Performing Timely Garage Door Maintenance and Repairs

Overhead garage doors are pretty standard in most household garages. They roll up to the ceiling of the garage when you open them, then pull down to close the garage when needed. Most homeowners install automatic openers to their overhead garage doors so that they can open them with the push of a button. While your door may have been operating normally up to now, if it's giving you trouble closing, it's important that you address the issue right away. Here are some tips to help you get to the bottom of the issue.

Does It Start To Close, Then Reverse?

If your garage door starts to close normally, then suddenly reverses movement and opens again, this is typically the result of a safety override. Most every automatic garage door includes a safety feature that prevents the door from closing when there is someone or something in the way of the track. A laser transmitted between a set of two receiver eyes monitors the space just above where the door closes. If anything breaks the laser's beam, it automatically reverses the door's movement.

If there's nothing physically obstructing the path where the door closes, you may just need to clean those receiver eyes. Debris or dirt on one of the eyes could result in an incomplete beam, causing the door to reverse. In addition, if the system has been installed for quite some time, wear and tear could have caused the eyes to fall out of alignment, so the beam isn't connecting with both anymore. If that is the case, you'll need to call an overhead garage door contractor to help you realign them.

Does It Close Completely, Then Reverse?

Sometimes the door will close all of the way, and then automatically reverse again. If this is the case, it's not because of the sensors. Your automatic garage door is programmed to know how far the door has to move before it's fully closed. That's how it controls the door's movement. If the programming is inaccurate, the door's opener may think that the door still has distance to travel, therefore it was interrupted in its movement. Since it registers as an interruption in the movement, the safety override engages and reverses the door.

This isn't as simple to fix as a problem with the sensor. Your opener will need to be reprogrammed so that it registers the proper distance to closure. A garage door installation and repair technician will be needed for this.

For more information, or to schedule a repair, contact garage door companies like Automatic Door Company.