How To Manually Close The Garage Door
If youre unable to determine the problem, you should call a professional technician. To secure your garage, pull down on the bypass rope attached to the trolley. You should then be able to pull the door closed. Make sure you lock the door with the locks or latches attached to the side of the track.
Be sure to consult your owners manuals for troubleshooting and safety tips before attempting to repair your door/opener.
Troubleshooting The Garage Door Opener When The Door Wont Close And The Light Blinks 10 Times
The blinking opener lights indicate that the safety sensors are likely blocked or out of alignment. Defective safety sensors or faulty sensor wiring also cause the opener lights to blink 10 times.
Follow the troubleshooting steps in this popular Sears PartsDirect YouTube video to find and fix the problem:
Heres a summary of the troubleshooting steps shown in the video:
How Often Should You Provide Maintenance To Your Garage Door
Its better to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to issues with any part of your home, including your garage door. Instead of waiting until there is something wrong with your door, you should be providing frequent maintenance to prevent anything from happening.
its a good idea to check your garage door at least once a week for any signs of problems. however, if this is not feasible, then at least once a month is fine. You want to look for any signs of damage, or motor issues. Stand outside and listen to the motor as the door is opening or closing. Check the springs. Make sure everything looks clean.
While this step seems redundant or unimportant, this is the best way to catch any issues early on. That way, you can prevent having to deal with being side blinded by a hefty repair bill, or having to deal with a serious problem.
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How To Troubleshoot And Fix Garage Door Sensors
Garage door sensors utilize infrared beam of light to detect the presence of objects, a similar technology to that found in remote controls and burglar alarm systems. The sensors are designed to reverse a closing garage door when theres an object in the way , but defective sensors could cause a garage door not to close.
Most garage door openers light bulb will flash and/or their self-diagnostic LED lights will communicate an error code when an issue like this occurs. Flashing openers light bulbs most likely signify that the safety sensors are blocked, out of alignment, or may have problems with the wiring. They could also just simply be defective. Now without further ado, here are three steps for troubleshooting faulty safety eyes:
Tips To Troubleshoot Your 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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What To Do When Your Garage Door Won’t Close
Uh-oh! Your garage door is stuck. Whats next? What do you do when your garage door wont close? Do you call a professional maintenance worker right away, or do you do some tinkering on your own? On one hand, you could end up paying a lot of money to fix a relatively simple problem, on the other you could worsen the situation.
Here are our recommendations for what to do when your garage door wont close:
Contact Marvins Garage Doors For Service
As the largest, heaviest and most technologically complex entrance to your home, the garage door is one of the most important security features of your house. Whenever your garage door fails to function as expected, the problem should be serviced as soon as possible.
Marvins Garage Doors provides 24-hour emergency service for homes in the Winston-Salem, Wilkesboro and Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. Contact Marvins Garage Doors whenever you need service for your garage door.
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Obstruction On Track And Tension Spring
To check for this condition, lift the garage door up and down with a hand truck or car jack to see if it moves freely.
Following that, if it does not move freely, the obstruction could be something as simple as dirt or debris that has gotten in between the rollers and the track itself.
That is why, if there is an obstruction on the track, it can stop your garage door from closing completely!
Troubleshooting Your Garage Door When It Wont Travel Smoothly
If the garage door doesnt travel smoothly on its tracks when you pull the emergency release cord and close it manually, check for bent rails or damaged rollers.
See our Garage door wont move: motor and travel troubleshooting video for more repair tips for your garage door when it isnt traveling smoothly.
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My Garage Door Wont Close During The Day
Garage door openers are installed with sensors to enhance the security of any given house. This has been the case since 1993, where all garage doors that were being sold in the United States had to be installed with safety eyes or the standard 2 part optical sensors. The modern garage doors employ the following two systems in creating a functional and safe garage: garage door wired to the house and are the remotely powered system. This utility proves to be very efficient and safe for most homeowners. When these two systems dont work its highly possible to experience issues like when your garage door wont close.
The safety eyes function as electronic detectors. They are able to detect if someone or something is under the door. Sensors are electronic devices that enhance the safety of a garage, by preventing the garage door from closing on people, pets or objects that are in the doorway. The sensors are usually placed above the flooring at each opening side of the garage door. One side you will find the sensor transmitter usually known as the sender and the other side you will find the sensor receiver. The sensors generate a low voltage beam that will complete the electrical circuit when the door is opened.
The best solution American Veteran Garage recommends for this problem will be to change the safety sensors. This should resolve the problem and your garage door will go back to working as normal.
Transmitter Or Garage Door Opener Issues
Do you notice the issue occurs when you use your garage door opener? Try closing the garage door with your opener remote first. Then, try closing the garage door with the button inside the garage.
If the garage door closes with the button but not the opener, then your opener, or your transmitter, isnt working.
Common transmitter issues include being too far away and your neighbors transmitters interfering. You may also need transmitter repair or a new garage door opener. Its best to consult with an expert first.
Also Check: Lift Master Garage Door Opener Manual
The Garage Door Sensors Are Blocked
Every garage door opener has sensors, sometimes referred to as eyes, on either side of the garage door. The eyes check to make sure nothing is in the way before the garage door closes, providing a measure of safety so people, pets, and vehicles dont get trapped beneath a closing door.
Sensors can get clogged or malfunction, which can stop your garage door from closing. First, clear any debris or spiderwebs blocking the eyes. If the beam between the two has been interrupted, the lights may go out, flash or grow dim. The sensors can also lose their alignment if one or both gets bent. Push or pull them gently to fix their alignment.
Once you realign the sensors, the garage door should open and close like normal once again. Clean out debris and recheck the alignment monthly to avoid the problem in the future.
Closing The Garage Door When The Opener Doesnt Work

Dont panic when your garage door opener wont close using the garage door opener while youre heading to work or elsewhere. Just pull the emergency release cord and shut the garage door manually to keep your garage secure while youre away.
You can engage the lock on the garage door to keep the door shut while youre away.
When you get back home, you can manually open the garage door and take the troubleshooting steps shown below to fix the garage door opener.
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Why My Garage Door Wont Close
By: spectrumohd|Published on: Aug 8, 2021|Categories: Garage Door Advice|
Having your garage door not closing or not closing all the way is something you should not put off fixing. Beyond it possibly causing trouble getting your vehicles in and out of the garage, It can pose a real safety issue. Both in whether it will decide to fall unexpectedly or leaving your garage open for robbery. It can also cause issues with your energy costs, as more of that Houston hot air gets into the garage and closer to the interior of the home. Yet in order to fix the issues, you first have to find out why my garage door wont close?
To find out why your garage door wont close, there are a few things you need to check. We have put together a few common reasons to why your garage door wont close. The issues found below are common and can be easily fixed yourself.
Adjust The Limit Setting
If the sensors seem okay, check the limit settings, or travel limits, which tell the opener how far the door must travel before fully closing. This is a safety feature to ensure it doesnt crush anything. Too high a setting fools the door into thinking the floor is an obstruction, causing it to open. Fortunately, the issue can be easily fixed with a screwdriver, the limit settings knob on the garage door motor, or other means indicated by the instruction manual. Just be careful not to over-adjust the limit, as this could cause the door to slam the ground or move too quickly.
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Reprogram Remotes And Keypads
Transmitters and wireless keypads are linked to your garage door opener through the receiver and logic board. The learn or program button on the back of your unit allows you to sync devices to that particular opener. If someone were to press and hold down the learn button, everything linked to that opener would be erased. Power surges from near-bye lightning strikes have also been known to reset circuit boards.
If you press your remote control and the door doesnt move at all, your transmitters could be the source of the problem. Reprogram your remote and wireless keypad to your opener following the instructions in your owners manual.
Something Is Blocking The Door
If something is blocking your garage door, this is an easy explanation. But oftentimes, you dont know something is blocking your garage door.
Earlier, photo eyes were mentioned. They detect objects that can block your garage door. But photo eyes dont only detect objects directly under your garage door. They detect objects up to a certain area.
Maybe your car isnt parked in fully or an object is too close to the door. Try and move as many items as you can. If nothing works, then it could be a more serious issue.
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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!
Common Garage Door Problems
When your garage door wont stay closed and youve done everything to repair it then its time for a replacement. At Feldco, we have everything from standard to carriage garage doors. All the garage doors are customized to fit into the opening and they come in a variety of different colors to bring out the curb appeal. Speak to a product specialist and get a free quote online today.
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The Door Travel Limit Setting Is Off
Garage door openers have a limit setting that tells them how far to close. If this drifts from the original setting over time, it could cause one of two problems: either the garage door will close all the way and then come back up, or it will leave a gap at the bottom. Whether the limit setting is too high or too low, you need to adjust it for the door to close properly. To do this, turn the knobs on the garage door opener using the owners manual as a guide.
Misaligned Bent Obstructed Tracks

The tracks or guide rails should be level, even and plumb to ensure smooth operation. Tracks that are improperly installed or have been hit by a vehicle can cause problems with door operation.
Tracks should be set wide enough that the rollers move freely, but not too wide that the rollers have the potential to fall out. Tracks can also be angled outward or outbalanced causing the door inch up and down during operation.
Tracks can also become obstructed causing the rollers to grind and catch during travel. The horizontal and vertical track pieces form a joint near the top of your door opening. If track is bent or obstructed this joint gets too far out of alignment causing the door to catch as it travels through the curved radius.
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Garage Door Wont Respond To The Remote
If the garage door stops responding to the wireless remote, there are several solutions to solve this.
- The first solution is to move closer to the garage door. There is a possibility you are out of range. This means that the antenna inside of the garage cant connect to the remote.
- Be sure that the antenna on the motor unit is hanging downward. Also, check that it is not damaged.
- Check to see if the garage door functions correctly with the wall switch. If it does, you likely need to replace the remote battery.
- After exhausting other options, reprogram the remote control. The remote can be sensitive and sometimes lose its programming. Each remote model has a different way of resetting and programming, so check the manual for instructions on this.
Adjust The Down Force Setting On Your Garage Door Opener
If your garage door stops and reverses directions on the way down, you may need to increase the down force setting on your garage door opener.
This YouTube video from Sears PartsDirect shows how to adjust the down force setting and test the new setting to make sure the door closes safely.
Adjusting the down force, resolving travel issues or correcting safety sensor problems should help you fix any problems with your garage door opener closing. If youre not able to solve the garage door opener problem on your own, schedule service and well send a Sears Tech to your home to fix the problem for you.
Schedule a repair
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What Does The Orange Light On The Garage Sensor Mean
The orange light in the sensor implies an incorrect or losing electrical connection. Follow the wires connecting the sensors to the terminal on the back of the opener. Check whether there is a staple or faulty connection. On the other hand, if the green light flashes, the sensors are out of alignment, or something is in the beams path.
Garage Door Won’t Respond To Remote Or Keypad
The Spruce / Ana Cadena
There are several possible solutions when a wireless remote control or mounted keypad stops operating the opener:
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Nothing Blocking The Sensors Check Their Alignment And Error Codes
Sending Sensor Receiving Sensor
Each sensor has an indicating light. The sending sensor has a yellow or orange LED light on it. This sending sensor transmits infrared light to the receiving sensor, which has a green or red light on it. The sending sensors yellow or orange LED light should always be visible, whereas the receiving sensors green or red light should only be visible when the sensors are aligned, unobstructed and function correctly. Check that both these lights are on, assuming there are no objects blocking the path between them. If the green or red LED light is off or flashing, carefully adjust the safety eyes until the light reappears and stay solid. Once the LED light reappears and stay solid, you have successfully realigned the sensors. Now try closing the garage door as normal. If it closes smoothly, your problem was simply misaligned garage door openers safety eyes.
If one of these lights not coming on, even after you have tried to align them, the sensors electrical wire may be defective. In order to diagnose the problem further, you may want to check the openers LED troubleshooting light which is located on your garage door motor unit. Look for an error code from the blinking LED light on your motor unit.
A Liftmaster, Chamberlain or Craftsman garage door openers with a single orange troubleshooting light will flash in the following manner:
Now, try to operate your garage door once more. Still no luck? Read on.