Step #1

  The first step is to determine if you have a garage door or opener problem.  One way to do this is with the door in the closed position (Be very careful not to disconnect your door in the open position as this can cause serious injury) put the door into the manual operation mode by pulling the disconnect cord and attempt to manually open your garage door.  A garage door should be able to be lifted with out to much force all the way through its travel and once in its open position it should hold itself open.  A properly balanced door will hold itself open at mid point through its travel.  If the door does not open you need to double check that it is disconnected from the door opener.  You can do this by removing the pin that connects the garage door opener arm to the door and try again.  If the door is unable to open you should begin to do a visual inspection on the door.  Look at you garage door springs and lift cables first.  If you see any sign of breakage you have found your problem.  If you have a Wayne Dalton Door with the Torquemaster spring inside the tube it is a little harder to tell if you have a broken spring.  Typically the door will be hard to open manually and the winding indicator will read zero.  If all seams well with your springs look for obvious problems such as locks engaged, hardware issues like bent track worn or damaged rollers and hinges. Somewhere you will most likely determine the problem that is causing your door not to open.  If the door is operating properly and moves freely you have pretty much ruled out the door as the problem and you can move onto step 2.

Step #2

 Once you feel your door is operating properly and you think your door opener is the problem it is time to determine if it is a mechanical, electrical or safety feature problem.  Typically if a garage door will not close from the open position with the garage door opener and reverses immediately or part way down it is a safety device.  You can usually push your wall button down and hold it in through the down travel to get your door closed. Once the door is in the closed position release the button now you can begin to look for the problem.  Look at your photo eye safety sensors to see if they are aligned or damaged.  If the photo sensors are aligned and the lights are not lit on your photo sensors check for frayed wires or lose connections.  We have a full line of safety sensors for all makes and models of door openers available.  If the photo safety sensors appear ok it is time to look on the motor unit itself to check the close force of the opener.  Most openers have an open and close force adjustment to determine the pressure that it will apply when traveling in the open or closed mode.  Sometimes these adjustments are located under the lens cover for the light.  In many cases this adjustment needs to be made to accommodate weather changes and door wear.  Most of these adjustments can be made with a small screw driver or thumb turns.

Step#3

  If your garage door opener will not open or close the garage door when holding down the wall button and you can hear the motor operating it is most likely an internal drive gear on the door opener that has worn or damaged.  Many garage openers use nylon drive gears that wear in time and need replacing.  The drive gears are either located under the rail assemble or inside the motor unit itself.  You can inspect them by simply removing the motor cover or rail. We carry a number of these drive gear on our site.  In the case you do not see the gear you are looking for please contact us via e-mail and we can locate it for you.

Step #4

 Another common garage door opener problem is with the travel carriage itself. This is the part of the opener that runs up and down the opener rail and connects the door to the opener and also works as the disconnect device.  In many screw drive units the teeth that engage into the screw wear out and fail.  Also garage door openers trolley disconnects and the attaching point for the chain/belt break or become worn.  Most travelers are still available as replacement parts and can be purchased for a reasonable price on or website. 

Step #5

 If you find your garage door opener totally non responsive make sure you have power to the garage door opener outlet.  To do this simply find a light or power tool you know work and plug it into the outlet to test. If you have power and the garage door opener is not responsive at all most likely you have an internal electrical problem such as circuit board or motor start capacitor.  If you can smell a burnt electrical odor many times the problem lies in the motor start capacitor. It is very rare for the actual electric motor to be the problem but it is possible. Garage door openers are very sensitive to power surges.  If you find your door opener is not working the day of or after a sever storm that had lightning your door opener could have a circuit board that failed.  We suggest that you always install an inexpensive surge protector to protect you valuable garage door openers components.  If you are dealing with a garage door opener ten to 15 years old or older you should consider replacing the unit before making costly repairs. 

If you have not located the problem or are uncomfortable performing the repairs you should consider calling your local garage door repair company.  Once again always use care and caution when performing garage door and opener maintenance, inspections and repairs.  Be sure to unplug the motor unit whenever servicing a garage door opener.