If your garage door won’t open when you use the remote and you’re having a hard time lifting it manually, you can do some troubleshooting. This could help you to avoid having to call a professional, which can be expensive. Here are some tips to follow to get your garage door working well again.
One of the first things you should do is pull the emergency release cord with the garage door closed. See if the door will open and close smoothly. If you’re having a hard time getting the door to go up or down, this indicates that you’re having an issue with your rollers, springs and tracks, and the problem isn’t with your garage door opener.
When you’re figuring out what’s wrong with your garage door and you’ve checked to ensure that the opener is not malfunctioning, make sure the door is down so that you can clearly see the brackets and springs before you do the necessary work. If you find that a door spring is loose, pull the emergency release cord after you raise the door so that the garage door won’t come down too fast.
It’s also best that you unplug the garage door opener. If someone visits your home and hits the remote button while you’re working on the garage door, the door could close on you and you could also get electrocuted.
There are cases in which the garage door remote works but there may be something wrong with the wall switch. This means you’ll need to get new wall switches and wires, but you’ll need to know which ones aren’t working well. Unscrew the switch and touch two of the wires; this is safe since the wires are low voltage and won’t electrocute you. If the garage door opener still works when you put the wires together, this means you have a faulty switch. If you’ve got a garage door opener that is a little older, you can use a cheap doorbell button to repair the program. If you have a newer garage door opener with a light and locking option, purchase the replacement that is compatible with your model. A new one usually costs about $15.
If the garage door opener doesn’t run when you connect the wires to the opener, use a smaller wire and jump the tire wires you connected to the opener at the opener terminal. If the opener works, this means that the wire that connects the opener and switch needs to be replaced. Or, the staples that are holding the wire to the wall will pinch the wire so that electricity doesn’t travel through them properly. To avoid this, install a 18 to 22 gauge wire.
If the wall switch works but the remote isn’t working, you can fix this by replacing batteries or buying a new receiver or remote. Check the batteries and if the batteries are fully charged but the remote isn’t working, it’s time to get a new remote. You can find one at your nearest home repair store, or search for the remote you need online.