One of doorOne of the most common garage door problems is that it simply won’t close when you push the button on your remote. You definitely don’t want to leave your garage door open while you’re away all day at work, running errands, and taking care of your kids. That would leave your home open to intruders – a very unsafe situation. Thankfully there are a few things you can do to try to fix the problem when your garage door won’t close properly.
Check the lockout switch
Just about every garage door opener wall unit has a switch or button that will put the opener in “lockout” or “vacation” mode. The purpose of this feature is to provide peace of mind that intruders won’t be able to open your garage door if you’re away from home for an extended period of time. If this mode gets activated, your garage door opener will ignore signals from your remote(s). It’s very easy to hit this button or switch by accident when opening the garage door from the inside, and then back out of the garage in your car, push the remote to close the door, and find that it simply won’t budge. If this happens to you, simply go back into the garage and try to use the base unit to close the door. If this works, the source of your problem is most likely the lockout switch being activated, or perhaps a dead remote battery is the culprit.
How about the Photo-Eye Sensor?
One important safety feature of modern garage doors is a photo-eye sensor that prevents the door from closing if an obstacle such as a pet, child, bicycle is in its path. However, sometimes the photo-eye sensor malfunctions, causing your garage door to stop working properly. If your garage door closes almost completely and then reverses, check the alignment of the photo-eye sensors. It’s possible that they were knocked out of alignment, causing the malfunction. Make sure they are aligned, turned on, and clear of dirt, dust, and debris. Also ensure they’re out of direct sun, which can “blind” the sensor. If this doesn’t solve the problem, they may need to be replaced by a skilled garage door repairman, or you may have another problem.
Look at the Opener Motor
If you push the remote or wall unit and your garage door doesn’t move an inch, the opener motor may be the problem. Make sure there is power in the unit and then listen to see if you can detect any sounds that indicate a worn out motor or broken drive mechanism. If it doesn’t seem to be working, close the door via the manual release and all a garage door repair technician to fix the issue.
Carroll Garage Doors has been serving Los Angeles and Ventura counties for over 29 years. Call us at 1-888-578-2360 for professional assistance with all your garage door repairs.
