Garage Door Troubleshooting Guide

Garage Door Troubleshooting Guide by garage Door Fix

As Canada’s best-rated garage door company, Garage Door Fix aims to empower homeowners nationwide by providing comprehensive information on troubleshooting garage doors. We believe that by offering these resources, homeowners can save money and avoid unnecessary service calls. Doing your due diligence is crucial, as it helps you avoid companies that might take advantage of your limited understanding of garage door operations, potentially overcharging or upselling services you don’t need.

Regardless of where in Canada you’re located, most garage doors operate under the same principle, so whether you need a garage door repair in Edmonton or Toronto, this troubleshooting guide will apply to you as well.

Lets Go Through The List Of Most Common Garage Door Issues:

1. Garage Door Won't Close

Wondering “Why Won’t My Garage Door Close?” Let’s find out. First, let’s identify what’s happening when you try to close your garage door.

Issue #1: The garage door starts to close and reverses back up immediately.

In most cases, this issue indicates that your garage door sensors are either faulty, misaligned, or have a wiring problem, resulting in a lack of power to the sensors. In rare instances, the logic board may be faulty and fail to supply power to the sensors.

Solution: Clean the sensors and ensure they are aligned and facing each other. Pay attention to the LED indicator lights. For common brands like Liftmaster and Chamberlain, one indicator light will be orange, and the other should be solid green. For other manufacturers, refer to the owner’s manual. If only one sensor has an orange indicator and the opposite sensor doesn’t show a solid green, adjust the alignment until the solid green LED turns on. If this doesn’t work, check the wiring connections both at the sensors and the back panel of the opener. Sometimes, due to vibration, the wires can become loose and detach from the opener. If these steps do not resolve the issue, consider hiring a local garage door repair company. Ensure you select one with high online ratings.

How To Override Safety Sensors: If you need to close the door before the issue is resolved, you can override the sensors by pressing and holding the wall station/button until the door is fully closed. Ensure the door’s path is clear of any obstructions while doing this.

Issue #2: The garage door is crooked and getting stuck. If your garage door is crooked and won’t close, this indicates a cable issue. This situation is very serious and may escalate quickly. Please avoid any attempts to open or close the door, as in some cases, your garage door may get off the tracks and collapse, causing serious damage or injury.

Solution: Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy fix and will require hiring a garage door company. We strongly advise against forcing the door to close or open if one of the cables has snapped or come loose

Issue #3: The garage door bounces off the floor and opens up. If your garage door closes all the way down and then reverses back up after touching the floor, it might indicate that your bottom opener limit needs adjustment or there may be an issue with your opener’s travel module. One of the most common causes of this problem during the winter is ice buildup under the door due to condensation. Canadian winters can be tough, and this issue often arises in places like Edmonton or Calgary.

Solution: Ensure there are no obstructions in the way. If the opener feels resistance on the way down, it will reverse back up as a safety precaution. Clear any ice buildup and inspect the tracks from the inside to ensure no screws have come loose, preventing the rollers from traveling smoothly. If nothing appears to be obstructing the door, but it still won’t stay shut, you might need to call a garage door company near you.

2. Garage Door Won't Open

Wondering “Why My Garage Door Won’t Open?” Let’s see what to look for to identify the core issue that prevents your garage door from opening.

Issue #1: The garage door starts to open but stops a few inches off the ground. A broken garage door spring is the most common issue that can cause this behavior. Springs do most of the heavy lifting by balancing the door’s weight so the opener can easily open and close it. When one of the springs breaks, the imbalance causes your opener to struggle to lift your garage door.

Solution: At Garage Door Fix, we always suggest getting a garage door spring replacement done by a reputable and professional garage door company. Replacing a set of springs on a garage door might seem to be an easy task for someone who is handy, but unfortunately, most homeowners underestimate the danger associated with dealing with garage door springs, which may involve serious injuries or even death.

Issue #2: The garage door starts to open and gets stuck at an angle. This indicates that one of the cables has snapped or detached, so there is no support on one side of the door. To avoid any further damage, it is a good practice to avoid using the door until the issue is resolved.

Solution: Replacing or re-adjusting your garage door cables will be the only solution here, and it needs to be done by a qualified garage door technician to avoid any further damage. Please contact your local garage door company and get your cables fixed.

Issue #3: Nothing happens when you’re trying to open your garage door. If you’re trying to open your garage door, and nothing happens at all, and no sound is coming from the opener, it is likely your opener is faulty, or it gets no power from the electrical panel.

Solution: First, check if any indicator lights are turned on. If there are no lights anywhere on the opener, please check the electrical panel for a tripped breaker or malfunctioning outlet. If power is not an issue and your garage door opener is still unresponsive, it may need an attention from a professional garage door company.

Conclusion

It is always a good idea to try to troubleshoot your garage door issue before calling any garage door company. If you choose to hire anyone for the repairs, please do your own due diligence to avoid upsells and out-of-the-ordinary garage door repair prices.

Garage Door Troubleshooting Guide