Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting Hints

Are you experiencing problems with your garage door? The repair team at Madden Door has you covered, with garage door opener troubleshooting hints to help you get your garage door back in action fast.

Stay Safe – Turn Off Power Before Working on Your Garage Door

Unplug the opener to prevent surprises from family members attempting to open your garage door while you’re troubleshooting it. Make sure the door has completely descended before attempting to inspect your door. If you start with the door raised and pull the emergency release cord, it could come crashing down.

Verify Your Garage Door Opener is Not Working

To make sure the problem is with your garage door opener and not the door itself, pull the emergency release to disconnect the door from the opener. If the door does not operate correctly with the opener out of the equation, the problem is likely with the door itself. See our quick fixes for garage doors for help.

Determine Which Garage Door Opener Component is the Problem

Remote works, but the wall switch doesn’t

If your garage door remote works but the wall switch doesn’t, you may need to replace the switch or wiring. You can check it yourself or call a garage door repair technician to do it for you. To test, unscrew the switch and touch the two wires behind it together. If your door springs to life, you need a new switch.

Wall switch works but the garage door remote doesn’t

If the wall switch works but your remote doesn’t, start by replacing the batteries. If this doesn’t work, you may need a new garage door remote.

Garage door won’t descend (safety sensors)

Misaligned safety sensors, or sunlight shining on the sensors, can cause erratic operation. If your door will go up but will only descend if you hold the wall switch down, make sure your sensors are aligned. Aligned sensors will remain lit when the path is clear between them.

Power to the outlet, but no action with switch or remotes

This problem is typically a fried circuit board. Our garage door service technicians frequently see this issue following lightning storms. 

Have you tried all our garage door opener troubleshooting hints, but your garage door is still stuck? Contact Madden Door & Sons at 925-208-4907 to schedule emergency garage door service for your Fairfield, Vallejo, Brentwood, Lafayette, Hercules, El Cerrito, Brentwood, Antioch, or American Canyon home today.