You pull into your driveway and push the button on your remote to open your garage door. The door acts like it wants to open. It starts to go up and then goes back down.
You continue to button mash your remote and get the same result. Don’t panic. This is one of the most common garage door problems that homeowners come across.
All you have to do is call a repair service and it will be fine. This is the case for many door issues. Some of them aren’t as obvious as a door that won’t open, however.
If you aren’t able to recognize these problems, they might get worse as time goes on. Check out this guide for a list of issues you should be looking out for.
1. Broken Torsion Spring
If you’re at home when the torsion spring breaks, you’ll know that something is wrong. It’ll make a loud banging sound that will cause you to jump out of your skin. If you’re not at home, it won’t be quite as obvious that your spring has snapped.
If your door is struggling to open, look up. You’ll be able to tell if there is a spring missing or out of place. If you can see that something’s wrong, don’t touch the door.
If you try to open or close it, you may break the door assembly. If this happens, you’ll be paying out a ton of money to replace the door. So, stand back and call a repair service in your area.
2. Something is Disrupting the Photo-Eye
Garage doors that are over 20 years old all come with a photo-eye. Its job is to detect if a person or object is under the door. If it notices something, it tells the door not to close.
It does this by creating a laser that spans across the bottom of the door. If there’s something getting in the way of this laser, your door will refuse to shut. The good news is that this is usually a pretty easy fix that doesn’t call for a repair job.
Take a broom and sweep any leaves and debris out of the way. If there are no leaves or other debris blocking the door, look around for a broken cord. That will have to be fixed by a repairman.
3. The Door Opener isn’t Working
Going back to our example at the beginning, you press the button on your remote and your door tries to open. It gets about halfway before closing again. Most of the time, this is an indicator that something is wrong with the remote.
Before you call someone to troubleshoot, try changing the batteries in the remote. If that doesn’t work, the remote probably has to be recalibrated to match up with the sensor.
It’s not hard to do but you won’t be able to do it by yourself. You’ll have to call the company who installed the door and ask them to give you a hand.
4. Broken Cables
If your tension spring has broken it’s only a matter a time before you find a snapped cable. These two garage door issues go hand and hand most of the time. If you notice that there is a cable hanging down, you need to call a repair service to come to take a look at it as soon as possible.
Hanging cords are a hazard to people, your wall, and your car. Like with the broken tension spring, if you try to operate the door when it has a loose cord, you will break it.
5. Wonky Time Limit
If your remote isn’t the reason why your door opens a little and then immediately closes, it might be your time limit. The time limit tells the door how much it has to lower before it hits the ground.
If the settings are a bit too high, the motor will think that the ground isn’t actually ground. It won’t open all the way because it believes the ground is a person or object.
You’ll have to get a garage door repair service to make a few adjustments. It shouldn’t take them too long to deal with the problem.
6. The Door is No Longer on the Track
So, you try to open your door and it makes a horrible noise. This can be a variety of things but most likely, the problem is that the door is off the track.
It will still open and close, which is why many people don’t notice this problem right away. You’ll have to stand inside the garage and watch the door move.
If the rollers don’t look like they’re in perfect alignment, you’ll need to get in contact with a garage door service. You can try to fix it yourself but it’s sort of dangerous and not recommended.
7. The Motor Keeps Whirling
You’ve come inside and closed the door but the motor keeps going. This is a common issue in garage doors that have just been repaired or installed.
It will only take a few minutes for a company to fix. All they’ll have to do is make a few adjustments to the up-switch. This switch is what tells the motor to start-up and stop.
Garage Door Problems You Should be Aware of
Nothing is worse than a garage door that won’t open when you have a trunk full of cold groceries. The good news is that most garage door problems can be fixed in a few minutes by a repair company.
The sooner you realize the issue, the easier and faster it can be fixed. Use this guide to troubleshoot your door and get it repaired before a small problem turns into a big one.
As annoying as garage doors can be, having one is an important part of your home. Check out our blog to find out how to choose the perfect door.