DIY Garage Door Troubleshooting Guide

The car is inside, the power is out, and you need the door up.

1. 1Check the door is all the way down. If it has stopped part way up, or it is already open, stop here and call us instead. Releasing a door that is not fully down can let it crash. Either way, clear the doorway so nobody is standing under it.
2. 2Unplug the opener at the outlet if you can reach it safely. Power can come back with no warning, and the opener will pick up where it left off. If yours has a battery backup, unplugging does not switch it off, so turn that off too.
3. 3Find the release. It is usually a red cord with a handle on the end, hanging from the trolley on the rail that runs between the opener and the door.
4. 4Pull the cord straight down. That drops the trolley off the door arm, so the door is free of the opener. Then let the cord go. It releases the trolley and it is not a handle for lifting the door.
5. 5Lift by the door handle, both hands, and raise it about a foot. If it feels heavy, set it straight back down, leave it there and call us. Heavy means a broken spring, and the whole weight of the door is in your hands. Keep your fingers off the seams where the panels meet.
6. 6If it came up light, keep walking it up. Stop at about waist height and let go slowly. A balanced door stays where you leave it. If it slides back down, bring it down, do not walk under it, and call us.
7. 7If it held, walk it the rest of the way up until it stops. To close it, take the door handle with both hands and walk it down. Do not let it drop the last stretch.
8. 8Lock the door if you are heading out. With the trolley released, the opener is not holding it shut. Remember that you have: an opener cannot open a locked door, and running it against the lock will damage both.

Do this with the door closed, and have your model's manual to hand. The reconnect step is not the same on every brand.

1. 1Put the door all the way down by hand, and unlock it again if you locked it.
2. 2Reconnect the trolley to the door arm before you restore power. On many openers you pull the same cord back toward the door until it clicks in. Check the manual for your model rather than guessing at it.
3. 3Plug the opener back in and give it a moment to wake up. On some models the trolley only catches the first time the opener runs, so stand clear of the door and the rail while it does.
4. 4Run the door through one full open and close, and watch the whole thing. Anything new in the sound is worth a call.
5. 5Test the safety sensors. Start the door closing, then break the beam near the floor with a broom handle. The door should stop and reverse.
6. 6If the trolley will not catch, or the door does not reverse when the beam is broken, leave the door closed and give us a call.