Previous post: How To Reface A Fireplace Step By StepNext post: How To Remove A Pedestal Sink For Plumbing RepairsSign In to ManualsOnline Sign Up for ManualsOnline#1 Your Photo Eye is BlockedMost garage doors from the past 15-20 years will have a photo eye which detects if a person or object is blocking the door from lowering all the way. The photo eye will be about 4-6 inches off of the ground for most doors, with an eye that is about the size of a pea. The photo eye shoots a laser across the length of the garage that if interrupted will cut off the signal used to lower and raise the door. Check both that the cord attached to the eye is not cut or damaged, occasionally a rainstorm or leak can affect the photo eye and damage it. Sometimes dirt and dust can clog the eye and block it from shooting its lazer beam, so a thorough cleaning with a tissue can sometimes dissolve this issue. Plug it in Plug it in #2 Your operator's power source is disrupted.Sometimes people will unplug their power source and then wonder why their garage door opener fails to work.
Sounds ridiculous I know, but it does happen very often. Make sure that your garage door opener is plugged into a working outlet. Outlets sometimes go out without warning, so you can check to see it the outlet is working by plugging another working electronic device into the outlet to see if the plug is working. Also check your circuit breaker, fuse or GFCI. DIY or Professional Help Did you hire a pro garage door repair company or fix your garage yourself? Hired a PRO I'm a DIY kind of personSee results #3 Your Garage Door Torsion Springs are BrokenSNAP... That is the sound of a garage door torsion spring breaking. It can be a very loud noise that sometimes sounds like a firecracker or gunshot. Either way, if you have a broken spring on your garage door you should NEVER try to open the door, it can be very dangerous to open the door and should be left to a professional or someone with the right tools and skills of garage door repair. Springs are rated for a certain number of cycles and the first thing that will break in your garage door assembly.
Broken springs are the #1 source of customer calls for garage door repair companies. Broken Garage Doors are a Pain! You can fix some simple issues DIY style. Broken Garage Door Torsion Springs How to program your garage door remote #6 Your Remote Control is MalfunctioningWhen your garage door won't open with the remote there are few things that can cause this problem. You might be out of range of the door The antenna on the motor could be damaged or blocked from the signal, make sure it is hanging down from the motor. If the door opens with the wall switch, a simple battery change should do the trick If all these fail, try reprogramming the remote. #4 Your Garage Door Cables Have SnappedOftentimes when a torsion spring breaks on a garage door, the garage door cable will snap under the immense amount of energy that is released with the break. Sometimes the cable will cause damage to a vehicle or wall, and if a person happens to be in the way of the cable it can cause serious harm.
If you cables have snapped you should call a professional to help you repair the damage and get your garage door back to working order. #5 Your Sensitivity is out of AdjustmentThis can happen to a newly installed garage door or an older one, if the sensitivity is set too low or high the opener will not open due to the fact that it will not sense that the door has enough weight or too much. You can test your sensitivity on the opener with your manufacturers directions in the documentation. You can adjust the close force and limit switch to the right levels and you should be good to go! Make Sure Your Sensitivity is Correct!Garage Door Troubleshooting Guides Setting Genie Chain Drive Limits 1. My garage door will not go down using my transmitters. I can only get the door down by holding down on the wall button. 2. The garage door closes down to the floor, hesitates and reverses back up to the open position. 3. How do I program my in-car transmitter to an Genie Intellicode or Chamberlain Security Plus system?
4. How do I program my Intellicode or Security Plus Transmitter? 5. My garage door is opening and closing by itself, as if someone else has the same frequency. 6. Disconnecting Genie Garage Door Opener Carriages to Manually Operate the Door 7. Where is the Genie, Liftmaster or Sears Craftsman Learn Button for Programming My Intellicode or Security Plus Remotes? 8. How do I Set the Limits on a Genie Chain Drive (open chain) Garage Door Opener? 9. How to Set Limits on the new line of Genie Garage Door Openers When I push my inside of garage button for the door to close, the door attempts to go down, motor light flashes and door goes back up again. I had to keep holding the wall button for the door to actually go down and close. The garage door will automatically reverse if it encounters too much resistance or if the sensor beam is interrupted. To check for resistance, start with the door closed and pull the red handle. Then open and close the door.
The movement should be fluid with no tough spots. If you encounter difficult spots, you likely have a bent track or a broken wheel. If the door opens with the opener fine, but reverses almost immediately when you try to close it, then you likely have a problem with your sensor alignment. One sensor should have a light on all the time. This is the transmitter. The other, your receiver, should light up when it has an unobstructed view of the invisible light beam the transmitter sends. It's easy to bump a sensor and move it out of alignment. Just bend it back in to position. Use the light on the receiver to help you so that you don't have to try and close the door to check your adjustments. I'd like to add to the thread my experience/observation: same situation - won't close unless you hold the inside button, 10 flashes as the error. Both of my sensors "appeared" to be working. That is, the amber emitter would cause the green receiver to light when I had them aligned, and the green receiver would go out if I blocked the beam, so as I said, it "appeared" to be working.
The cause was corrosion on the receiver wires. Both wires were cut by a critter a few years ago. I spliced them back but moisture and weather resulted in just enough resistance on the line to provide inconsistent feedback and trigger the safety override. I cut out the bad copper and soldered a new splice which I sealed with liquid tape and all is well again. In summary, If both sensors are lit and you get response from blocking the beam, check the green receiver wiring (the emitter would not have the same issue). With a multimeter you could look for voltage fluctuation or resistance, or just visually inspect for breaks in the line insulation and black or green copper wiring. It's much more likely the wire than the sensor so why waste the money? I had this issue last week. The lights on the sensor were fine. The issue was finally traced to loose connections at the sensors. Disconnected the sensors, re-stripped the wires and reconnected them. Door closes fine now. I think the sensors were working fine until the garage door starts moving, when the electrical supply to the sensors were getting interrupted due to faulty wiring.