My Garage Door Wont Go Down All The Way
This is one of the most common service issues your garage door can have. There are a myriad of reasons for this and well explain the most frequent ones.
If you have a garage door opener installed and when you press the button the door moves just a little and reverses OR doesnt move at all in conjunction with the light on your garage door opener blinking this is an indication of a safety photo eye issue. There may be something blocking the safety beam, which will not allow the door to come down. The safety photo eyes may have gotten bumped into and are out of alignment. The easiest way to tell if they are out of alignment is to look at the lights on the eyes themselves. In almost every case both of the lights should be solid, if one or both is blinking simply move one of them left or right with your hand until the lights become solid again.
If you operate your door manually and the door will not go all the way down dont force it. Something mechanical has most likely bound up. Carefully inspect the track and the rollers to see if something is stuck. A twisted or slightly bent track may be the culprit. Also check the cables. Sometimes a cable can become frayed and bind up during operation.
Note: If you find a frayed or broken cable we do not recommend you attempt to make that repair yourself.
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The Safety Sensors Are Faulty Or Misaligned
This is another problem that makes a garage door close partway and then open again. It happens when either of the safety sensors fails to emit or receive a signal. One way to tell the sensors are faulty is if the garage door wont close and the overhead opener, wall panel or sensors themselves flash, even though nothing is blocking the door. Faulty sensors must be replaced.
Do you have a garage door that wont close unless you hold the button down? If so, the safety sensors may be misaligned. Before you assume theyre faulty and replace them, try cleaning the sensors and adjusting their aim. This may be all it takes to get your garage door working properly again.
Garage Door Does Not Open Completely
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When the garage door ascends correctly but stops short it is fully open, these are the likely causes:
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How Do You Test A Genie Garage Door Sensor
Monthly testing of the safety sensors is advisable to ensure that they are properly working. This process helps you verify the safety features effectiveness to promote the safety of your pets and family from accidents. Also, testing enables you to ensure the general safety and health of your automatic Genie garage door opener system. Heres how to conduct the test
You will want to diagnose the problem by checking for misaligned sensors or wiring issues like a shorted wire, poor or incorrect wire connection, and wire disconnection. Mainly, you will not be dealing with a serious problem, and you can fix it yourself.
Why Is My Garage Door Opener Not Working

If your door wont open, and youre sure its not the door itself, then the first thing you need to do is check the batteries in your remote. In many cases, the batteries may just need to be replaced.
In some cases, the opener may not work if youve tried to activate it with the remote when youre too far away from your garage. Depending on the remote youre using, you may have to actually be in front of your driveway before it activates the opener.
If youre sure its not the remote, then take a look at the antenna on your garage door opener. It should be hanging down from the motor with nothing blocking it. Also, inspect it to make sure it hasnt been damaged in some way.
If none of these common garage door opener problems appear to be the culprit, then you can reset the transmitter. Consult your owners manual for this.
If your garage door opener is older, you may also want to schedule maintenance with a professional garage door repair technician. They can identify any issues you might have missed or tell you if its time for a replacement.
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Why Do I Have To Hold Down My Garage Door Button For It To Close
In order to find the proper solution for this problem, it is necessary to address every possible scenario. If a garage door mechanism isnt working properly, there are a couple of things that could have gone wrong. Nevertheless, weve got a solution for each and every one.
In this guide, we will talk about the most common issues, and it is quite possible that you will find a solution for your individual problem among these options. Before presenting a solution, we will address the problem itself, as well as the best way to detect it.
Without further ado, lets take a look at some of the most common issues if you have to hold a button to close the garage door.
Garage Doors, Tips and Troubleshooting Brett Rowley | 05 December 2018
When your garage door begins to play up there can be a number of different factors that could be causing the issue. It is important to identify which of the following issues you may be experiencing to ensure you take the safest and appropriate actions.
The situations below are door and motor-related, have a look at our garage door opener troubleshoot article for remote related issues.
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First Check The Sensors
The most common cause of this problem, is a dirty sensor. The sensors bookending your garage are there for safety reasons of course, causing the garage door to reverse course instead of crushing a child, animal, or prized possession in its path. Unfortunately, sometimes the sensors are a little too sensitive, and pick up obstructions you dont notice at first. Make sure everything in your garage is pushed back away from the door. Check if any overgrown branches are invading the sensors target area.
If nothing is in the way, you might just need to give the sensors a shine. All you need to do is clean the sensors with a soft rag, as dirt and dust builds up over time. The sensors can also become loose, after withstanding constant vibrations from daily garage door use. This will be easy to determine by giving the sensor a little wiggle. It should not be freely moving. It simply needs its screws tightened, if that is the case. Its also possible that the wires connecting the sensors to their power source have become loose. Its not hard to accidentally knock these wires loose when sweeping those dusty corners of the garage.
Genie Garage Door Sensor Bypass
If your Genie garage door problem persists and you are not in a position to hire expert services, you can always try to bypass the sensors as your last resort. However, note that the sensors play a crucial role in promoting your safety and that of your pets and kids. Therefore, bypassing the garage door sensors is not recommendable.
That said, you probably can attest that tolerating malfunctioning Genie garage door sensors can be quite frustrating. Bypassing the sensors would be a temporary hack to help you manipulate your garage door in the meantime before getting it rightfully fixed. Lets have a look at how to bypass genie garage door sensors.
If you have exhausted all discussed remedies to get your sensors working, try tricking them into thinking they are functioning normally. With the garage door in the fully open position, press and hold down the wall button continuously till the door touches the ground and then release the button. You will have the garage door in a locked down position by doing so.
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Manually Close Your Garage Door
If youre unable to fix your door by yourself, you might need a technician. While you wait, secure your garage by tugging down on the bypass rope. You should be able to close your door with the trolley disengaged. If your door doesnt have built-in locking latches, your tracks will have small holes that you can feed a bolt through that will effectively lock the door.
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Check The Owners Manual
Some models of garage doors blink a certain number of times and then stop before repeating the same thing again. This is the door trying to tell you what is wrong with it, and the solution is in the owners manual.
Check the owners manual and see what corresponds to the number of times the door light blinks, and you will have solved why the door does not close properly. If you have misplaced the owners manual, look for a downloadable version on the internet, or contact the manufacturer.
How To Repair A Garage Door When It Wont Close

Nothing is quite as frustrating as when a garage door wont close from driving up your heating bill in the winter, to leaving your property vulnerable to theft and damage, a garage door that wont shut is simply bad news.
The good news is, weve got an easy to follow guide on how to repair a garage door that wont close in a flash. We take you step by step, from the easiest fix down to the most complex, so that you dont waste any time. To that end, read on and get your garage door closing again!
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Something Is Wrong With Your Transmitters
There could be a few issues that might be causing your transmitters not to work properly. The most common reason could be that youre simply out of range of your garage door. Each garage door and transmitter combo has a specific range it will function in. If youre trying to open your garage door before you can even see your house, then chances are youre just too far away. Try waiting until you turn into your driveway to hit your transmitter button, and you should have more success opening your garage door on the first try.
When you know youre in range and the door still wont open, check to make sure the antenna is hanging down from the motor inside your garage and nothing is blocking it. Your antenna must be free from any obstruction to clearly receive the signal to open and close the door. Also inspect the antenna for any signs of damage. If it looks like there has been damage to the antenna, youll need to call your garage door technician to come out and replace it.
If you find that your garage door opens and closes randomly when youre not even hitting the button, it may seem like your garage door is going haywire and the only possible solution is to replace the entire unit. However, we assure you that theres likely a much simpler answer to this problem.
How Do You Open A Garage Door From The Outside
You can take the following feasible steps to manually open your garage door from the outside: This will activate the release lever and require the lock to be opened. Opening a garage door from the outside can be difficult, so its best to call a professional to avoid injury or damage to the garage door.
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Interference With Radio Frequency Signal
Liftmaster is working hard to improve your remote signal range and reliability with innovations like WIFI door operation, tri-band signals and Homelink connectivity. Unfortunately, older openers and remotes are still prone to RF interference. A while back I wrote an extensive article highlighting potential sources of interference and how to boost your signal called Top 5 Ways to Increase Garage Door Remote Signal Range
Common household items like lights, deep freezers and even kids gaming systems can cause all sorts of problems with your transmitter signal. Eliminating the sources of interference , changing frequencies, installing MyQ and extending your antenna can all help combat your remote failing to communicate with the openers logic board.
Your Garage Door Remote Control Could Be The Problem
If, while using the operating remote, your garage door refuses to open or close, the remote could be the issue. There are a few reasons why your remote is not working.
- You may be using the remote from too far of a distance away.
- The signal from the remote could be blocked.
- The antenna connected to your garage door system might be damaged. Inspect your system and make sure that the antenna is not only visible but is also hanging down properly from the motor.
- Check the batteries in the remote.
- Lastly, if the remote is not working properly, it may need to be reprogrammed. Read the owners manual to make sure you do it right. Some garage door openers also allow the owner to use an app on their phone to open and close the garage door. Check to make sure youre not experiencing any problems with this app.
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How To Fix A Garage Door That Wont Close All The Way
Home | Blog | How to Fix a Garage Door That Wont Close All the Way
If your garage door opens just fine but gets stuck at any point on the way down, you need to get the problem taken care of. A stuck door is more than an eyesore its a weak point in the structure of your home that leaves your property exposed to everything the world has to offer. In many cases, a garage door that wont close all the way is caused by something simple that you can resolve yourself without calling a professional repair service.
Why Does My Garage Door Go Back Up
The photo eye sensors we talked about in #1 can also make your garage door stop and go back up partway through closing. Why? The photo eye sensors are designed to sense objects and people in the path of the door and stop the door from closing on them. When they stop the door from continuing its downward path, they automatically send it back up. This is a valuable safety feature and also easy to correct.
If your door is only closing part of the way and then going back up, there may be something in the path of the door. In some cases, it may be obvious, such as a bike or other outdoor equipment. But, photo eye sensors are designed to be sensitive to all sorts of objects, which means that sometimes the offending object might not be so obvious. Depending on your sensors, they can also become obstructed by mud, leaves and other yard debris. Or, if there is dirt built up on the lenses, they may interpret the dirt as an object in the doors path.
Clear all leaves, mud and other yard debris away from the threshold of your garage door. Clean the lenses as well.
If youre sure that theres nothing blocking your sensors, then inspect the doors track. Sometimes, there can be buildup on the track that prevents the door from operating properly. You can clear buildup with a damp rag. Its also a good idea to periodically wipe down your garage doors track to prevent this issue from happening in the first place.
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