3 Reasons Your Garage Opens by Itself

Blog

Imagine coming home to an open garage door, yet you vividly remember closing it when you left in the morning. Such a situation is scary and exposes your valuables to theft. Ideally, a garage door should open and close on command, not on its own. When your garage door opens on its own, that's a cause for concern.  

Read on to know why your garage door opens on its own.

Defective Remote Control

A defective remote control can send wrong signals to your garage door, which causes it to open unexpectedly. Oftentimes, poor handling of the remote control is to blame for such issues. Some people keep remote controls in dusty pockets or leave them on patio tables and car visors.

Although garage door remotes are sturdy items, such unkind treatment affects their inner circuit board functionality. As a result, the remote contacts and wires wear out and get loose. This situation causes the remote to send the wrong signals to your garage door motor. So, your garage door opens by itself, and only a new remote control can correct the situation.

Stuck remote buttons could also cause your remote to send false signals to your garage door. Check if pressed-down buttons are the cause of the remote malfunction. 

Incorrect Limit Settings

Most garage door openers have 'open' and 'close' limit settings. The limit settings tell your garage door when to stop as you open or close your garage door. With inaccurate limits, your garage door may not open or close all the way. So, the garage door opens as soon as it hits the ground.

You can fix this problem by adjusting the limit settings. First, locate the two limit switch adjustment screws in the opener's mechanism. If your garage door has a problem closing, use a flathead screwdriver to turn the adjustment screw anticlockwise to close the door completely. For a garage door that closes then opens back up, turn the screw clockwise, and your garage door will run normally.  

Cross Frequency

If your neighbor has their remote programmed with codes similar to yours, your door will respond every time your neighbor uses their remote. To test this, check whether your door opens every time your neighbor opens theirs.

If that's the case, set your opener to a different frequency. Follow the guidelines on the opener's user manual to change your frequency. But if that seems too complicated, contact a garage door expert to help you get things back to normal.

With a changed frequency, other objects with frequency receivers (like radio towers, radio stations, police radios, and CB radios) won't interfere with your garage door operation.

Luckily, most of the issues that cause your garage door to open by itself are fixable. So, don't hesitate to reach out to garage door repair services when your garage door begins to act up.  

Share

2 May 2022

Security Doors, Frames and Locks: Securing Your Home's Openings

Hi, my name is Brenda, and welcome to my blog. A few years ago, my home became the victim of a burglary. I didn't think it was possible because we live out in a relatively remote rural area, but it happened. After that, I knew I never wanted anyone in my home again without my permission. As a result, I begin to secure my home. I ended up realising the the doors were less secure than the windows. I replaced our doors with metal security doors, but I also got new frames and locks. If you want to keep your home secure, take a look around this blog. It has posts on everything I have learned about securing your doors. I hope these ideas keep you safe and happy!