Pro East Cobb Garage Repair

Mobile Garage Door Repair Service

Call (678) 264-3588

Door closure problems

Don’t you hate it when your garage door gets a mind of its own? For instance, you try leaving for a job interview. You really want this employment opportunity and the job itself is a “dream come true.” Not only are you qualified for the position, but you’ve now been called for a chance to show why you deserve it. You are dressed to the hilt, and you’ve practiced all of your possible interview questions. You start the car and back out of the garage, when it happens; the garage door won’t close! It started to, but then it went back up. What do you do now? You NEED to leave but your garage is loaded with tools, bicycles and other items of value so you just can’t leave it open!

Don’t panic!

Garage door closure problems are more common than many realize. That’s why we offer these handy and simple tips; we want to help relieve some of the stress and panic that a non-closing garage door can cause. Read this post and you might just save yourself a lot of stress (not to mention a service call!) later on!

Here’s your problem…

When a garage door doesn’t close, it is usually due to one of two problems. 1) Your garage door sensor beam got interrupted, or 2) your garage door met with some kind of resistance. You can call a garage door service provider for help or any of the many other licensed, bonded and insured garage door repair firms in the area. Or, you can take a look and see if you can spot any of these issues and simply fix the problem yourself (for free!).

Check your sensor beam

By sensor beam, we mean your photoelectric safety eyes. These sensors should be pointing directly at each other at all times. One light should be shining (the transmitter) at the other sensor which is the receiver. If for some reason they are not aligned, your garage door won’t close properly and will go right back up. What could cause your sensors to not be aligned properly? A simple bump or nudge is all that it takes. Try adjusting them manually so that they aim right at each other. Also, look for frayed or cut wires as rodents can chew them and sharp objects can cut them or pull them out of place.

It’s always a good idea to remove objects near your sensors so that they don’t interfere with the signals or bump the safety eyes out of place. These items could be bicycles, wheelbarrows, garden tools, skateboards, shovels, rakes, boxes, trash cans, bags of dog food, etc.

Check for dirty sensor lenses and clean yours if needed. Use a soft, dry cloth and wipe the lens carefully as you would a camera lens. Just like it’s hard to see through dirty eye glasses, it’s equally hard for dirty sensors to transmit proper signals to each other. Also, look for spider webs on or near your safety eyes and remove them gently with a stick if found. Insects love our humid and moist East Cobb, GA weather and they thrive in dark and remote corners of our garages.

Garage door resistance

When your garage door encounters any kind of resistance, it is designed to go back up. This is actually a smart safety feature and is usually one that is welcomed. On the downside however, resistance can prevent your home or business garage door from closing when you want it to. Your job is to simply find where the resistance is coming from. Take this easy resistance test. Close your garage door and find the red handle at the end of the emergency release latch. This will disconnect your garage door from the opener system. Try and lift your garage door manually and test the resistance. Was it easy to open or not? If it wasn’t, you may have a broken wheel, a bent track, or a damaged spring. Unfortunately, these are not easy do-it-yourself fixes (like the safety eye misalignment).

What else?

Other factors that can contribute to garage door resistance include dirty tracks and broken cables and tension springs. Check your tracks regularly and clean out any dirt, lint, gum, small rocks and other debris. It doesn’t take much of it to stop your garage door from closing and to return it to the open position. This is because the garage door is designed to roll forward on the rollers (in the tracks) and if they are even slightly blocked; it won’t. Keeping your tracks clean and unobstructed can potentially save you a garage door repair service call down the road so keep an eye out for any blockage that might interfere!

Tension springs and cables

Lastly we want to bring these to your attention. Your cables and tension springs are designed to help lower your garage door slowly and safely. After all, your wood or metal garage door weighs in at several hundred pounds! You don’t want THAT giant wall to come crashing down on you when it closes! If one or both of your springs were to break, it would put undue pressure on your cables causing them to snap with a loud and unpleasant noise. If this happens, stay out of the way and call for help. Cable repair and torsion or extension spring service is NOT recommended for non-professionals to attempt.

Final thoughts

Please keep your garage door (and all of its parts) clean and well maintained and it will last you longer and serve you better. For best results, be sure to keep the telephone number to a local East Cobb, GA garage door repair shop in your smart phone for time saving and convenient access to professionals whenever needed!