. If this is the case, then the garage door opener is most definitely the culprit.
4 Common Garage Door Opener Problems & Their Solutions
While working with professionals is always a great option for repairing a faulty garage door opener, there are a few at-home troubleshooting fixes that can solve less severe opening malfunctions. Below are 4 of the most common issues and solutions to fix your garage door opener with ease:
#1: Garage Door Wall Switch Works But The Remote Does Not
When the remote is the only part of the garage door opener that isn’t working, the remote itself is usually the culprit of the problem. It is important to make sure that you are in the range of the remote’s sensor first. If it still doesn’t work closer to the garage, try replacing the batteries of the remote or reprogramming it. If this doesn’t work, a new remote is most likely the solution.
#2: Both The Garage Door Remote and Wall Switch Do Not Work
When both the remote garage door opener and wall mount garage door opener aren’t working, it is usually a sign that there is an issue with the power source’s flow of electricity to the opener. Start by checking to see if the opener’s motor unit has been unplugged. If this is the case, simply plugging it back in is all that you need to do.
However, if the motor unit remains intact, then it is usually a problem with a circuit breaker, fuse, or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) blowing out or tripping. This can usually be solved by resetting the faulty circuit or replacing a burned-out fuse.
#3: Garage Door Doesn’t Open Or Close Correctly
If you find that your garage has a noticeable gap when it’s supposed to be fully opened or closed, there are a few issues that could be occurring. If the garage door isn’t opening correctly at all, try lubricating the rollers, as stiff or rusty rollers sometimes cause the opener to stop working.
If the door isn’t closing fully, there could be issues with the limit switch. The limit switch is responsible for shutting off the motor when closing the garage, and when the settings are off it can stop prematurely. To fix this issue, try adjusting the switch on the motor unit with a screwdriver, then test to see if it closes fully once more.
#4: Garage Door Reverses After Touching The Ground
As an added safety precaution, garage doors have a built-in auto-reverse feature in which the opener reverses back up if it detects objects in its pathway. If your garage door automatically reverses after touching the ground or perhaps reverses before even hitting the ground without an object in the way, the auto-reverse is being triggered when it doesn’t need to.
To fix this issue, it is essential to fix the settings of the garage door opener controls. Start by locating the opener controls and then use a screwdriver to screw the knob counterclockwise to lessen the force until it closes normally once more. By adjusting the level of closing force on the opener, the auto-reverse will be less sensitive and close only when an actual object is around.
Garage Door Opener Repairs Are Easy With Professionals
If you are still having trouble with your garage door opener after troubleshooting yourself, it is time to call the experts to get to the root of the problem. Some of the garage door manufacturers that the specialists at Austin’s Greater Garage Doors can repair with ease include:
- Guardian
- LiftMaster
- Genie
- Wayne Dalton
- Linear
- Chamberlain
For garage door repairs, installations, and inspections, the professionals at Austin’s Greater Garage Doors are well-equipped to help homeowners today.
