If your garage door is getting stuck at the halfway position, there are a number of possible causes. As garage door repair experts, we are often called out to fix doors that stop halfway and are consequently very familiar with the faults that cause such behavior. In this article, the team at A Well Hung Garage Door shares some knowledge we've have acquired over the years, to help you diagnose any problem you may encounter with a stuck garage door as quickly as possible. If you are still not sure what the cause is after reading to the end, please don't hesitate to call or message us.
Diagnosing a Stuck Garage Door: Tips From the Leading Overhead Door Company in Arvada
Whether your garage door is currently refusing to open more than halfway or it won't close more than halfway, it is probably due to one of the following five faults:
Misaligned Tracks
Misaligned tracks may make it harder, or sometimes even impossible, for the rollers on each side of your garage door to travel along the required path when the door is opening or closing. If the system detects an amount of tension or friction that cannot easily be overcome with the application of more force, it will stop and reverse. To establish whether this is why your garage door won't open, we recommend performing a detailed visual inspection of its tracks. In addition to looking out for any kinks, bends, or other obvious signs of misalignment, don't forget to check for obstacles such as protruding screws and broken sections of track. If everything seems to be as it should, move on to the next possible cause. On the other hand, if you spot an obstacle or misalignment issue with the tracks, we recommend contacting your local garage door maintenance and repair specialists without delay.
Poorly Aligned Sensors
If the sensors that prevent your garage door from crushing obstacles in its path are not properly aligned, they may send false signals to the control panel, resulting in your door stopping and reversing when it is only halfway open. A careful visual inspection is normally all that is needed in order to diagnose this issue: in the majority of cases that we come across, the sensors have become misaligned due to one of the modules being hit by a vehicle or household tool. If each pair of sensors is not pointing directly at each other, your garage door opener may be receiving a false warning about an obstacle that does not actually exist. The solution is to realign the sensors, which can usually be accomplished quite easily. However, if you should encounter any difficulties while trying to align your sensors, don't hesitate to call your local garage door repair specialists. Not all sensors are easy to align, and it's always better to be safe than sorry where heavy overhead doors are concerned.
Broken or Worn Springs
A garage door that hesitates to open more than halfway may have severely worn springs. Whether this is likely to be the cause of the problems you are encountering will depend to some extent on the age of your garage door and the associated opening mechanism. Newly installed garage doors should not have broken or worn springs, unless they were improperly installed or are of such low quality as to be unfit for purpose. Assuming that you had your door and door opener installed by a reputable overhead door company such as A Well Hung Garage Door in Arvada, CO, this is a remote possibility that you can probably rule out straight away. However, in order to be absolutely sure that nothing is overlooked, we recommend performing a close visual inspection of the springs in question whether your door is old or new, but do not touch the springs unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are doing. Garage door springs store a tremendous amount of force in the closed position and should only be maintained by experienced professionals.
Unseen Obstacle
It's one of the more obvious possibilities when an otherwise perfect garage door begins to misbehave in this manner but, even so, it's often overlooked in favor of more complex explanations. In fact, it happens so often, that there's absolutely no reason to be embarrassed if it turns out to be the cause of your stuck garage door issues. We tend to ignore the objects that we see on a daily basis or let them fade into the background, both figuratively and literally. For this reason, a poorly placed paint pot, air pump, or garden rake, which someone else might spot straight away, can become almost invisible to us. In addition to double-checking every inch, we suggest asking a friend or neighbor to do the same. It may well be that they are able to spot something out of place more quickly than you can.
Poorly Adjusted Travel or Force Limits
Most modern door openers are equipped with safety features that prevent them from going too far or using too much force, whether being opened or closed. If none of the above causes seems to fit the issues you are experiencing with your garage door, it may be that the problem lies with the travel limit or the force limit. These limits can normally be adjusted quite easily but, as each make and model differs, you should consult your owner's manual for detailed instructions. If you're not keen on attempting the adjustments yourself, we recommend getting in touch with a local garage door maintenance technician. Any reputable technician will be able to adjust the limits in line with the manufacturer's guidelines and diagnose the fault if it lies elsewhere.
If none of the above reasons apply to your door or you would simply like a professional to come and fix it, please feel free to call and speak to us. Our Arvada garage door repair team provides highly responsive service to people in the municipality and surrounding area.