Garage Door Motor Failures -What To Do
It happens to the best of us – we arrive home, or want to leave home and the garage door just won’t open, causing enough frustration for you to want to blow a fuse!
Well, there can be many reasons for a garage door failing to open, but in the case of automatic garage doors it often has to do with the garage door motor. So, this article takes a look specifically at garage door motor failures and what to do if it happens to you.
There are many reasons motors can fail so let’s take a look at a few of these and then offer some advice on troubleshooting the garage door motor issues. Motor failures fall basically into two categories: mechanical and electrical, as well as sensor-related issues.
Mechanical Garage Door Motor Failures or peculiar noises
These can include – the motor running but nothing is happening because maybe the there is a drive belt issue; maybe the gears are worn which can cause all sorts of grinding sounds – and a broken capacitor with bulges or leaks could cause a humming motor, or one that won’t spin.
Electrical or Sensor Garage Door Malfunctions
These include Safety Sensors that may be blocked; or the sensor at the bottom of the door could have become blocked or no longer properly aligned, which would prevent the door from closing; power supply problems like wiring issues or the motor not receiving power – and remote control problems like dead batteries or signal interference.
5 point Garage Door Motor checklist
As always, we recommend consulting professional garage door experts if you’re unsure, so you can have the peace of mind that your issue will be solved correctly.
However, there is a simple check list you can do to just get an idea of what might be the problem…
1. Power: It may seem obvious, but the first thing to check is the power. Is it on and working? – and is the opener plugged in and the circuit breaker on?
2. Emergency Release: Check that it is, in fact, the motor, by pulling the red emergency release cord to see if the door operates manually.
3. Safety Sensors: Make sure the sensors are aligned and clean.
4. The Remote: Another obvious thing that often catches us out – simply check the remote batteries.
5. Check the Manual: When in doubt, you can always check the manual – or what we think is a better idea is to…
Consult the professionals at SA Garage Doors for repairs
Not only is SA Garage Doors one of the premium suppliers and installers of garage doors in the Western Cape and beyond, but we also service and maintain garage doors and we are always willing to assist you when it comes to garage door motor failures – and what to do about them.
If your garage door motor is not performing optimally, stop tearing your hair out! We are known for high-quality products and a wide selection of garage doors, as well as our product warranties and expert installations, so contact us today and find out for yourself that we are your garage door specialist!
