Ever come back home and notice the garage door is open? It’s likely not a ghost but one of the several common reasons below. You should fix your garage door right away as it can be a security risk when you’re not around.
Let’s get started.
1. Faulty Garage Door Opener
When your garage door opener has been damaged by a power surge or lightning storm, it can cause the logic board to malfunction. When you notice your door working erratically, it’s likely that the circuits have been damaged.
How to Fix
If you’ve narrowed down the problem to be your opener, it’s best to call our garage door technicians to take a look at it. Automatic garage door openers can encounter many different problems, and a repair tech will know what to look out for.
2. Your Neighbors
It’s easy to blame your neighbors, but in this case, they may be to blame. If someone has programmed their garage remote to the same code as yours, it will cause your garage door to open as well as theirs.
This only affects older garage door openers that were manufactured before 1993.
How to Fix
Try changing your garage opener frequency. You’ll have to refer to your manual for your specific garage opener. You can learn how to program your garage door opener remote here.
Police radios, CB radios or radio stations nearby can also cause interference.
3. Adjust the Limit Settings
Each garage door motor unit has travel limits that adjust how far the door travels. Normally they’re on the back panel, but some models have them on the bottom.
How to Fix
If your garage door touches the floor and reverses, the down travel limit setting needs to be decreased.
If the garage door stops above the floor, the down travel needs to be increased.
Play with the limit switch adjustment screws until your garage door is opening correctly again.
4. Faulty Control Wiring
Inspect the wires that are connected to your garage door opener and garage door sensors. See if there are any broken wires or if there are any bare spots that may cause a short circuit.
How to Fix
Unless you have experience with electrical wiring, it’s a good idea to leave this job to a professional. If you notice any bare or broken wires, give your local repairman a call to come and fix the problem.
5. Stuck Garage Door Opener Buttons
Inspect your garage door remote and the wall buttons to see if they’re working properly.
How to Fix
You can replace the batteries on your garage door remote if you suspect it’s the issue. Old batteries have been known to cause issues with opening and closing the garage door.
If your wall panel button doesn’t work correctly, then you’re going to need to call a professional to fix the issue. Your garage door opener’s circuit board may need to be replaced.
Get a free quote from our garage door technicians.
6. Garage Door Sensors Are Misaligned
Every garage door is required to have safety sensors that allow the garage to fully close. If they become misaligned, they won’t allow the garage to function properly.
How to Fix
You can easily realign your garage door sensors by yourself. Garage doors require proper sensor alignment, otherwise it won’t allow it to work properly.
7. Your Springs Are Unbalanced
If your garage springs are unbalanced, your garage won’t be able to function properly. Before you inspect the garage door, engage manual mode and turn the power off.
How to Fix
Open your garage door to the halfway point (with manual mode engaged) and let go of the garage door. If it crashes into the floor, then the torsion spring is unbalanced.
You can adjust your garage door spring yourself, but it can be dangerous and should be done by a professional if you don’t know how to do it properly.
You can connect with our garage door technicians below and get a free quote if you have tried to fix the issue but haven’t figured out the problem.
Final Words
If nothing has worked and you garage door opens by itself, your best bet is to call a garage door technician to come and take a look at it. You’re going to want to have your garage door fixed ASAP so you can leave your home without worrying about it opening when you’re not around.
Garage doors can be tricky, so don’t feel disappointed if you can’t fix it yourself. Leave it to a garage door operator to ensure that everything is working properly. They can even fix your circuit board if that ends up being the issue.
