The Top Five Most-Likely Issues with Your Garage Door
Automatic garage doors are a luxury when they’re working, and a burden when they’re not. Fortunately, for Portland residents, All About Doors’ garage door specialists are available to help when things malfunction.
And improperly working garage doors can be more than an inconvenience, they can be dangerous. And for commercial facilities that rely on working shop doors to receive or send out supply orders, it could lead to serious, potentially costly setbacks.
Our garage door repair team in Portland is more than happy to perform a thorough diagnosis for you, but to satisfy your troubleshooting-curiosity in the meantime, here is some professional insight on what might be causing the issue with your garage door.
1. Manual Locks are Engaged
It seems obvious, but if an automatic garage door gets stuck in the closed position, it could mean that the manual lock button was pushed. The first indication of an unintentionally locked garage door is if the motor runs when you push the opener but the door itself doesn’t move. Manual locks are a safety feature located on the inside of the door. If you have lost your remote garage door opener or the battery died in any of the electronic mechanisms, the manual door lock works as a backup.
2. Limit Settings are Too High
When automatic garage doors are first installed, their open and close limits are set. If the limit is too high, the opening mechanism thinks that the door is hitting an obstruction rather than the ground. This causes the opener to lift the door back up each time closes. A garage door technician knows how to reset the limits so your garage door completes its closing cycle at the exact moment it hits the ground.
3. Transmitter Issues
Transmitters control the range of function. For example, if you are too far away from the sensor, the signal from the remote buttons will not reach it. If you are within reasonable range, it may mean that something is blocking the antennae inside the garage. If nothing is blocking the antenna, it could mean it has been damaged. Again, one of our garage door technicians will be able to diagnose the issue and perform any necessary repairs.
4. Misaligned Track
Gaps or dents in the tracks or rollers may start out as merely annoying, but if left alone for too long, the damage will inevitably get worse. If you know where the misalignment is, it’s possible to realign them by adjusting the screws between the track and frame. Do this only if the door still moves but emits a rubbing sound in one area. And keep in mind that trying to fix the issue yourself may take more guesswork and risk than you’re prepared for.
5. Broken Springs
If all systems are otherwise working, yet the door still won’t open, there’s a good chance one of the torsion springs is broken. It’s especially important to call in a professional to handle broken garage door springs. These heavy-duty mechanisms carry so much tension, that when they break, they can cause serious injury or worse. Don’t attempt to manually open the door if a spring is broken.