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Garage Door Openers

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What is the difference between the Screw, Belt, and Chain drive garage door openers?

  • Chain Drive — rugged and reliable. Suitable for most garage doors.
    A chain drive garage door opener​ uses a chain to move the door open and closed. It's suitable for most garage doors. Chain drive has been around for many years and will last a long time with routine maintenance. Chain drive openers are typically available at an opening price point.
  • Belt Drive — quiet and smooth performance. Ideal for garages adjacent to living areas.
    A belt drive garage door opener is super quiet. These openers are especially great for garages that are attached to the house. We've all heard what a noisy garage door opener sounds like, with a belt drive opener you'll experience less sound and vibration when the opener is operating.
  • Screw Drive — powerful, fast and quiet. Maximum power for heavy doors.
    These garage door openers will give you the most power with the fastest operating speeds. If you have a large garage door measuring 14 ft. high or one-piece doors that are up to 8 ft high, then these are the openers you'll want to use.

Can I get a new remote control for my garage door opener?

Typically, replacement remotes for openers manufactured after 1980 can be purchased, however, if your opener was manufactured prior to 1980, remotes are no longer available.  Your system must be upgraded with a new receiver kit.

When I push the button on my garage door remote, my garage door does not open.  Why?

A remote that fails to operate the door could be caused by several issues. The most common is that your garage door remote may need the batteries replaced. The safety photo eyes on your garage door opener may be out of alignment, or your spring(s) may be broken.

My garage door does not close all the way.  It keeps going back up into the open position.

Check the photo eye sensors for your garage door opener. An object may be blocking the path of the sensors, or the opener photo eye sensors may be misaligned.

How do I release the door from the operator so that I can open the garage door by hand?

With the garage door fully closed, simply pull the red release cord down toward the floor. Always take special caution whenever you release the garage door opener if the door is not in the fully closed position, since the door may want to slam closed when released. If at all possible do not release the garage door when open, except for emergency or security purposes and close the door with caution. Some older openers may not have a red release cord and may need to be released by pulling down a handle, a spring-loaded clip, or even possibly unbolting the arm from the door and opener. If you do have an older door that is difficult to disconnect you may want to replace the opener with a new garage door opener that has an easy pull red release cord.

Why does the garage door reverse and open when I try to close it?

The likely culprit is an obstruction in the path of the door. Check for and clear any obstruction in the path of the door. If the problem persists, check to see if the safety beam LED indicator is blinking. If it is, check to be sure that the lenses are mounted 6″ from the floor on either side of the garage door opening. If the safety beam lenses appear to be installed properly, refer to the troubleshooting section of the owner’s manual for additional causes and solutions.

Why is the opener running but the door is not moving?

The door may be disengaged. Check to be sure that the red emergency release cord hasn’t been pulled. If this is the culprit, re-engage the carriage. How to re-engage the carriage depends on the model. See your owner’s manual for more details.

Why won’t my garage door open when I press the button?

Here are a few things to try:

Does the opener have electric power? Plug a lamp into the outlet the opener is plugged into. If it doesn't light, check the fuse box or the circuit breaker. Keep in mind that a wall switch may control some outlets. If there is power to the operator then there is some type of mechanical or electrical problem within the garage door opener itself and may need to be diagnosed by a qualified service technician.

Have you disabled all locks on the garage door?

Is there a build-up of ice or snow under the door? The door may be frozen to the ground.

Pull the emergency release cable and try to manually lift the door. If the garage door does not lift, the door springs may be broken. Call us to replace or adjust the springs. NOTE: Repeated operation may have tripped the overload protector in the motor. Wait 15 minutes and try again.

Why do I have to hold the wall button in to get the opener to close?

It sounds like the photo-cell safety beams are blocked, misaligned, or malfunctioning. Move any objects that may be interfering with the signal and verify that the photo-cell LED lights are illuminated as per the manufacturer's instructions. If the infrared beams are not blocked and the photo-cells appear that they are aligned, you will want to have an experience service technician diagnose and repair the problem. You will not be able to close the door with the remote-control transmitter until the photo-cells are in proper working order.