Some things in life are taken for granted by almost every one of us. Garage doors opening and closing with perfect smoothness every time you push the button, is one of them.
The problem occurs, when one day you press the button and it fails to work.
While a garage door not opening might happen to any one of us, any time; we need to be equipped with the knowledge and understanding of why this might happen and what can you do if the garage door doesn’t close?
There can be a number of reasons why the garage door functioning may be compromised. Here in this blog, we take a look at several reasons why there may occur a problem with the opening and closing of your garage door and some quick fixes to remedy this situation.
1) Something wrong with the safety sensors
Safety sensors are placed at the bottom of the door, no more than 6 inches or 15 cm above the ground surface. These sensors sense the presence of objects or people on the way and stop the door from closing all the way while something or someone is blocking it.
2) Photo-eyes are dirty or misaligned
With continuous usage, the photo-eyes or sensors may get dirty and keep blinking which is construed as a signal that something is on the way. This will consequently stop the door from closing all the way. It can also happen if the photo eyes are facing an alignment problem and sending wrong signals to the closers.
A quick fix for the safety sensors and photo eyes is to clean them up yourself using a soft dusting cloth. Take care of the lens like you’d take care of a camera lens or a screen and it should be clean and back to working properly in no time .
3) A physical blockage
It may be obvious and in your face kind of a problem, but sometimes, you can overlook something tiny blocking the way of the door. For a full shutting down of the garage door, you need to clear the doorway of everything, the tracks and the door itself to make sure nothing is blocking the door from coming down completely.
4) Electric transmission is being disrupted or batteries are dead
In case of an automated door not closing, the first thing you need to check is the batteries or the electric circuit that connects the door with the power source. In case of a power disruption, you should check batteries and replace them if they are dead or not working adequately. If changing the battery yourself, make sure to align the negative and positive terminals with the corresponding signs on the transmitter.
5) Tracks are misaligned
A common reason for garage doors not closing or opening properly is the misalignment of tracks. The door will not run smoothly if the metallic channels making up the tracks are not precisely parallel.
This is a problem which is not possible to be taken care of by yourself. When you see an alignment issue with the tracks, you should immediately call a professional for help.
6) Tracks got damaged
When you have a heavyweight garage door, there is a chance you can face damage to the tracks which can easily get bent or broken or dented over time and with frequent usage.
This damage to the tracks is a significant problem and must be immediately taken care of. If you do not address these problems, the tracks will keep deteriorating and their condition will become more dangerous for humans.
In this situation, you may need to call a professional to take a look and if possible to repair these channels. However, there is a good chance that you shall need to install a brand new track. The best thing is to call a professional service like American Garage Door to replace the broken tracks with the new ones.
7) Transmitters working is compromised
At times, when your garage door refuses to budge after pressing the button, check your distance. You may think you are in range but there is a chance that you are just out of it. If that’s the case, you can try again by getting closer.
The transmitter may also get weak signals sometimes or is unable to receive the full signals. This can happen when there are physical obstructions or objects blocking the signal path. You can also check your antenna, clean it and see if something is broken or damaged on it, to get a better transmitter signal.
If this is the case, you should call up a technician to identify the problem and rectify it. Additionally, you might also need to check if your neighbors have the same frequency on their transmitter in which case you should reprogram the frequency and the remote controller.
8) Tension springs or cables are broken
A set of tension springs and cables is put in place to make your garage door open and close safely and smoothly. If any part of the tension spring is broken, the door will snap shut with a loud noise, instead of safely smoothly setting in as it closes. This is a dangerous thing as it can hurt anything or anyone underneath it.
When such a situation arises, you should immediately find a technician and get the springs fixed, as there is a good chance the supportive cabling will also be compromised soon, if it isn’t already. This can also be checked with regular inspection and maintenance of garage doors in Dallas.
9) Limit setting is not adjusted
Limit setting on your garage door determines how far the door needs to travel to shut down completely. If the limit is not correctly set on the door, the closing operation will be compromised and the door would open again instead of staying shut.
Adjusting the limit set is key to keeping the door fully closed. If the limit is set too high, the door will stop short of hitting the ground as the opener would misinterpret the signal thinking that there is some obstacle and will reverse the door to prevent an accident as a safety measure.
This is one thing that you may be able to fix on your own. Dig out that dusty old garage door instruction manual and climb on the ladder. You can find the limit adjusting knob on the garage door motor. You can see the arrows on the motor for up and down adjustment, regardless of the model of the door.
10) The garage door Disconnect switch might be enabled
If your garage door motor starts and yet the door refuses to shut down, there is a chance that you have engaged the disconnect switch. The switch is provided to allow for a manual closing of the door in case of power outage or electrical disruption.
The switch may be enabled accidentally, the connection to the motor will be lost. This can be checked and rectified quickly. All you need to do is re-attach it and the normal functioning will be restored.
What to do when the garage door is not closing?
So what can one do when there is a serious problem with closing of your garage door? Here are the steps that you may need to follow in case your garage door is not closing entirely.
Assess the situation
First things first, you identify the problem. Some of these problems may be tackled on our own and some might need professional help. See which problem you may be facing and decide whether you need a technician or not.
Take out the Manual
The User Manual or the handbook for your garage door is a complete guide to a number of these troubles. You can go through the instructions and it may come in handy to take care of a lot of these issues.
If you want to do it yourself, you should first do the research, follow all the steps and be sure to follow the safety guidelines.
Call for a professional
The best thing to do in such a situation is to call for a professional service or a technician to take care of the problem. Calling a professional service helps you save time in identifying the problem and also makes the entire process safer for everyone. While you may not be well versed to a variety of these issues and may not be equipped to handle them all yourself, a technician will come prepared with every tool and technique required to fix your garage door opening and clogging problems without any extra time .
American Garage Door provides quality maintenance services for garage doors in Dallas and the adjoining areas. Feel free to call us for new garage door installations, maintenance, inspection and troubleshooting of your garage door.