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Automatic garage doors are a huge convenience in our modern lives, and nothing is so inconvenient as when they don’t work. Even worse, perhaps because it’s a smaller problem (like a paper cut), is when the garage door remote control doesn’t work. Before you hurl the thing out of the car window against the unopened garage door, here are some quick tips to troubleshoot common problems with garage door remote controls.
First, check the operation of the garage door itself as the problem might not be with the garage door remote control at all. If the garage door remote control partially works, for instance the door opens but doesn’t close or closes but doesn’t open, that again is an indicator that the problem lies not with the control but elsewhere. If the door opens but doesn’t close, check the safety reverse system or adjust the close force per the owners’ manual. If the opposite is true, check the open limit switch or adjust the open force per the manual. If the problem is not with the garage door itself, it is time to check the garage door opener itself. Start with the obvious: dead batteries. If this does not seem to be the cause of the problem, check for broken or improperly wired photocells which means that the door opening unit cannot receive the signal from the garage door remote control. Next, check to see if the receiving antenna needs to be adjusted. Reposition it to see if you get any results. If that doesn’t work, try reprogramming the garage door remote control per the owners’ manual. Improper remote coding is a common problem. If your garage door opens and closes of its own accord, it could mean that someone has hijacked the codes from you garage door remote control. Refer to the manual to erase the codes and reprogram the remote control. A unique type of problem that may occur with your garage door remote control is that it works erratically. That is, you may be able to open the door with it, but not close and the next time close the door but not open it. If this is happening to you, check the light bulb on the garage motor unit. Sometimes, garage door remote controls are responsive to light emitted from fixtures, only working once while the unit light is on. This problem usually occurs with replacement garage door remote controls and can be fixed by replacing the bulb in the unit with a regular incandescent light. Often, you are able to troubleshoot problems with your garage door remote control, but if not, it’s no problem to just buy a new one. Replacement remotes are readily available at most places that tools and hardware. |
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