Tell-Tale Signs Your Garage Door Opener Needs Replacing

You’ve been good friends. He/she has helped you when you’ve been tired. They’ve saved you from having to get out of the car in the pouring rain. They even prevented you from getting hurt from broken garage door springs. No, I’m not talking about your best friend…I’m talking about your garage door opener. A good one will last many years, but like anything, it will eventually need replacing.

Sometimes it can be difficult to know exactly when that time has come. We’ve put together a short checklist of signs to watch out for. When you see one or more of these things, it might be wise to start your search for your next garage door opener sooner rather than later.

Indicators It Might Be Time for a New Garage Door Opener

Just bear in mind that some of these signs can also be symptoms of other garage door problems. This list is a guide rather than a definitive diagnostic tool. Alrightly then, now that’s cleared up, let’s run through a few common symptoms of garage door openers on their last legs.

It Can’t Open or Close Your Garage Door

This obviously spells trouble since a garage door opener should…well, open your garage door. However, before you jump the gun and throw it in the trash, be aware that this could potentially be due to any of the following:

• Batteries are Dead – You’d feel a bit stupid if you chucked your opener away, and really it was just the batteries that were dead, right? So don’t be too hasty and check whether this is the problem first.
• Not Connected to the Door – If this is the case, it’ll be one of those “doh” moments, but hey, we’re all busy and sometimes forget things. It’s normal. If you had a power outage or recently had some garage door repair work done and disconnected the opener, you might have forgotten to reconnect it again. So when you push the button, you might hear the opener doing something, but the door doesn’t move.

Read our related content for additional explanations for why your garage door opener stopped working.

If you check these things and they don’t appear to explain why your garage door opener is no longer functional, it might be time for a change after all. Watch for the following signs that an issue with the opener's motor is to blame.

It Has Started to Function Very Irregularly

Using an overhead door opener should really be very simple. You push a button, it opens the door. But if your relationship has gotten decidedly more complicated than that recently, and it has stopped responding to your requests, there is likely a technical problem.

Here are a few common examples of this:

• You push the button on the opener remote but nothing happens
• It opens the garage door without you touching the button
• There’s a significant delay between you pushing the button and it opening the door

All of these things are a sign of the same problem; faulty wiring. You’ll want to call a garage door repair technician right away in this case. Sometimes it might be either impossible to fix the problem or it might not make economic sense to do so.

Door Does Not Complete Its Full Motion

Garage doors are heavy. You don’t want one falling on you, that’s for sure. That’s also why it’s a concern when you suspect that your garage door opener is no longer capable of taking much of its weight. All it would take is for one of your garage door springs to break and you could be in trouble.

If your garage door is getting stuck partway through its motion, it could be a sign that the opener’s motor is failing, and a replacement is needed.

Your Garage Door is Excessively Noisy

Remember when you first got your opener. It was so smooth and silent as it effortlessly pulled your garage door up and then lowered it down. It was so quiet that you didn’t notice it.

If that memory doesn’t match up to its operation now – i.e. the noise it produces is unbearable – it could also indicate that it’s time for a change. Squeaking, clanking, creaking noises are all a sign of motor trouble.

It’s Just Old

I know they say “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” and for the most part we wholeheartedly agree with that, but sometimes, when it comes to technology, it can be good to upgrade. Things move on fast, and if you bought your opener ten or twenty years ago, the features that are available in today’s models offer a lot greater convenience.

For one, operation is far quieter than it was on models back then. There are also lots of security features, backup batteries and outdoor keypads that might make your life a lot easier compared to sticking with your current garage door opener.

Need Garage Door Opener Advice – We’re the Company to Call

Whether you’re looking for a replacement garage door opener or shopping for your first-ever system, we can help and guide you to choosing the most suitable model for your garage. We're an overhead door company based in Parker and Broomfield with over 25 years of experience. What we don’t know about anything garage door related isn’t worth knowing.

Feel free to give us a call today at (303) 920-2267. We’ll be happy to answer any garage door opener questions that you might have.