Category: Garage Door

Garage Door

Why Your Garage Door Is Opening and Closing On Its Own

Alpharetta Garage Door Repair
Alpharetta Garage Doors Spring Repair

When you have a problematic garage door, it can be very annoying. It opens sometimes and won’t open at others. Sometimes you may be sitting in your favorite chair in your lounge and you hear your door going up and down. This can be upsetting and confusing for anyone. However, this is a problem that occurs more often than you are aware. You might not know the first place to look to determine why your garage door is doing this but be assured that our garage door technicians at Alpharetta Garage Door Repair in Alpharetta, GA will know where to begin to probe the problem.

 

Probable Causes

 

When your garage door goes up and down on its own, there is usually a good reason for this. There is often a reason that can be explained, we just need to determine what it is. Our technician might begin to probe the problem by focusing their attention on your circuit board. Perhaps it is something as simple as a wiring issue or even easier than this, reprogramming your garage door opener. Our service technicians have even discovered that a fuse has blown and they simply needed to replace it in order for the garage door to begin functioning as usual. Your garage door has sensors at the bottom of them on either side of the door. If there is even the smallest thing blocking the sensor, it will begin to operate on its own. It could be something like a cord, a small trashcan or even a spider web that could cause the door to begin to operate without your doing anything.

 

Safety Concerns

 

If your garage door is opening and closing on is own, it could affect the safety and security of your home and valuables. Imagine going inside your home without locking the door behind you only to go back to the garage to notice that the garage door is wide open. This is a situation that has occurred on numerous occasions to plenty of homeowners. The idea that the door was closed when you left the garage and then it later opened on its own without your knowing it can be rather unnerving. The idea that someone could have came right in and stolen your sports equipment, gym equipment, lawn supplies and equipment or anything else of value that you store in your garage is too much! Worse than this, if you have a garage door that leads directly from the garage into your home and you don’t usually lock this door, imagine the possibility of someone simply coming inside your home due to your garage door opening unexpectedly. This would be devastating indeed.

 

Seeking Professional Help

 

Homeowners who like to do things themselves are to be commended. However, there are certain things that they simply shouldn’t take chances with and something as serious as their garage door malfunctioning is one of them. A garage door is extremely heavy and can be dangerous when it is inoperable. It’s ok to do routine maintenance on your garage door, such as lubricating the parts or cleaning the sensors but the minute the door begins to malfunction, move aside and allow the qualified garage door professionals at Alpharetta Garage Door Repair have a look at it for you instead. Our technicians will use specific safety precautions that they have been trained to use when troubleshooting garage doors. Rather than making the situation any worse than it already is, why not simply allow our team of professionals resolve the problem for you and keep you out of harm’s way.

 

Alpharetta Garage Door Sections

Common Reasons Your Garage Door Opens On Its Own

 

Your next door neighbors has the same garage door opener

Changing the access code or having the remote controls reprogrammed may remedy this problem.

 

Your next door neighbors has a similar garage door opener with the same frequency

Changing the access code or having the remote controls reprogrammed may remedy this problem.

 

Wired keypad has a short in it

Remove the keypad to troubleshoot. Replace once wiring issue has been discovered and resolved.

 

Wired keypad short in the wiring

Remove the keypad to troubleshoot. Replace once wiring issue has been discovered and resolved.

 

There may be a short in the wall button

The wiring should be removed for examination. Once the problem is determined, it can be replaced

 

Problem with the button wiring

The wiring should be removed for examination. Once the problem is determined, it can be replaced

 

Safety beam sensor wiring has a short

To troubleshoot, replace wiring to safety beam sensors. It may be necessary to upgrade from a 22 gauge wiring to 16 gauge wiring. When the temperatures drop it can cause a short in the wiring. Lower gauge wiring is thicker. Wiring will be evaluated for frays or pinches wires; these can cause a short in the wiring. Wires that have been stapled can also cause a short in the wiring because it cuts straight through the plastic coat that protects the wires.

 

Safety beam sensors have a short

If your safety beams are defective they will need to be replaced. They will have to be completely removed in order to troubleshoot the exact cause of your problem. When you own two of the same type of garage door openers, the safety beams of both will need to be removed to troubleshoot the problem.

 

Short in the logic board

You may have a defective circuit board. The circuit board will need to be removed and evaluated. When there are two of the same openers, remove the one that is working and add it to the one that isn’t working to troubleshoot.

Garage Door

Identifying Garage Door Spring Issues

Alpharetta Garage Door Repair

Garage door springs can confuse and confound a lot of people. There are so many half-truths and non-truths “out there” that sometimes people don’t know what to believe. Alpharetta Garage Door Repair offers these tips to help you decipher all the signs and symptoms of garage door spring issues so that you can make wiser decisions concerning repair, replacement or service.

Alpharetta Garage Doors Spring Repair

What are your springs and what do they do?

Your garage door springs are the highly pressurized metal springs that do the heavy lifting when you use your home or commercial garage door. It’s true that yo use your opener system to operate your garage door but it’s really your springs that do the actual lifting and lowering each time you access it. Springs come in two main types; torsion and extension springs.

Torsion springs are mounted horizontally over the top of the garage door while extension springs are mounted on either side of the garage door and hang above and parallel to the horizontal tracks. Both have limited life cycles and will need repair or replacement at some point depending on wear, age and use.

Torsion springs have an expected life of about 10,000 cycles. They are made of tempered and hardened steel and are built to last. Don’t forget though; the work they do is heavy and tough. Eventually, they snap or crack and when they do, they release a tremendous amount of stored energy. If you average two car trips daily, your torsion springs can last an average of about 7 years. When they break, they tend to break at about the same time so if you are replacing one, be prepared to also tend to the other. Extension springs tend to be found in older buildings and homes. They tend to last about as long as their torsion counterparts but all depends on things like humidity, use, weight of garage door, regular maintenance and other factors.

Forget DIY

DIY stands for do-it-yourself and most professionals don’t recommend that you install, repair or replace either type of garage door springs on your own. The reasons for this are many, but first and foremost is the fact that working with these highly pressurized and tempered metal springs is dangerous and not to be taken lightly. When a garage door spring breaks it releases tremendous pressure and every year many people are injured and some are even killed by improper handling of their garage door springs. Snapped springs can fly through windshields and can cause bodily injury as well as extensive property damage. All of this risk in the attempt to save a few dollars? It’s NOT worth it!

Do this check

Here’s an easy and fast check you can do on your garage door. First, make sure it’s in the down position. Then disconnect it from the opener unit by pulling down on the emergency release. If you are not sure where this is or how to do it refer to your opener’s owner’s manual or do a quick YouTube video check and you’ll find dozens of handy tutorials on how to do it.

With your garage door disconnected from the opener try lifting and lowering your door manually. Does it move smoothly and without strain or difficulty on your part? If so, your springs are most likely in good shape. If it is hard to lift or move down then your springs are probably out of balance.

Symptoms of spring damage

Did you try and operate your garage door but it fell back down on you suddenly with a loud and alarming noise?

When you operated your garage door last did it rise about 6 to 8 inches and just stop?

Did your garage door start to rise very slowly and then suddenly kick into gear and continue to lift more rapidly?

Did you hear a very loud bang when trying to operate your garage door? Sometimes they break when not in use and homeowners often think that someone is trying to break in to the house. Of course, they find no evidence of forced entry and forget about the loud noise until they try to leave for work the next day!

Does your garage door look crooked when it goes up or down? Broken extension spring

Alpharetta Garage Door Operators

s can cause this effect as they pull independently from each other, and if one breaks; the other tries to compensate.

Your garage door looks jerky as it rises. This means that one spring broke and the other is pulling the extra weight all by itself.

You lower your garage door but instead of it going down normally, it falls very fast! This means that the garage door opener is carrying the weight of the unbalanced garage door due to one spring breaking.

You notice a gap in your torsion spring, usually about 2 inches or so wide. If you look up and notice this, one spring has snapped and the metal has recoiled enough to form the gap.

Your top portion of your garage door looks bent. This can be due to your opener unit trying to lift the garage door on its own with little help from the springs.

When you disconnected the garage door opener from the actual door by pulling the emergency release latch, was it hard to open the door by lifting it manually?

Your best bet

You are not really betting but you are encouraged to call a licensed, bonded and insured garage door repair shop that specializes in spring service. You can call our Alpharetta Garage Door Repair shop or another local firm that you like and trust. Most offer free price quotes, same day service and round the clock emergency help in case you need it. Working with the right garage door repair shop can be an affordable and time saving experience. Think about it; your time is valuable and so is your safety. Why not enjoy warranty protection, numerous safety and performance checks and superior quality springs and service by calling the professionals that handle garage door springs on a daily basis?