Welby Garage Door Repair: Troubleshooting Garage Door Openers
Garage door openers have lost a lot of their novelty and become more commonplace since their installation costs have reached more than affordable levels. The convenience that these little wonders offer is unmatched since being able to open or close the garage door without exiting your car has prevented us from getting our important papers wet, letting the dog out of the car, and even surprising that special someone who claims you never do anything for them anymore with a sweet treat.
Just like any machine however, these automatic garage door openers can sometimes break down and take away any convenience that they previously offered. All is not lost though, since just about any of the major problems that could be affecting your opener can be easy to troubleshoot if you know what to look for.
Check your door
The first thing to do when your opener goes on the fritz is to close the garage door firmly and check the mechanism from inside the garage. Typically, these openers have an emergency release cord that you can pull and attempt to slide the door up with. If for some reason, the door does not open and close smoothly, there could very well be a problem with your tracks and not the opener. This can be easily fixed by cleaning debris from the tracks and applying lubrication. However, in some instances, speaking with an expert may also be needed.
My remote works but my wall switch doesn’t?
If this seems to be the case, you will have to replace the wall switch or the switch wires. If this turns out to be your problem, do not attempt to replace either on your own unless you are proficient with the installation of wires or wall panels in regards to an electrical connection. Please contact a certified garage repair service such as Welby Garage Door Repair in Welby, CO, a team specially trained to not only deal with this sort of thing, but to also ensure that there are no other issues with your opener. Typically, they’ll go ahead and replace the whole construct including both the wires and the box itself enabling you to use both your remote and wall switch again.
How about if it’s the opposite?
If it just so happens that your switch works but your remote doesn’t, there could be a few ways to test this out. The first and easiest way to test this is to replace the batteries with fresh ones you know are working. If your garage opener still does not respond to the remote however, then there could be an issue with either the remote itself or the receiver being faulty. The cheapest way to ensure that it’s not the receiver is to try and purchase a second compatible remote and test it with your box. If this still yields no results, you’ll be left replacing the receiver which is something that an expert will be able to do for you quickly but may take a bit of technical skill on your own.
The switch seems to want to work by flashing the above lights but the door still does not open.
Sometimes, hitting the wall switch will give the usual response you expect with a light flash as confirmation that you have activated the opener but still nothing is happening. The garage door opener actually has a few different sensors with indicator light to tell you if they are working and the path is clear. Sometimes, the sensor can actually be blocked by spider webs or other obstructions that cause misreads on exactly what is in front of it. In these situations, you’ll want to try your best to clean them and try the switch or remote again. If it still does not seem to want to move and the lights are flashing, checking some of the earlier troubleshooting steps may be your next move.
Check the springs for any snaps or breaks
The garage door springs are an essential part of the door and have to be operational to ensure that your garage door opener or even the door itself can work as intended. The best way to check if your springs are the culprits are to look at them from inside the garage and see if either one is split in half or noticeably separated from the door. If either of these occurrences even look like they are beginning, speaking with a specialist to get them fixed is a necessary requirement or you can expect your garage door to slowly stop working as well as time goes on. The springs serve one of the most important parts of the garage door as it actually supports the door by giving a specific “spring force” and when that begins to wane, the whole structure of the garage door begins to reach a “failing” state.
When troubleshooting reaches a standstill, what should you do?
Even with these steps, troubleshooting can often wind up with everything looking swell and good and none of the checks actually produce anything tangible to fix. When this happens, it is by no means a failure on your part but may actually be a deeper issue with the garage door opening system that could be a short in the wiring or any amount of differing reasons. Instead of throwing the whole system out however, there are many garage door specialists available to come and inspect these for you.
Hiring a garage door specialist is an easy way to skip the steps involving troubleshooting and possibly risking breaking the system further. Most companies offer reasonable rates for first inspection and if the problem is minor won’t cost an arm and a leg to get resolved.
The worst thing you’d want to do is sit on a broken garage door opener however as the longer you wait, the less secure your humble abode remains and can eventually end up costing you a lot more than the cost of repairs. Keep the convenience of your great opener by routinely inspecting the sensors and replacing the remote batteries while keeping in mind these simple troubleshooting steps if something does happen to ever go wrong.