Garage Door Opening by Itself – Garage doors were created to provide convenience to homeowners, automatically opening and closing themselves when they need to go out for errands or have family gatherings outside their homes.
Moreover, these doors provide a prestigious/rustic aesthetic to one’s house, depending on the taste of the people living there.
They also provide security to the whole house, seeing as how they are massive in size and are difficult to pry open.
Unfortunately, it can be quite unnerving when overhead doors open by itself and the question of why it does that is usually unanswered, should people not contact their local repair technicians.
An overhead door is run by an internal mechanism composed of many individual parts such as hinges, brackets, and cables.
Since we use our overhead doors daily, it deals wearing on the door more than we realize.
Garage doors are complex mechanisms; thus, when any part of the device fails, no matter how minor it is, it can affect the entire system and the door.
So, why do these doors open? What could be the indication of such a problem?
Here are the following reasons as to why such problems arise:
- Malfunctioning circuit board
- Radio interference
- Condition of the remote
- Debris and buildup
Malfunctioning Circuit Board
Older Stanley doors are known for opening and closing by themselves due to incorrect placement of components and having been moved or displaced by natural causes such as lightning strikes that can cause power outages, power failures, and overheating.
Radio Interference
Garage doors use radio frequencies to open and close.
Both the overhead doors and its openers must be on the same frequency.
Also, there may be other devices out there such as CB radios, police radios, and even neighboring garage doors that use the same frequency.
This may interfere with the radio frequency waves of the overhead doors and cause it to open by themselves.
Condition of the Remote
The transmitter, the remote one uses to open the overhead door, as suggested by the name, transmits indicative signals to the door to make it open and close.
Make sure all the transmitters that are used to open and close the overhead door are working properly.
Pay very close attention to any button that doesn’t function properly or stuck buttons.
Stuck buttons, in particular, may prompt the signal to continue to operate and the door to randomly open or close.
Also, do not forget to check the wall buttons/openers.
Garage Door Opening by Itself – Debris and Buildup
Garage doors have this safety feature incorporated into its internal systems known as the reversing mechanism.
It is a sensor located near the floor of one’s garage, right where the door closes.
This sensor is essential to the whole mechanism of overhead doors because, without it, people, together with their belongings, may be crushed by them.
When something is under the door, the sensor immediately detects.
The door will then reverse its closing motion, opening itself again as a result.
While this is a great feature, it can also prove itself a nuisance.
When the overhead door is starting to close up and its sensor identifies something below it, may it be debris, a tool, or a kid’s toy, the reverse mechanism will automatically be triggered.
Try to locate any debris or items stored in the garage that might be too close to the threshold that prevents the overhead door from closing all the way.
Additionally, a buildup of snow or ice could be enough to block the sensor and trigger this mechanism.
Garage Door Opening by Itself – Weather can frequently be the culprit of causing one’s overhead doors to keep opening on their own.
What Can Be Done to Address the Matter?
The easiest thing to do is to check for a stuck button in the remote or the wall-mounted opener.
Once it’s confirmed that there is a button that doesn’t function the way it’s supposed to in the remote, the two options are to either fix or replace it.
Turn off the breaker or fuse on the electrical panel that’s connected to the overhead door opener.
Check the wall-mounted control and the opener wiring for any damage.
If one can’t find some, the opener itself may need to be repaired or replaced.
The same can be applied to repair overhead doors.
Lastly, ask for professional assistance.
There are numerous companies in the areas of Stony Plain, Spruce grove, Fort Saskatchewan, or Beaumont, that offer high-quality assistance and maintenance to the overhead door problems of homeowners.
