It’s a weird phenomenon, out of nowhere your garage door just opens, on its own. This can be startling and even a bit scary. If you have experienced this phenomenon before, as unnerving as it can be, there is usually a simple explanation. If you are having this happen, it’s something you want to fix because a garage door that spontaneously opens can still be a security risk as well as increase your home’s heating or cooling bills if the door is left open for extended periods of time. Here are 7 reasons your garage door could be opening on its own:
- The batteries may be getting old-Oftentimes, the simplest possibilities are the likeliest. Aging batteries in your garage door remote may be the cause as old batteries can cause malfunctions and random opening of the door is the most common one. Start here to fix your issue.
- Buttons that stick-Over time, dirt and debris can cause buttons on the mounted buttons or the remote to stick. When the buttons stick, this can cause them to be semi-depressed all the time and result in random garage door opening and closings. Some cotton swabs and a bit of soap and water can help to clean the buttons and get it back into perfect working order.
- Faulty wiring-Sometimes, the wiring of your garage door opening system can become frayed, either due to age or possibly an animal that has gotten into the housing and caused damage. In either case, if the wiring has created a short in the electrical system, this can cause the door to open and close on its own unexpectedly. As with all electrical issues, it is best to have a professional diagnose and fix this issue if you believe this may be the cause.
- Power overload-An unexpected power surge due to an electrical storm or a surge to a shared power grid can sometimes cause garage door openers to malfunction and cause the issue of unexpected opening and closing. If your issue is rare or seems to be an isolated incident, this could very well be the cause. If the lightning storm or power surge did not cause permanent damage to your garage door opener, there may be no maintenance required and the opener may go back to normal operation on its own.
- Circuit board issues-The circuit board is the internal computer or basically the “brains” of the garage door opener and controls all external operations of the system. If this is damaged in any way it is likely that you must call a professional garage door repair facility to examine it for repair or replacement if needed.
- Old Transmitters – Garage door openers that were made back in the ’90s was made with the same transmitter frequency. If you have an old garage door and someone else in your neighborhood has an old garage door, it is possible you are catching their signal.
- Heavy Door – If your garage door has swollen and gotten heavier over time, it is possible that it has tried to close too hard for the sensors, causing it to go back up
So, rest assured that there is likely a very normal (and usually FIXABLE) solution to the problem of our garage door opening and closing on its own. If you find that you do have one of the issues above, or still can’t find the reason for the problem, Houston garage door repair experts at Spectrum Overhead Door LLC can take a look and diagnose the issue without a trip charge. Schedule for your free diagnosis and quote by calling 281-748-9542 or use the form below.