3 Reasons Why Your Garage Door Will Not Close

When garage doors won't close down, they don't only cause great frustration but also render the property insecure. So, you've two problems to deal with. Plus, figuring out what caused the problem. Mind you that it's hard to find the exact reasons for such issues. You need to have good garage door troubleshooting skills and good knowledge of how your door works. That's because there might be more than just one problem with the garage door.

What you will read here are the three more obvious reasons why garage doors won't close. But never underestimate the force of your door and the importance of fixing it right to avoid safety hazards. For this reason alone, it's always worth hiring a pro for garage door repair.

Let's take a closer look at the most common reasons for garage doors not closing down.

1. Damaged garage door tracks

When it comes to overhead garage doors, remember that they travel on tracks. The door panels are connected with rollers, which sit on the tracks and bring the door up and down. It makes sense to assume that any problem with the tracks will most likely bring the door to a halt. So what can happen to the garage door tracks that will stop the movement of the door?

• First of all, tracks are the perfect shelter for debris, rocks, tree branches and all sorts of flying objects. It only takes one rock to stand in the way of the garage door rollers and keep the door from coming down. Another problem is with track misalignment. When the fasteners securing the tracks are loose, the tracks move from their original position causing the rollers to jam and thus keep the door in the opening position. Tracks get dented too. Although small dents here and there won't keep the rollers from moving, a bent track will.

You will need a tech to handle the track misalignment or bent garage door track repair. Don't forget that such problems often lead the door off the tracks and so your door won't move.

2. Problematic photo eyes

The photoelectric eyes are essential components of electric garage door openers. Installed at the two lower parts on each side of the door, they transmit a beam and see each other in order to keep the door from closing on people or objects. Problems with the sensors begin when they are not aligned, are dusty, are broken or their wires which connect them with the garage door motor are damaged. In such circumstances, the system will be fooled that there is an obstruction under the door and thus keep it open. It's vital to check the sensors and either replace or align them.

3. The trouble with the travel limit

When you first install garage door openers, you also set the travel limit. This is the feature, which determines the opening and the closing point. The settings must be exact so that the motor won't keep working once the door is either open or close. But sometimes, these settings are off. This might lead the overhead door to remain open or close and open up again. What these settings tell your opener is how far the door should travel before it reaches the closing (or opening) position. When they are off, the door will close faster than the opener's expectations. And so the opener will reverse the door back up assuming that it has hit an obstruction. Clearly, the settings must be adjusted according to the opener's instructions. 

4. Is it the opener, not the garage door?

Drop the door off the chain by pulling the rope dangling. If that still doesn't work off the door chain, then you might need to consider a new entire garage opener, and it's not a remote or the door issue.