A garage door that won't close is a security problem as much as an annoyance, and it always seems to happen at night or on the way out to work. Before you call, it helps to know what the opener is trying to tell you. Work through these in order.
1. The safety sensors are blocked or out of line
This is the cause more often than everything else combined. Every residential opener made for the U.S. market since 1993 must have a pair of photo-eye sensors, mounted a few inches off the floor on each side of the door. They send a beam across the opening. If the beam is broken, the door will not close.
Look for a blinking light on one sensor, or lights on the opener that flash when you press the button. Then check these:
- Anything in the doorway, such as a broom handle, a trash bin or a leaf stuck to the lens.
- A sensor that was bumped and now points slightly off. Both lights should be steady.
- Dirt, cobwebs or road spray on the lenses. Wipe them with a soft cloth.
- Low sun shining straight into one lens, which is common on west-facing garages late in the day.
2. The close limit has drifted
The opener needs to know where the floor is. If the close limit is set too far, the door hits the concrete, reads it as an obstruction and reverses. This often shows up in a New England winter, when frost lifts the slab at the threshold by a fraction of an inch.
3. The force setting is too low
Openers reverse when the door meets more resistance than expected. A door that has become stiff from dry rollers or cold grease can trip that setting. Turning the force up hides the problem and removes a safety margin. The better fix is to find out why the door is hard to move.
4. Something is binding in the tracks
A bent track, a loose bracket or a seized roller can stop the door partway. You will usually hear it. Our article on noisy garage doors explains what each sound points to.
5. A broken spring or loose cable
If the door closes crooked, slams the last foot or will not move from the open position, look up at the spring and along the cables. Do not run the opener again if you see a gap in the spring or a slack cable. Read what to do when a spring breaks first.
6. The remote or wall button is the issue
If the door closes from the wall button and not the remote, replace the remote battery. If it closes only while you hold the wall button down, the opener is overriding its sensors, which points back to cause number one. Also check that the lock button on the wall control was not pressed by accident.
7. The opener itself is failing
A motor that hums without moving the door, a chain that jerks, or a unit that works only some of the time usually means a worn drive gear, a failing capacitor or a tired circuit board. These parts can often be replaced without changing the whole opener.
How to secure the door tonight
If the springs and cables are intact and the door is fully down or can be brought down, you can close it by hand. Pull the red emergency release, lower the door slowly, and slide the manual lock if your door has one. If the door is stuck open and feels heavy, leave the release alone and call.
When to call for opener repair
If the sensors are clean, aligned and steady and the door still reverses, the problem is in the limits, the force settings, the door hardware or the opener. That is where garage door opener repair comes in. We test the door by hand first, since an opener is only as good as the door it moves.
For help with a door that won't close in Attleboro, call (508) 709-6644 or send us the details. If the unit is old and parts are scarce, we can also talk through a new opener installation.