Why Won’t My Garage Door Open or Close?
Will your garage door not open or close? Even if your door is of the highest quality, it may still experience problems from time to time. Most garage door issues relate to difficulty in opening and closing the door, and this can affect both manual and automatic types. This can be frustrating for the user and also terrible for security. That’s why the team at Doormatic have composed this handy master guide to help you identify and solve the most common problems causing a stuck garage door and preventing it from opening or closing.
Why Won’t My Manual Garage Door Open?
If your manual garage door cannot open fully, or at all, here are the main reasons that could be causing this issue.
- The release mechanism or the door is jammed. If the handle on the outside of your door doesn’t move, it could be jammed. If the handle does move, but the door still refuses to budge, the door itself could be jammed. First, check that no items have fallen against the door from the inside. If this doesn’t appear to be the issue, there is most likely a problem with the mechanism itself; see the below points to diagnose further.
- The door has track problems. If your garage door is hard to open, feels stiff when opening, or makes odd sounds, then these can all be telltale signs of track problems. For a door to open smoothly, rollers must run along these tracks without hindrance. Problems arise when the tracks become misshapen, obstructed by dirt or debris, or if some of the rollers have slid off completely. Try knocking the track back into shape, or giving the tracks a wipe down. If this does not solve the issue, a professional such as Doormatic will repair or replace the components.
- A broken torsion spring. If your door has suddenly become heavy to lift, it might be worth checking whether a spring has snapped. But be warned; it’s dangerous to try and fix this issue on your own due to the heaviness of the door and the possibility of it crashing down. Therefore always hire a professional to address this issue, as they will have the appropriate experience and tools to fix it safely.
- The cables have snapped. Sometimes as a result of the spring snapping, the cables can also snap, which can pose a hazard to cars and people nearby. Similar to a snapped spring, this issue can be dangerous to fix and will require immediate professional attention.
Why Won’t My Manual Garage Door Close?
If your garage door cannot close completely, this poses a huge security risk to the items within it. Learn what could be going wrong and how to tackle it.
- The tracks are warped or obscured. If your tracks are warped or clogged, this could be preventing the garage door from closing all the way. Try clearing the tracks of debris or hammering them back into shape, but ensure this won’t result in the door closing on you. Should your efforts be fruitless, call out the Doormatic team who can cast a professional eye over the issue.
- Your limit switch is faulty. If your garage door closes fully, but then springs back open, the answer might lie in a faulty limit switch. This component controls the travel of the door; should it be set too high, it will think something is in its path and reverse. Locate the user manual and learn how to adjust the settings. If the problem remains despite adjustment, it’s time to contact a specialist technician.
- Your door isn’t lubricated properly. Is your door is making unusual noises, or is it stiff to close? If so, the components may not be lubricated properly. Luckily this can be easily fixed by purchasing a lubricator and applying as instructed.
- Your door is not parallel with the ground. The evenness of a garage door has the potential to impact its function. With the help of another person, deliberately obstruct the path of the garage door by placing an item at the bottom. Then, observe if the door seems parallel to the ground. If it not, this will need to be rectified by a professional.
Why Won’t My Electric Garage Door Open?
Automatic garage doors can also experience their own technical difficulties that can affect smooth operation. Here are the most common causes and solutions of an electric garage door that won’t open.
- Make sure it’s plugged into a working outlet. Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how often this is missed. To ensure uninterrupted operation, check that your garage door opener is hooked up to a power outlet and that the power outlet is still working by testing it with another device.
- Broken spring or cable. To check if the spring or cable has snapped, take a look and see if you can spot any breakages or gaps in the spring or cable. Garage doors cannot function safely or effectively without these components, and as such, they will need to be replaced immediately by a trusted garage door company like Doormatic.
- Ensure the sensitivity is correct. The sensitivity of your garage door simply means how much force is required to open or close it. Consequently, if this is too high or low it can influence how well the door functions. Look at your user manual for instructions on how to adjust sensitivity.
- There are problems with the tracks. Check the tracks, and observe if they are misshapen, clogged with debris, or if the rollers have come off the tracks themselves. As a user, cleaning the tracks or hammering slight warping is within your skillset, but anything beyond that should be handled by a professional.
- The remote has technical problems. If the mechanisms of your garage door seem to be ship-shape, but your garage door cannot open with a remote, it may be the fault of the remote itself. Problems can include a dead battery, the user standing too far out of range, or the remote may simply need reprogramming. The remote receiving device may also be experiencing issues, and this problem usually becomes apparent if none of your remotes are working rather than just one.
Why Won’t My Electric Garage Door Close?
If you’re wondering why your garage door won’t close all the way, halfway, or why you garage door won’t close with a remote, then view the most common reasons and solutions below.
- The photo eye of your sensor is blocked, obscured or out of alignment. This part of an electric garage door is an important safety feature; once it senses an object in the door’s path, it will prevent it from closing all the way. The telltale sign of a photo eye malfunction is a blinking red light, and in these cases a technician will need to resolve the issue. Other issues can include misalignment from being bumped or knocked, or the buildup of dirt and debris over the photo eye.
- Obstacles. A vital safety mechanism is a garage’s ability to not close all the way if it senses an obstacle in its path. This prevents the door closing on yourself, your vehicle, or anyone else, but this response can also be triggered if there is dirt, debris or objects in its path. If your garage door is stuck due to this reason, simply make sure its path is clear and the bottom of the door is clean.
- Limit settings are off. If you notice that your garage door is not staying closed and is instead immediately springing open again, this could be because the limit switch is set too high. In these cases, the door will detect an obstacle when there is none, causing it to open again. By taking instruction from the user manual, simply adjust the limit setting down and see if this rectifies the issue.
- Is the remote working? A simple, yet important element to check. There are several ways in which your remote control can become faulty, such as problems with the bulbs, the batteries, radio frequency interference, or the remote simply needs reprogramming. This can be corrected by changing the batteries, or turning off wireless devices and lights nearby to prevent interference.
- There are problems with the track. As previously explained, if your garage door rollers are not sliding smoothly along the tracks then this can hinder the opening and closing of any garage door. Check to see if the tracks are distorted out of shape, or clogged with debris – these are easy fixes, but if something more complex has gone wrong, call the professionals at Doormatic to offer a helping hand.
- Disconnector switch is enabled. All automatic garage doors are installed with a disconnector switch, which gives you the means to operate your garage door manually should there be a power outage. If this disconnector switch has been enabled, often accidentally, it will mean that the door has become disconnected from the motor, preventing it from opening. The two components will therefore need to be reattached. Check your user manual, but if you’re still unsure of how to do this, call in a specialist to address the problem.
Whatever your garage door issue, the team at Doormatic have the skills and experience to solve any problem. We offer our supply, fitting and repair services across the whole of Surrey and beyond. So, if you’re wondering why your garage door won’t open all the way, or stay closed, give our experts a call today – we offer free quotations on all our work to ensure you get a price you’re happy with.
