RECONNECTING A GARAGE DOOR OPENER FOLLOWING A POWER OUTAGE

A garage door opener is a clever, convenient device. By pushing the remote control, you can automatically open, close and pause your garage door. There are usually two controls for the garage door: one that you can have in your car and another that you can mount to the wall of the garage. These powered trolleys can be a huge help during your busy day.

If there’s recently been a power outage, though, your garage door openers may not immediately work once the power comes back on. During the power outage itself, the garage door openers will not work because they’re not getting any electricity. If your power’s gone out, you’ll want to disconnect the garage door opener so that you can manually open and close the garage door. Once the power’s back on, you’ll need to reconnect the openers correctly.

What to Expect During a Power Failure

When your power suddenly goes out, your garage door may open or shut on its own. Don’t be alarmed - this is completely normal. If your power goes out when your garage door is in the middle of opening or closing, it may stop somewhere in the middle and stay there. It also may go the opposite way that it’s going. For example, if your garage door is closing and there’s a power outage, it may reverse and being opening. If the door is obstructed during a power outage, it may either stop completely or go in the opposite direction.

Disconnecting the Automatic Garage Door Opener

Disconnecting the garage door opener is a cinch. Simply pull the same release handle down toward you and backward, so that it goes away from the door. It should easily disconnect, allowing you to operate the garage door manually until the power comes back on.

Reconnecting the Garage Door Opener

Follow these steps to reconnect your garage door opener after there’s been a power failure:

1. Find the manual release handle. This handle is usually hanging from the trolley of the garage door opener. The trolley’s purpose is to open and close the garage door. Usually, moving the trolley backwards will open the door and moving it forwards will close the door. Most manual release handles are bright red. They’re made in this color to be easy to find, particularly during a power outage.
2. Pull the manual release handle. Grasp it firmly, because it can take a bit of effort to pull it down. Pull is straight down.
3. Reconnect the garage door opener to the handle. When the handle goes back up after you let it go, the garage door opener will be reconnected to the trolley itself.
4. Test that you’ve successfully reattached the remote control garage door opener. Use both remote controls - the one in your car and the one in the garage - to make sure they both work. Test the garage door to make sure it opens and closes automatically, not just one or the other.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Once you’re reconnected the automatic garage door opener, it still may not work perfectly. Try these solutions before calling in a repair man.

• The control that’s mounted on the wall of the garage is also the control area. Open this device and make sure the tension screw is adjusted correctly. If the garage for isn’t opening, turn the tension screw clockwise. If the door isn’t closing correctly, turn the screw counterclockwise.
• Clean the sensor unit with a dry rag.
• On the back of the control unit are two screws. One should say, “Open Force” and the other should say, “Close Force.” Make sure these are properly adjusted.
• To see if the garage door will reverse as it’s supposed to when there’s an obstruction, get a two-by-four board. Open the garage door and place the board underneath. When the door hits the board, it should automatically reverse. If it doesn’t, you should turn the “Down Limit” screw counterclockwise just a little bit. Then, test the door again.
• If your garage door isn’t responding to the hang-held remote that you keep in your car, you could simply need new batteries. Replace the batteries and then see if the garage door opener begins to work.