If your garage door opener is not working, you should be able to troubleshoot what is wrong with it by running through the following four questions:
1. Is The Wall Unit Button Working?
Most garage doors that are set up to open electronically can be opened one of two ways: with a remote or by pressing a button on the wall of your garage. The first thing you need to do if you push your remote and discover it is not working is to try out the button on the wall in your garage that controls the door.
Push it and see if it still works properly. If your garage door opens when you press the button, move on to question number two. If your garage door does not open when you push the button, move on to question three and four.
2. Are The Batteries Dead?
If your garage door will open when the button is pushed inside of your garage, chances are that the problem lies with your remote itself. The most common reason that a remote fails to function is a dead battery.
Remove the batteries and replace them with new ones. Then, try your remote control again and see if it works. If it doesn't, move on to question three.
3. Is There Something Blocking The Sensors?
Most modern electric garage door opening systems use safety sensors. You should have two sensors located on opposite sides of your garage door at the same height. They are generally pretty low to the ground.
The first thing you need to do is look and make sure that nothing is blocking the sensors. Even a piece of paper hanging over one of the sensors would stop both your wall unit and your remote from opening or closing your garage door. Remove anything that may be blocking your sensors.
Next, make sure that your sensors have not been knocked off kilter. The sensors do not only send out a beam of light to make sure nothing is in the way of your garage door, they also receive the beam of light from the opposite sensor and process that information. If something was in the way and hit the sensors off kilter, you will need to straighten them out so that they are able to process information correctly.
Finally, use a soft cloth to wipe off the sensors. Sometimes dirt, dust and cobwebs are all it takes to throw off your safety sensors. After you have done all three things outlined above, try your opener again. If that doesn't fix the problem, move on to question number four.
4. Is There An Electrical Issue?
Your garage door opener system runs on power; if there is an electrical issue, it could prevent both your remote control and your wall button from working.
Check the fuse box and make sure that the circuit was not tripped . If it was, turn the break off for about a minute and turn it back on. Sometimes, the electrical circuit just needs to be reset.
By going through the following four questions, you should be able to get your garage door remote to start working again. If you go through all four questions and are still not able to fix your garage door remote, call a garage door professional, such as A & J Garage Door Inc, to come out and investigate the issue further.
