Garage doors may not close for many reasons but, believe it or not, most of the time, the problem may be as simple as having an obstacle in its path. Like a rock or a toy.
We’ll take a look at some of the simple reasons why your garage door won’t close and some of the more serious reasons where, at that point, you’ll need an expert to help you with.
As always, it is best to consult an expert garage door technician to make sure that your garage door problem is diagnosed properly and solved the first time.
Here are the simple reasons why your garage door won’t close.
1. There is an obstacle in it’s path.
Dirt, grime, rocks, and even dust can accumulate and block the garage door’s path. When this happens, the garage door cannot fully close and will keep on re-opening.
2. Dirty photo-eye sensors.
Photo eyes are small sensors placed on both sides of the door and they send signals to each other when the door is closing. If this signal is interrupted, the door will not close. This prevents accidents from happening like damaging a toy or a bike underneath the door or hitting a person while the garage door is closing.
If this is the case, simple wipe clean the sensors.
3. Something is blocking the sensors.
Like I said, the sensors send signals to each other and if there is something in between the sensors, the garage door will not close. Sometimes, even sunlight or glare could block the sensors.
Move any item that could be blocking the sensors.
4. The sensors are misaligned.
The sensors need to face each other in order to send signals. If they are properly aligned the LED lights in the sensors will be steadily lit. If they are misaligned however, the LED lights will blink. If this is the case, simply move the sensor until they are aligned.
5. Dead transmitter batteries.
If your remote works occasionally, you might have a weak battery and the transmitter is having a hard time sending a signal. To check if you have a weak or dead transmitter batteries, open and close the garage door using the wall controls. If that works seamlessly, replace your transmitter batteries.
6. Enabled disconnect switch.
The disconnect switch allows you to manually open and close the garage door. This comes in handy during power outages and you can’t use the remote to open the door. Check if you just forgot to disable the disconnect switch.
Note: Since July of 2019, it is now a law that new garage door openers sold in California include a back up battery.
Check this out too: Benefits of a battery back up.
Here are some more serious reasons why your garage door won’t close. You’ll need to call a garage door repair technician to help you with these.
1. Damaged tracks.
If you see that the tracks are bent or warped, this could prevent your garage door from closing. Depending on the severity of the condition, you might need to install new tracks.
2. Misaligned tracks.
Overtime, the tracks could get misaligned due to the weight of the door and some other factors. This is a serious issue and you should call a professional immediately if you notice that the tracks are not precisely parallel.
3. Limit setting adjustment
Though this can be done by yourself, adjusting the limit setting could be frustrating. The limit setting defines how far the door needs to move in order to fully close. This could take a few tries so having a professional do this is a good idea. This is usually taken cared of during installation but if for some reason this becomes a problem, just call someone.
Different factors could cause your garage door to malfunction and not close all the way. When this happens, investigate in order to determine the problem. If it is a simple obstacle that is causing the problem, fix it yourself. If you are unsure of what the problem is or if it’s one of the more serious problems listed above, call a garage door repair technician immediately.
Garage Door Medics provides honest and reliable garage door repair, service, and installation for both residential and commercial garage doors using a team of highly-trained technicians. We serve Southern California, Phoenix, Denver, Boise, & Dallas & Fort Worth.
