Garage door openers are designed to make your life simpler, not more difficult. However, occasionally, nothing occurs when you press the button to open your residential garage door. If you need help reliably opening your garage door with the remote, there may be a problem with your garage door actuator.

Our licensed, bonded, and insured technicians in Ottawa provide same-day and routine garage door service, so we’ve encountered every opener problem imaginable. Some frequent garage door opener issues can lead to this common nuisance!

Why Does My Garage Door Opener Only Work Sometimes?

Here are the most common causes of a malfunctioning garage door and potential solutions:

• Dead Batteries

Dead batteries are one of the most common causes of the garage door actuator losing power. Typically, remote control batteries can last up to two years. If you have yet to replace them, it may be time. Check the batteries in your remote control before contacting a professional. Tapping the remote makes it easy to determine if the batteries are depleted. If the light does not come on, it may be time to replace the bulbs. However, this only applies to remote controls with LED lights. Attempting to open the door with the wall control panel is another method to confirm that the batteries have expired. If that works, the batteries should be replaced immediately. When doing so, ensure that the batteries are correctly inserted into the remote. Otherwise, the remote will not function. If the garage door remote does not work after replacing the batteries, you must consider an alternative cause.

Verify that the wall-mounted transmitter in your garage still activates the garage door when tapped. Your car’s transmitter likely requires a straightforward battery replacement if it does. If you have more than one car transmitter for your garage door, you will likely need to replace the batteries in the other transmitters shortly, as they were installed simultaneously.

How do you replace the batteries in your garage door opener?

Changing the battery in a garage door transmitter is a straightforward process. On most transmitters, the battery can be removed by simply sliding open the rear door and removing the battery. Others may be screwed in to keep the battery more secure, so a screwdriver is required to access this type of transmitter. After removing the old batteries, align the plus and minus signs with the plus and minus signs inside the transmitter.

Otherwise, the new battery will not function in the transmitter, giving you a false indication that something else is wrong. After installing the battery, test the transmitter, and if it is functional, replace the transmitter door.

• Path To The Entrance Is Blocked

A reversing mechanism is built into garage doors to prevent them from smashing objects in their path. Things on the ground, such as refuse cans or children’s toys, can cause your garage door to close partially and then reverse direction. It could also be due to debris accumulation on the tracks, preventing the rollers from advancing. This may include small objects such as rocks, gum, or dirt. If the door strikes even a tiny thing on the track, it will return to its original position to prevent smashing whatever is beneath it. Examine the surrounding area of your garage door to determine if anything obstructs the photo eye sensors. Examine the inside of the tracks to determine if there is any buildup. To examine the ways on the upper portion of your garage, you will need a stepladder, as they will be difficult to see from the ground. Additionally, periodically wiping down your garage door tracks may be a good idea to prevent this accumulation. A damp cloth to wipe each track should be sufficient to remove any remaining debris.

• Needs To Be More Correctly Configured

Occasionally, you may observe that your garage door closes all the way and immediately rises back up rather than remaining in the closed position. Typically, this problem occurs with newly installed garage doors or older models that need reset. If this happens, your garage door opener’s open and close limit parameters are most likely to blame. If your settings are too high, the door will close before the opener believes it should. This limit range instructs the garage door actuator on how far the door should move before closing completely.

You can alter the limit settings using knobs or dials located somewhere on the garage door motor. The precise location and reset procedures will vary based on the make and model of your garage door. The owner’s manual should contain more specific instructions for adjusting your limits. You should experiment with a few settings before obtaining the optimal configuration. If adjusting the limit settings fails to keep your garage door closed, you may need to contact a technician to assist you.

• Switch To Disengage Is Enabled

If you hear your garage door motor running for as long as it would ordinarily take to open or close the door, but the door does not move, the disconnect switch will likely be activated. Every garage door opener is equipped with a power disconnect device. This allows you to manually open or close the door so your vehicle is not trapped in the garage until the power is restored.

Every garage door opener includes a manual override valve to open or close the door manually if the power goes out. This switch is typically connected to a rope or a knob that can be drawn or turned to disconnect. Occasionally, this switch can become disconnected, separating the door from its motor.

However, if you lose power and disengage the switch, you must reconnect it before using your garage door motor to open and close it again. After fully opening the door, reattach this latch. Then, attempt to open or close the door with your transmitter again, and you should be ready. It will be simplest to reattach this hook when your car is not in the garage, as you will need to position a stepladder beneath the engine to reach it.

• Garage Entrance Is Locked Manually

If your garage door won’t open and the opener motor operates for a few seconds before turning off, the door may have been manually locked. Check to see if the door’s lock is engaged and if the springs and tracks are free of obstructions and appear to be functioning correctly. The garage door may be manually locked if the opener motor only operates for a few seconds and the door does not open. Several garage doors, particularly older models, include manual locks for added home security. These typically resemble a knob or handle in the center of a door with two horizontal rods on each side.

A small button on the top or side of the handle may be pressed to secure the garage door from the inside. It is possible to accidentally press this button, mainly if you are removing large items from the trunk of your car while standing near the door. To unlock your garage door manually, merely turn the handle until you hear a click. This will relocate the horizontal bars away from the edges and maintain the open position of the handle.

• Tension Cables Or Springs Have Fractured

The tension springs and cables on garage doors aid in the safe and gradual closure of the door. If these tension springs or cables break, your garage door may close extremely quickly and often with a loud bang as it strikes the ground.

This is highly hazardous because nothing prevents the garage door from crushing anything below it. It is recommended to contact a garage door professional as soon as possible to have these cables or springs repaired. If the tension springs break, a great deal of tension is placed on the door cables, causing them to fail frequently. Once the springs fail, a great deal of stress is placed on the door cables, and they frequently fail next.

When these cables break, they will snap like a broken rubber band and forcefully launch out. Consider how painful it is to be photographed by a fractured elastic band, then multiply that number by a hundred to account for the size and weight of the garage door cables. Wait to place your vehicle in the garage until the garage door has been repaired by a garage door repair professional. Also, avoid opening and closing the door in this state.

The potential force emanating from the springs or cables could cause severe injury and damage your vehicle or other property in the garage. You and your loved ones must remain away from these cables and springs until they are repaired.

Final Thoughts

Electromagnetic disturbance resulting from the coupling of signals in the circuit of a given electric device causes frequency interference, which is a likely cause of garage door opener connectivity issues. The source may be an electric device you’ve owned and used for years that has only recently begun emitting electromagnetic noise due to voltage spikes or surges.

The first step in resolving the issue with garage door opener remotes that only operate intermittently or when nearby is to attempt to identify the potential source of interference within the garage. Removing the LED from the opener or extending the antenna may be a simple matter. In more complex situations, updating and altering the opener frequency is necessary. If the frequency has been updated to Tri-Band technology and the opener is still experiencing interference issues, Wi-Fi connectivity is the only way to bypass the electromagnetic interference. Users can connect the opener to their home’s Wi-Fi network and use their smart devices as remote controls. Wi-Fi networks operate on high frequencies, such as 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, less susceptible to electromagnetic interference and noise. To hire someone to come have a look at your garage door opener in Ottawa, call us at 343-309-9964 or visit A1 Garage Doors.