Five minutes of troubleshooting you can do yourself
Before you call anyone, a few checks are worth doing. They cost nothing, and a fair number of “broken” openers turn out to be one of these.
- Is it getting power? Check that the unit is plugged in and that the outlet works. Garage ceiling outlets are often on a GFCI that has tripped somewhere else in the garage.
- Is the wall button locked? Many wall controls have a lock or vacation switch that disables the remotes. It gets bumped more often than you’d think.
- Do the sensors agree? Look at the two small photo-eyes near the floor on either side of the door. Each has an indicator light. Both should be steady. A blinking light means they’ve lost sight of each other.
- Is the remote battery dead? If the wall button works and the remote doesn’t, start here.
- Has the release been pulled? If the motor runs and the door stays put, the trolley may simply be disconnected. Run the opener until it clicks back in, or re-engage it by hand.
Still stuck? Then it’s a job for us, and the notes below will help you describe it.
What the symptoms usually mean
- Motor hums, door doesn’t move Often a broken door spring, not the opener. On older units, it can also be a failed start capacitor or stripped drive gear.
- Door closes, then goes right back up Sensors out of line, something in the beam, or the down limit set past the floor so the opener thinks it hit an obstacle.
- Door reverses partway down Binding in the track or a door that’s out of balance. The opener senses the extra force and backs off, as it’s designed to.
- Works from the wall, not the remote Battery, a remote that needs reprogramming, or interference. Certain LED bulbs in or near the opener can cut remote range.
- Clicks, lights flash, nothing else The lights are usually a code. The count of flashes points to sensors, travel, or a board fault.
- Runs, grinding noise, door stays still On chain and belt units, the nylon drive gear inside the housing has worn away. You may see white shavings on top of the unit.
- Opens by itself or at random A stuck button on a remote or keypad, a shorted wall-control wire, or on very old units, a neighbor on the same code.
- Slower and louder every winter Thick grease, a dry rail, and a door that needs more push in the cold than the opener was set for.
We always test the door first
This is the part that separates a repair from a guess. With the opener disconnected, we lift the door by hand. If it’s heavy, sticks, or sits crooked, the opener has been fighting it for a while and whatever failed inside the motor is a result, not the cause.
Fixing the opener without fixing the door gets you a few more months at best. So if we find a weak spring or worn rollers, we’ll show you, and deal with that alongside the opener. Our garage door repair page explains how that side of things works.
Parts we repair and replace
Safety sensors. Realigned, rewired, or replaced. The wire runs along the wall and gets stapled through, nicked by lawn tools and chewed by mice more than you’d expect.
Drive gears and sprockets. The classic repair on chain and belt openers of a certain age. The motor is fine, the gear is gone. A rebuild kit puts it back in service.
Logic boards. Power surges and nearby lightning are hard on circuit boards. A dead board can often be replaced, and we recommend a surge protector at the outlet afterward.
Capacitors. If the motor hums and can’t start, sometimes this small part is the reason.
Belts and chains. Stretched chains get adjusted, damaged belts replaced. A chain that’s slapping the rail is too loose.
Trolleys and rails. The carriage that rides the rail can crack or wear. Bent rails get replaced.
Travel and force settings. Not a part, but a frequent fix. Limits drift, and force settings left too high are a safety problem.
Remotes, keypads, and wall controls. Reprogrammed, replaced, or added. If you’ve bought the house recently, clearing the opener’s memory and reprogramming your own remotes is a sensible security step.
