9 Reasons Why Your Garage Door Won’t Close – Troubleshooting Guide
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.
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We had service rep., Hunter DePolo. He was extremely efficient, knowledgeable, professional, and courteous. I recommended him to two of My neighbors. I highly recommend him. He gets 10 out of 10! It’s not every day you have people come to your house with such good Customer Service. The work he did was excellent!
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Garage medics did a great job repairing two items on my garage door. Matthew (the technician) explained all the work that needed to get done with the estimate. The work was done very professionally and completed in a timely manner.
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This was among the best experience I've ever had with a company. Their website says that the customer is number one. That means great communication, on time, letting me know they were on their way so I could be at work and then go home in time to meet them. Showing deep knowledge and a sincere desire to help me put my garage door back better than it ever was. Everything went great! Lance and I'm sure the rest of the technicians on their team are truly garage door medics of the highest skill.
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Rick helped me 3 years ago, so I was happy to see him again! He's very knowledgeable and personable, you're lucky to have him as an employee.
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Lance was helpful and friendly, but also so incredibly knowledgeable. Garage Medics are the best. Thanks again.
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Hunter was very professional and my father and I were given a lot of information on the garage door. Hope to work with him again in the future
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Highly Recommend Rick! I cannot say enough great things about Rick! From start to finish, he was absolutely amazing! He was extremely honest, professional, knowledgeable, and incredibly quick. It’s not every day you come across someone who genuinely knows what they’re doing and takes pride in their work. Rick was able to identify the problem with my garage door right away and get everything taken care of in no time! He was very thorough, explained everything clearly, and made the entire process completely stress-free. What I appreciated most was his honesty and integrity. He wasn’t trying to upsell unnecessary repairs or take advantage of the situation. He genuinely wanted to get the job done right! His professionalism, efficiency, and attention to detail truly exceeded my expectations. You can tell he has years of experience and genuinely cares about his customers. Finding someone who is reliable, trustworthy, and skilled is priceless! If you need garage door repairs, Rick is absolutely your guy! I would recommend him to anyone without hesitation. I will definitely be using him again for any future garage door needs! Thank you, Rick, for your outstanding customer service, honesty, and exceptional work! You deserve more than five stars!
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Rick is awesome. Always informative about the condition of my garage door. Leaves me with peace of mind.
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Lucas couldn’t have been better. My garage door fell on my car while I was in it.The door was not only ruined but part of the top of the car, the fin shaped antenna, was torn partially off. I, understandably, was quite upset. He was incredibly patient and understanding with my dilemma. He gave me many options for what we could do about the door after he had physically bent it back into shape. He explained that if I replaced the door, I would have to replace the motor because of the requirements of Sacramento. He used masking tape to put the fin back in but strongly, encouraged me to get it fixed professionally immediately by somebody I trusted. If water got in — and we are expecting rain -– it could cause untold damage. In no way was he condescending. He included me in all of the decisions. He is a model for a service tech. Carole Spencer
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We can always count on Lance to figure out the issue, get it solved, and make the process pleasant and productive. He’s a great Go To!
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Lance was our technician. He did a wonderful job – arrived on time and did all of the work quickly and our new garage opener is working great. He was a pleasure to work with and we highly recommend his services.
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Did a basic tune up. Tightened the chain and tightened the bolts on the garage door sections. Had to replace two nuts. Also, lubercated the joints.kept me informed of the process and how to help maintain the garage door sections he was very friendly and informative.
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Came out to service my garage door the same day I called. Technician Alfonso was prompt and very courteous. He assessed my needs and showed me my options. Once decided, he said it would take 3-4 hours. Which I was ok with. Work was done in about 3 hours and we and very pleased with our new garage door opener. Alphonso explained the operation of the new opener to me. The only thing I was not happy with is that a part of my water softener was broken. I was able to tape it back together. Over all I am bery happy with the work that was done. Not sure about cost but I have no comparisons to go by.
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Hunter was great! My garage door remote had stopped working and I’d had no luck programming a universal replacement. Luckily, he had the same remote and got everything working again in no time. Quick, friendly service. Highly recommend!
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Tell them to send to Alfonso! He gets it done!!
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