Garage doors offer convenience, privacy and security so it would be a concern when there is a malfunction. A garage door stuck in the closed position may tempt you to crash on through, but don’t let frustration get the better of you. Take a few minutes to troubleshoot some built-in safeties in your door that may prevent it from opening. Typical hotspots are the battery, the wiring and the electric eye that prevents your door closing on pets — it can also prevent your door from opening. These simple checks can keep the repairman away and save you big bucks. So what do you do when the opener remote doesn’t work? You press the remote and the garage door doesn’t move.
What next? If the garage door opener blinks twice when you press the remote, check the wall control to see if you have the lock feature enabled. The lock button feature disables all remotes. If the green light blinks on the wall control, the lock out feature is on. Press and hold the Lock option button for 2 seconds to disable the feature. If you press the remote and nothing happens, RF interference could be preventing the garage door opener from receiving the remote signal. To check the RF interference, hold the remote a few feet away from the motor unit and press the button. If the remote works in the vicinity of the motoring unit, then RF interference is likely preventing the remote from working at normal distances. Motion detectors on security lights or home alarm systems can cause RF interference. Electronic game consoles can also cause interference with RF signals. Find and eliminate the cause of RF interference to improve your remotes signal range. If you are unable to find the source of the RF interference, you can install an antenna on the side of your house to improve the reception. If this is the case then find the antenna mount point and add a wire to it to make it longer. If this does not work there are other solutions. There are extenders that allow you to send the signal from outside the house and it runs by a wire to the garage opener unit. There are reliable units called universal garage door opener receivers. These are an optional add on unit if you have issues opening your garage door from the outside. These units are used because they improve the range of your remote. As most garage door remotes work only about 20 feet from the opener, this unit will make it so you can open your garage from up to 100 yards away. You can also schedule a service technician to visit your home and find the source of the RF interference.
If the remote doesn’t work when you hold it next to the motoring unit, then a few different things could be happening. The remote battery could be dead. The remote could have lost its programming link to the garage door opener or you could have a defective remote control. A defective logic board can also prevent the remote control from activating the garage door opener.
First check the batteries, Check the battery in your remote operator by walking into the garage holding it in your hand. Press the button as you observe a small blinking red light on the box where the chain enters and exits. If the door opens as you get very close to the box, but fails to open as you back away, the battery is low and needs to be replaced. When you can’t see any blinking red light at all on top the box, the battery is dead. You can buy replacement batteries. Click the remote as you are standing under the box but can still see the top. If you can see that the red light on top is blinking, it means that the battery is fine and that the problem exists somewhere else in the system. Some remotes don’t have an LED light for signs of battery life, so you will have to try new batteries and see if the remote starts to work. If that doesn’t work and you know that the battery is good, then the remote might have lost its programming link to the garage door opener.
Reprogram the remote to activate the garage door opener. If you cannot reprogram the remote, erase all the codes by holding down the learn button on the motor unit for 6 seconds or until the learn light off. Reprogram the remote and see if it works now. If so, remember to reprogram any other remotes you use for this opener. If you still can’t program the remote after erasing all codes, reset the logic board in the motoring unit by unplugging the garage door opener for one minute. Restore the power and then reprogram the remotes. If you still have a remote that just won’t work, try reprogramming a different remote if you have more than one. If your other remotes work, then you will likely need to replace the non functional one. If you cannot program any remotes after erasing all codes and resetting the logic board, then you might be having a defective logic board in the garage door opener.
Check the door’s electric eye. This feature normally only fails when the door is already open and won’t close, but some models won’t work either way. Just a few inches off the floor on one side of the track, there are two small boxes that aim a beam across the floor at each other. If the beam is interrupted or won’t align, the door may not work at all. Use a tissue to clean both electric eyes. The most often cause of this problem is a spider making a home in the eye, so if you’re afraid of spiders, you might want to use something else to get him out of there.
Align the eye. If you’ve cleaned the eyes but the door still won’t budge, the eyes may be misaligned. The two eyes should be pointing directly at each other. They are typically mounted on thin piece of metal that can be accidentally bent. If it is misaligned, you should be able to see this. You can’t see the beam, but if you take the small box with your fingers, you can bend it. Bend it a little at a time, while clicking the remote until the door opens.
NB: Undertaking repairs or maintenance to appliances or power equipments can be hazardous. Should you choose to undertake repairs or maintenance, you are assuming the risk of injury to you as a person and to our property. In an effort to reduce the risk, use proper tools and safety equipment noted in the applicable guide and follow all the instructions. Don not proceeds until you are confident that you understand all of the steps and that you are capable of completing the repair. Some repairs and maintenance however should only be performed by qualified technician from C and M Garage Doors. – Call Today | 702-655-3667
