It Never Closed Completely In The First Place
User error is the number one reason that people believe their garage doors have opened on their own. As you hit the remote button to close your door do you drive away as its closing? If the answer is yes then there is a good chance your garage door never completely closed in the first place. Unless you watch your door travel the entire way down and close you cant be 100% sure it even closed. Operator error is the first place to start when troubleshooting ghost openings.
Possible Circuit Board Issues
When a garage door descends on command but then immediately reverses itself, the problem is usually with the sensor eyes along the side tracks or with the door’s wheels binding in their tracks. But when the door begins to descend all on its own, the problem may point to the opener’s logic board or the circuitry inside the motor unit itself. Garage door technicians have reported instances of this, sometimes accompanied by the opener’s lights flashing, much in the same way that some door openers flash when the sensor eyes detect an obstacle.
Theoretically, it might be possible to repair circuit board problemsthe problem could be a matter of resoldering a loose connection. This isn’t a project for most casual DIYers, although it might be worth the exploration if the alternative is to replace the garage door opener anyway. But having a service technician come out to attempt such a repair will probably cost you as muchor morethan replacing the garage door opener entirely.
Installing a new opener is a very doable project for any moderately handy person. Given that the problems with your opener pose real safety and security risks, a new opener makes a lot of sense if you can’t stop its mysterious behavior soon.
Count On Custom Overhead Doors To Repair Your Garage Door
When your garage door begins acting up, it can cause a huge disruption in your day-to-day life. If your door opens up on its own and you cant find the cause, its time to call in a professional.
At Custom Overhead Doors, were ready to fix any issues with your garage door to get it working like its brand new again. Contact us today to schedule your service or repair!
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Wall Button Wires Are Touching
We have seen occasionally where the garage door opener was activating because the two wall button wires were touching by the circuit board terminals. You want to make sure the wires at the motor head are not stripped back too far, leaving exposed wiring. There should only be enough bare copper wire exposed, so it can make contact with the spring-loaded clips or screw terminals, depending on the type you have.
If your automatic garage door opener has screw down terminals like pictured above, make sure the wires are fully wrapped around the screws, making good contact. Furthermore, make sure no wires are touching the terminal next to it. If it is, the garage door opener could activate or not function properly.
Why Is My Garage Door Opening On Its Own
Have you noticed your garage door opening and closing by itself? While this can be an annoying issue, it also poses security concerns. When your garage door continually opens and closes on its own, it can leave your property vulnerable to intruders and make it difficult for you to control your energy costs. You might also deal with pests or animals freely roaming your garage.
Luckily, this is a common issue that professionals can fix. Learn how to find the source of the problem, discover troubleshooting tips and see how experts can quickly get your garage door back in working condition.
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Check The Control Buttons
If the wires appear to be in good shape, next look at the control button mounted near your side entry door. If it is old or dirty, the button may stick. The symptom of this is a garage door that is in constant motion, opening fully then immediately descending, only to start the same cycle again. There may also be loose wire connections inside the button housing itself. As these wires short against the housing, the electrical impulse causes the door opener to activate. Replacing a malfunctioning control button is another very easy fix.
In The First Place It Never Completely Shut
One of the most common reasons for your garage door opening and closing on its own is that it never closed, to begin with.
If something interrupts your garage door when its in the middle of closing that sets into motion your system to reopen it.
The force of that motion can be strong enough to change the mind of your door and cause it to open back up. Its also possible that something was stuck in the track of your garage door.
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Check With Your Neighbors
In rare instances, a nearby neighbor may have a garage door opener set to the same wireless code as your opener. This is rare, but it does occasionally happen. It is quite easy to checkjust have your neighbor activate his or her garage door and see if your door begins to move. The solution here is for you to reset your garage opener to a new codeevery garage door opener has instructions for how to do this.
You Recently Programmed A Remote Keypad Or Vehicle
The most common reason we come across as to why a garage door is open is your neighbor has their garage door remote programmed into your circuit board. Youre probably thinking, how could that happen? Well, it happens when you or someone in your household tries to program a new remote, outside keypad, or vehicle into the garage door opener circuit board.
Garage door openers will stay in program mode for 15-30 seconds, depending on the brand. From the time you press and release the Program or Learn button, and then press the corresponding buttons on your remote or keypad, your neighbor could be opening or closing their garage door. If so, their remote will be programmed into your circuit board if it is the same brand and frequency.
Most garage door openers will flash the light bulb or the LED light next to the Learn button will go out once a new device is programmed. If this happens before you program your remote, then someone nearby has programmed their remote into your circuit board. This is more common than you think, especially in dense neighborhoods.
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Your Opener Limit Settings Needs Adjusting
Does your garage door only reach halfway when you attempt to open or close it? Does your door go in the opposite direction after making contact with the top or bottom? If so, you may need to adjust your limit settings.
Your limit settings tell the garage door how far it needs to go up to completely open and how far down itll need to go to close. If you suspect your limit settings are incorrect, a professional can reset them so your garage door opens and closes properly again.
My Garage Door Opens By Itself Is This Possible What Could Be The Cause Of This And What Is The Solution
Is this an actual problem?
Yes, its possible, although rare, for your garage door to open by itself. There are a few unusual factors that can cause your door open by itself. Here are a few scenarios we’ve come across:
According to a persistent urban legend, a plane passing over your home can cause your garage door to open. To correct many peoples misimpression, we should point out that it all depends on the frequency used by the door opener. The frequency used in older garage door openers could interfere with certain military planes. This problem was corrected starting in 1993 by employing a different transmission frequency.
A couple of possible solutions:
Before leaving home, wait a few seconds to ensure visually that the door is completely closed and that none of the security mechanisms have triggered it to reopen.
Another solution: if you want to be sure that your garage door is completely closed, there is a garage door monitor that you can install in your home that will indicate whether the door is completely closed or not.
The permanent solution: use of LiftMasters MyQTM technology.
For your peace of mind, we recommend MyQTM technology, which will allow you to:
- Open and close your garage door from your smartphone, tablet or computer
- Receive an email when your garage door is opened
- Program the door to close automatically 60 seconds after it is opened
In order to benefit from this technology, you need to have a door opener model that offers built-in MyQTM technology.
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Troubleshooting Ghost Opening Checklist
A garage door that opens when you arent home or randomly overnight is a huge security risk. If you are experiencing unwanted openings you can attempt some basic troubleshooting and safety measures. If you cannot find a solution its probably time to call a qualified door professional for help. Here are the first things you should do after discovering unwanted ghost openings.
- Make sure your door is actually closing & not reversing just before hitting the floor.
- Immediately clear out the opener memory by holding down the learn button. Then reprogram your remote and keypad.
- If you have an attached garage lock the interior door restricting access to your house.
- Check low voltage wiring for exposed and bare spots or loose connections to the wall control and opener.
- Check with neighbors to insure their remotes and keypads arent accidentally linked with your opener.
- Make sure the buttons to your remotes are not permanently stuck down.
- With the door closed unplug the opener power cord from the outlet while you are away.
Look For Wiring Problems
Sometimes this can be caused by a wiring problem. In this case, look for a short in the wiring. Most of the time, the wiring short circuits between the operating motor unit and the wall button in the garage. A short circuit can send a charge to your garage door, causing it to open. You should also check the safety sensor wiring, which can sometimes cause your door to open unexpectedly. Inspect these visually and look for damaged or exposed wiring. If damaged, hire an electrician or garage door specialist to do the work for you. Attempting to fix it by yourself could result in harm.
If the visible circuitry looks fine, you might have a more complicated problem with the logic board or internal circuitry. Here, you can either replace the unit entirely, or call for specialized repairs from an expert.
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Consider The Control Board And Transformer
If the safety sensors and operator button are working correctly, and no bad wiring or connections are found, your issue may be with the control board in the garage door opener itself. A power surge from a lightning strike or other electrical problem can cause the board to go bad, as well as the transformer. If you are handy with a multimeter, you can check the voltage into and out of the circuit board and transformer. This will confirm if one or both of them are bad and need replacing. Fortunately, if you find that you do need a replacement and youre already an American Home Shield® customer, your opener may be covered meaning you thought ahead and protected your budget from this unexpected repair.
Bonus Tip: While were on the subject, consider installing a surge protector where the operator plugs into the receptacle, to be on the safe side in the future.
The Logic Board Or Circuit Board Is Damaged
The logic board is the brain of your garage door opener and it controls all of its operations.
If its damaged, then theres a chance that your garage door will go off track and this could be the reason your MyQ garage door opens by itself.
The circuit board is the main computer for your garage door opener and its responsible for controlling everything. If the problem is on this end, then your opener is most likely not going to work at all.
The board can blow a fuse or a capacitor which can cause it to malfunction and break the circuit.
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Genie Openers Near The Nsa Building
We no longer see this issue, but years ago homeowners in San Antonio, Tx with Genie garage door openers were coming home to a wide open garage door. They also noticed their remote range was limited when trying to open the garage door from a distance. What had changed?
It turns out the NSA built a new building on the Northwest side of San Antonio that was emitting frequencies causing garage door openers to activate and remote range to suffer.
It took a while to figure out, but eventually Genie sent out external receivers to homeowners that used a different frequency. This device connected to the garage door opener circuit board and remotes were programmed directly to it. How is that for conspiracy theory?
Common Causes Of Phantom Operation
The most common cause of your garage door opening on its own is an electrical short in the system. The issue could be in the circuit board, the wall button, the wired keypad, and the remote. Defective or dirty parts, shorts in wiring, interference from radio frequencies, and even remote batteries that are out of power can also cause this problem.
One issue that could be causing the garage to open by itself is a neighbors garage door remote. Openers that are over twenty years old could be activated if their system is just as old. These days, the codes used to open the door are called rolling codes. There are over 100 million possible combinations, which means you are not likely to have your door opened by a neighbor with a newer system.
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The Door Opener Button Is Stuck
If you have a door opener button outside of the garage, it could just be that the button is stuck. Dirt and debris can get in the button, causing it to stick down and continually open and close the door. Take a look at your door button, and see if its stuck down. If it is, a simple cleaning is all thats needed to solve the issue.
Why Is My Garage Door Opening On Its Ownposted On July 7 2017 By Ken Fielding
Have you had your garage door open on its own, time and time again? This can be frustrating, especially when you are on a schedule and dont have time for garage door malfunctions. When your garage door opener is on the fritz, here are some things you can do to figure out why its not working properly.
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The Beam Sensor Is Misaligned
You garage door might open on its own if the photoelectric array is misaligned, as well. If the beams being sent do not hit the sensors, the garage door gets the mistaken impression that something is in the way. These sensors are sometimes easy to knock out of alignment. Realign the photoelectric sensor array and see if your garage stops opening.
The Remote Control Is Defective
The issue may be down to the remote control to your garage door. If the remote is defective, or the batteries are wearing down, then it may start sending out random signals, including the one to open and close the door. Change out the batteries to see if that resolves the issue. If it doesnt, you can buy a new remote to see if that will help. Its a fairly inexpensive fix, so its worth trying out if youre not sure whats causing this problem for you.
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Force Limits Set Incorrectly
When your door is serviced, the garage door technician should also service the motor at the point travel limits are set. . If motor servicing was not included in your recent service, then it might be set incorrectly. Therefore, the door is re-opening after a command it may have travelled too far and come back on itself.
What to do: Be selective when choosing a garage door service provider. Tempting as it may be to use the local Gumtree special, dont. If someone is servicing your door, they should do it correctly. Otherwise, you could waste your money. The motor and garage door needs to work in harmony to ensure safe, secure operation. Therefore, servicing one without the other is pointless. To fix this, we recommend a full garage door and motor service. This will reset everything and ensure the two are working harmoniously.
Get Your Neighbors Involved
Another possible solution to your garage door problems: Someone else is living close to you with a remote that is programmed with the same code that yours is. This is pretty unlikely, but it is possible. If you have an old operator, made before 1993, it is programmed by positioning clips. You can go ahead and reposition the clips and see if that works. But before you do, visit all your close neighbors with garage door operators, ask them to open their doors and see if yours opens, too. If it happens, case solved.
AHS assumes no responsibility, and specifically disclaims all liability, for your use of any and all information contained herein.
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Can Someone Copy My Garage Door Opener
The only way that I can think of that somebody can copy your revolving code is to actually have their their own compatible remote to your opener unit and they would have to have access to your garage door opener and all they would have to do is push the learn button and programs their personal remote to your garage Jan 20, 2016.