A garage door is meant to go up and down via a manual operation or by a command from a keypad, remote, or smartphone. You rely on this simple action every day, sometimes numerous times a day. So when you hit that remote and the door stays either up, down, or somewhere in between, your day can quickly go downhill. Don’t despair.
The trained technicians at Overhead Door Company of Portland are always ready to come to the rescue to identify and fix the problem and get you out the door (or back in the house).
A non-working garage door does not always indicate a major problem. There are some basic steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue with little effort.
Garage Door Inspection Checklist
Here’s a step-by-step checklist you can go through safely:
Check the Power- The outlet the power is plugged into may not be working, or the plug may have become loose. Try plugging in another device to confirm it has power. You can also check the circuit breaker for a tripped switch.
Test the Wall Switch and Remote- If the wall switch works and the remote does not, it could be that the remote needs to be reprogrammed or needs new batteries. If neither works, it could be a power issue or logic board failure.
Make Sure “Lock” or “Vacation Mode” Isn’t On- Some openers have a lock or vacation switch on the wall unit that disables remotes and can simply be switched back off. We have certainly been called in for repairs, only to find someone had set the lock and didn’t let anyone else in the house know.
Check the Safety Sensors (Photo Eyes) – Next to the bottom of your garage door tracks are two small sensors that face each other and are designed to stop the door from moving if an obstacle is sensed. Ensure nothing is blocking the sensor, including dirt and cobwebs, and check that the indicator lights are on and not blinking. Blinking can mean a misalignment.
Do a Quick Visual Inspection- Check your door’s springs, rollers, and tracks for damage or built-up debris. Clean any debris and note any damage to report to your garage door professional.
Try A Manual Open: Try manually opening or closing the door by releasing the door from the operator. If the door moves freely, reconnect it and check the electric operation, as the problem is likely with the opener itself.
Going through this list can help you identify and resolve simple problems or better explain the issue to our technicians when they arrive to make repairs.
Professional Garage Door Repair
On-site, the Overhead Door Company of Portland technicians will follow a similar process to what we’ve suggested, but they’ll dig deeper into your door components. We will manually test the door to narrow down the problem source and then move to either inspect the components of the door or the remote.
If the door itself is not functioning, we’ll take a close-up look at the door panels, tracks, rollers, cables, and springs, looking for obstructions, dents, cracks, and dings, and test spring tension and door balance. If we find damage, we’ll assess the situation and offer you solutions for repair or replacement. Spring and cable issues are a major safety risk, as the door can fall, so our technicians will not try to operate the door until replacements are in place. Rest assured, if it can be repaired, we will fix it, but sometimes ordering from our top-quality supply of parts just makes the most sense.
If no damage to the parts is found, we’ll move on to checking the safety sensors for blockages, proper alignment, and ensuring correct voltage. A drop in power can make sensors malfunction and may indicate a larger problem with your electricity. That’s for your electrician to resolve.
We’ll next check the garage door opener system. The power supply and wiring will be examined to rule out a bad wall switch. If the wall switch is working properly, we’ll look at the wall control unit functions and settings to see if a lock mode, timer, or similar function has been inadvertently set. If the opener has a logic board, our technicians will look for diagnostic light codes that indicate areas in need of attention. Finally, we may do a full opener reset, similar to the failsafe of unplugging and plugging back in your computer!
Once we find the cause of your garage door malfunction, we’ll clearly explain the problem and your options for repair or replacement. If repairs are in order, we’ll get right to work to make the fix. We’ll conduct several tests of the opener and door so we are 100% sure everything is safe and working properly before we leave. We’ll also offer advice on how a good maintenance plan can help prevent future problems.
The Overhead Garage Door Company of Portland has been installing and repairing commercial and residential garage doors in the greater Portland area since the 1920s. There are no problems we haven’t seen and can’t fix. Next time your garage door malfunctions, contact us to get you back on the road or back in the house quickly, with a smile.