A frustrating scenario for any homeowner is driving home just to find that you can’t get into your garage because the garage door will not open. This would be even more frustrating to those that use their garage door as a front door. If your garage door will not open, it is possible your garage door opener motor has stopped working. Here are some ways to troubleshoot and find out if indeed your garage door motor has stopped working.
First Clue, Age.
There are several other reasons a garage door just stops opening, so you have to ask yourself, why am I thinking it’s the opener motor? One big answer could be the age of our garage door opener. After about 10 to 15 years, a garage door opener just might give out. If your opener is older than 10 years, then you can do the next steps as a process of elimination.
Check Your Garage Door Hardware.
Again, even with an older garage door opener motor, you can’t just assume that is the issue. You will want to check for other issues before concluding it’s the opener motor. Check your garage door hardware. Inspect your garage door tracks to make sure they do not have debris blocking the rollers, and that the tracks are vertically aligned as they should be. Inspect your garage door springs and make sure that they have not broken. If all checks out, open your garage door manually. To do this, disengage your garage door opener from your garage door. Pull the red release cord. The release cord should be located near the front of the door. If the garage door opens and closes manually as it should, move on to the next step.
Check Your Power.
Your garage door opener requires power to operate. Making sure your opener is getting power is the next thing to troubleshoot. This is also good to check if your opener motor has stopped working after one of our Houston famous power surges or outages. In regard to the motor, make sure it’s plugged in properly. It may be a good idea to unplug then re-plug in the opener after waiting 15 minutes, making sure the motor cools, and has not overheated. After re-plugging in the motor, use the wall switch and see if the garage opens and closes. If it does, move on to the next step.
Check Your Remote.
If your opener motor works from the wall switch, then it is possible it’s your remote, not the garage door opener. Replace the old batteries of the remote control. If after replacing the batteries it still does not work, you may need a new garage door remote.
One Last Thing, Your Sensor.
Before your run out and buy a new remote, make sure your garage door sensor is still in its correct place. Garage door sensors tend to shift away from their original position after having consistent use of the garage door to open and close.
This is Houston, where the pollen and dust can get everywhere. Inspect the garage door sensor to see if dust particles have been blocking the lenses of the sensor. Stored-up dirt around the sensor’s surroundings tends to cause a poor connection from the remote to the unit of the garage door motor. Wipe off your garage door sensor with a clean rag and then try opening and closing the garage door with your remote.
If you have followed these steps and the garage door still won’t open, it’s a good chance your garage door opener motor has stopped working. If you are in the Houston area, Spectrum Overhead Door has been repairing garage door openers and installing new garage door openers since 2006. We deliver fast friendly service, at reasonable rates. Call 281-748-9542 or if you’re on the East side of Houston 713-557-3407 for a free quote and appointment today! Same-day appointments are available.
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