Troubleshoot Garage Door Openers

What is the most underappreciated appliance or tool at your home? Is it your hot water heater or maybe your bedroom ceiling fan? How about your water softener or your coffee pot? You guessed it; it’s your garage door opener! These handy but hard working tools lift and lower our garage doors every time we come and go. Whether we are driving out of the garage to run a quick errand or leaving for an much needed vacation, our garage door opener units are what make the whole process simpler and safer. If your Kendall, FL garage door opener stops working as it should, you’ll need to know what to do about it.

More than convenience

Here at Kendall Garage Door Pros we understand the value of garage door opener units. They not only give us much needed convenience, they also add a large dose of security to our lives. Can you imagine having to get in and out of your vehicle every time you left or arrived at your home? You would need to get out of your car in order to manually open your garage door. Doing this over and over is not only annoying, it can be risky as you are leaving the safety of your car in order to get that garage door open. Not to be paranoid but this is the perfect time for a purse snatching, mugging or worse! Also, while you are occupied with opening your garage door, your vehicle is still running and unattended. It’s easy for a car thief to jump in and drive off with your purse, wallet, smart phone, driver’s license and credit cards still inside!

Keep your opener-system working!

Convenience and safety aren’t the only reasons that you need a working garage door opener; weather is another big factor, especially here in Kendall, FL where we can experience heavy rains, storms and even hurricanes! When you absolutely have to get in and out of your garage or home fast, there’s no better way to do it than by using your reliably working garage door opener!

What to do first

If you can’t get your home or business garage door opener to work, you should first try and calm yourself. Most people can’t think clearly when they are panicked, worried, angry or afraid. The world has not ended, so keep your “cool” so that you can think clearly. Kendall Garage Door Pros knows that this is easier said than done but just remember that there are always solutions!

Check your battery!

Remote batteries sometimes stop working. Yours might have run low or even started leaking. Maybe the battery terminals have become loose. Over time and many battery replacements, terminals can lose their hold on the battery ever so slightly. This is often enough to lose the connection to the battery itself so that no power is transmitted. If your battery terminal is a little loose, you can easily adjust it by squeezing the terminals together with your fingers until they hold the battery snugly once again.

If you have a battery tester at home, use it to see if your battery still holds power. If you don’t have a tester make your way to your nearest Kendall, FL Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Best Buy or Target store. These retailers will be happy to test your garage door remote battery free of charge or obligation. It’s really up to you if you want to buy your new battery there or not. Many of our customers keep a supply at home and just need the present battery tested.

Still not working?

If your remote battery checked out, then it’s time to try something else. Go over to your inside garage door wall and push the power button. See if the opener works now. If it doesn’t, go and unplug the opener unit from the electrical outlet in the garage ceiling. Plug something else in and see if that works. It might be radio, clock or even a power drill; anything small enough to plug into to see if your power is working in the garage. If your power is still on, the problem is not there and it is more likely to be your opener motor. If your power does not seem to be on, be sure to try your breaker box, and see if a fuse has not been blown or tripped.

Check your safety eyes

Your photo electric safety eyes need to be aligned just right if you want them to work correctly. These special sensors are easily blocked by items that can stop the beam from transmitting from one sensor to the other. This can prevent your garage door from opening and closing properly. Your opener may be in great shape but if your safety sensors are not lined up then it won’t seem like they are. Be careful to keep items away from your sensors. You not only want to keep the beam from being interrupted, you also want to prevent anything bulky or sharp from cutting the wires or damaging the lenses.

See if your opener is locked

Many garage door opener systems have a lock located on the wall switch. Sometimes this lock is called the vacation lock button. This is because it is often used when the residents are leaving for a few days on a trip or vacation. Since most folks leave their remotes in the car, the vacation lock button prevents ANY remote from opening the garage door until it is actually unlocked again. The lock was designed as a safety precaution in case your remote happened to be accessed by the wrong person(s). Check to make sure that this lock is not activated on your wall switch. Sometimes it can be accidentally bumped, rendering the garage door opener unit useless until unlocked.

Call the experts

If all else fails, be sure and call a full-service Kendall, FL garage door repair shop and have your opener serviced so that it works on demand, every time, just like it should!