Reasons Your Garage Door May Fail to Work

A garage door can fail to open or close for a number of reasons. Identifying the problem helps in finding a viable solution. For serious issues, you need to call in an expert to assist you with repairs. However, some of them are minor and you can handle them yourself to get your door to work again. Below are some of the most common reasons why garage doors fail to work.

A misaligned Track

The track needs to be aligned properly for the door to move. When there are bends on the rails or gaps between the rollers and rail, this is a huge problem. The door may move when the track is misaligned but it will produce some unusual noises and slow down when it hits the misaligned spots. The weight of the door makes the misalignment worse and thus the issue should be fixed immediately.

Broken Cables or Springs

Cables and springs help to lower the door safely and slowly. Broken springs put a lot of tension on the cables forcing them to break out. With broken springs or cables, the garage door closes very fast with a loud bang. When this happens, you should avoid using the doors until repairs are done.

Dead Transmitter Batteries

Transmitters need power to work and thus if the battery is dead, the transmitter will not be able to send signals to open the door. Changing the batteries is simple and you can do it yourself.

Photo Eye Is Not Working

Photo eyes are placed on the side of the garage entrance. Their role is to transmit a beam that senses if there is something that could be crushed when the garage door closes. They are installed as a safety measure to ensure that the door does not cause serious injury or damage property when it closes. Over time, the photo eyes get clogged with dirt which blocks light from the beam. They can also fail to work when they become misaligned. The two eyes should be aligned on the same angle and point in the same direction.

Broken Springs

When torsion springs break, they produce a loud noise. Thus if you are home when they break you will notice that from the loud bang. The torsion springs are responsible for the heavy lifting. Broken springs are very dangerous to work with and thus it is best to call a garage door repair expert to handle it for you. If you hear a loud bang from the garage, don’t try to open the door until the repair expert comes to inspect it.

The Door Is Manually Locked

Some garage door especially the older models come with manual locks. You might accidentally hit the manual button especially when moving items to and from the garage causing it to lock.

Wrong Door Limit Settings

If your garage door closes and then immediately opens it means that the limit settings are not set properly. This is usually an issue with new garage doors.

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