How To Repair an Electric Garage Door

Are you experiencing issues with your electric garage door? Due to their complex nature and the fact that electricity and heavy doors are involved, we always recommend that you seek a professional garage door expert to diagnose and rectify problems.

At Garage Door People, we have years of experience as well as the right tools and equipment to help with any trouble your electric garage door might be giving you. However, to give you a little more detail on the questions you might have, we’ve put together a short piece on the problems, their potential causes and some things you can safely try before giving us a call for professional assistance.

Why won’t my electric garage door open/close?

There are a whole host of reasons why your electric garage door might not be opening or closing. Sometimes, just getting to the bottom of the problem can help in solving it, so here are a few of the common issues we find with electric garage doors:

• The sensors are not aligned – whether they weren’t installed correctly or because they’ve been knocked, the misalignment of your sensors means it may not close.
• The sensors are dirty – because they’re sometimes exposed to the elements, dirt, dust and debris can all block your sensor (you can probably just give them a gentle wipe to see if this is the issue).
• Your mechanism has seized up – since your garage door is likely fitted to a track, it may have seized up during cold months or after long periods without use, meaning it requires some lubrication and a possible settings adjustment.
• The motor has been unplugged – whether you unplugged it and forgot to plug it back in or someone has knocked the cable, this will mean there is no power, which explains why you’re not seeing your door move.
• The motor has broken – if your garage door motor has burned out or been damaged then it won’t be supplying any power to lift the door.
• The door may have become disconnected from the motor.

However, despite all of the above, one of the most common reasons for an unresponsive garage door is that your remote has run out of juice. So let’s look at the topic of garage door remotes and keypads, and how they might be causing the issue, next.

My garage door remote/keypad won’t work

Sometimes, all you need is a quick battery change for your remote or keypad and your door will be working again in no time, but if that doesn’t fix things then there might be a deeper issue.

Depending on the model of the door you have, the solutions to the problem might differ. For example, it might be that your motor needs to be reprogrammed, allowing you to reconnect your remote or keypad. However, you mustn’t tinker too much unless you actually know what you’re doing, as you could create more problems, which is why we recommend giving our team a call to help get your door working safely again in a way that doesn’t do further damage. 

Why is my electric garage door only partially opening?

Your garage door opens, but only part way? This, again, could be caused by many things, but our best guess is that the lift limit on your electric garage door motor is probably not set right. This is the element which calculates how much power it needs to lift the door, and if your door won’t shut, then it may be set too short.

The cause of this issue could also be that your motor and your switch are too far apart, meaning that it gives up halfway through the job. 

As you can tell, it’s hard to diagnose without seeing the door in action, so get in touch to book an appointment if you’re left scratching your head by a garage door that won’t open all the way.

Why is my electric garage door opening but not fully closing?

At the opposite end of the spectrum is a garage door that opens but which won’t fully close. And yes, you guessed it – there can be several reasons for this, including:

• An obstruction is causing your safety sensor to stop the closing process
• The lower limit is set too short, making the motor think it has done its job
• The tracks are warped, causing the door to get stuck before it reaches the bottom
• A failure has occurred in the circuitry, which makes the motor stop running
• Your neighbour has the same remote and there is interference (this one is less likely these days unless you and your neighbour have the same, very old electric garage door model)
• The motor may be old and not as powerful as it once was. This is typical on motor 15 years or older.

Some of the issues above, such as a change of batteries and lubrication are simple issues you might be able to tackle, but when it comes to electric garage door repairs, always call the experts. 

At Garage Door People we provide automatic garage door repairs for a variety of makes and models, getting to the bottom of even the most complex electric roller garage door problems. Call us today if your electric garage door won’t open in Lincolnshire – including Spalding, Boston, Horncastle and the surrounding areas – and you need quick and effective repairs.