Why Your Garage Door Won’t Open All the Way
Many homeowners take their garage doors and garage door openers for granted. They’re supposed to work on-demand and they do — mostly. But sometimes you have a stuck garage door or a remote that’s on the fritz and it’s a source of frustration. This is especially inconvenient when your garage door won’t completely open, like when you need to take your kids to school or otherwise get a vehicle out of the garage.
When your garage door won’t fully open, there’s normally a simple explanation. But if the problem lingers, you may need to call a Parker overhead door repair specialist for help.
THE TOP REASONS YOUR GARAGE WON’T OPEN ALL THE WAY
An effortlessly functioning garage is important if you want to ensure the safety of your family and property and prevent injuries. But there are times when your garage door will experience problems.
These issues can be a big headache and can make it hard to access the things you’ve stored in the garage or park in it when it’s raining heavily. The best way to unravel a solution is to understand possible causes. Here are some of the reasons why your garage door won’t open all the way and how to address them.
Bad batteries
It may sound laughably simple, but the first thing to verify is the batteries in the handheld remote. Batteries have a shelf life and it’s not uncommon for many Parker area homeowners to forget that small fact. They have an expiration date, and you can easily forget that years have come since you last replaced them.
If possible, replace the batteries every two to three months. If they expired and haven’t been changed, you run the risk of damaging the remote with leaked battery acid.
Faulty power source?
Sometimes, your garage door won’t open all the way due to an issue with the power source. Is the power cord unplugged? If not, is the outlet it's plugged into working? There also could be a problem with a circuit breaker or a power outage you weren't aware of. It's advisable to check for the obvious before calling a garage door repair company for help.
The door is improperly balanced
One of the top reasons for a stuck garage door that won’t open all the way is a lack of balance. Validate your door’s balance by disconnecting it from the unit’s automatic opener. First, you should be able to easily open or close the door by hand. Next, pull the door so it’s about halfway open. It should dangle in balance, aided by garage door springs, or it should gradually go up or down. If the door slams shut, that’s a strong indicator it needs rebalancing.
Balancing a garage door is a task for an overhead door repair specialist, so call a local garage door professional today to help if you’re having balance issues.
Is the door locked?
Don’t feel embarrassed, but there’s a possibility that you or someone else accidentally locked the garage door from the inside by turning a manual lock which happens to look like a handle. If this happened, you won’t be able to raise the garage door.
On the other hand, some garages have a lock mode built into the motor. If you push the remote button longer than necessary, you could activate that lock mode. When this happens, your only alternative is to disable the lock mode by pressing the button for a minimum of ten seconds.
The photo eye is misaligned or dirty
All modern garage doors have a photo eye sensor at the base of the garage on either side of the door. Its only job is to detect an object or person in the way of the door when it’s opening or closing. If you notice a clicking noise or see a light flashing from the overhead garage door opener, there could be an issue with the photo eye sensor. The sensor could be misaligned or dirty, preventing the door from opening properly.
The track isn’t aligned correctly
When your automatic garage door opener starts working, attached cables physically move the door while the strings command its speed. The metal tracks on either side of the door keep it in line and help the opener function effectively. The tracks of the garage door must be always straight and even for the garage door to properly open and close. If your door is crooked, jerks around, or makes grinding noises it may have fallen off the track. Over time, misalignment could prevent the Parker stuck garage door from opening all the way.
Check the force limits
New garage doors have travel and force limits, safety features, which tell your garage door how far it needs to travel, and the force required to open and close. If these limits somehow fall out of alignment, your garage door may mistakenly engage the auto-reverse feature to prevent damage or injury. Your garage door opener’s instruction manual should provide directions on how to adjust the force settings and limits.
WORK WITH A TRUSTED PROFESSIONAL
A Better Garage Door is locally owned and operated and has worked with hundreds of residential and business customers in Parker and other greater Denver area communities for more than 20 years. If your garage door won’t open all the way, it could be simple or something more serious, so call us today at 303.920.2267 or contact us online to request more information.