Garage Door Won't Close? Common Causes

A garage door that goes down partway and reverses, or won’t move at all, is one of the most common calls, and the cause is usually one of a few things. Before you fight it, run through this. Forcing a stuck door is how a small problem becomes a bent track.

Start with the easy stuff

• Blocked or misaligned safety sensors. The little photo-eyes near the floor on each side must see each other. A leaf, a cobweb, a stored bin, or a bumped bracket will make the door reverse every time. Wipe the lenses and check that both indicator lights are steady.
• Something in the track’s path. A stray object or a build-up of debris can stop the door and trigger the reverse.
• The lock or vacation setting. A wall-button lock or a bumped setting can disable the close.

When it’s a real repair

If the sensors are clean and aligned and the door still won’t close, the cause is usually mechanical:

• A broken spring: the door is too heavy for the opener to control, so it refuses to close or slams.
• A cable off its drum or a roller out of track: the door binds and stops.
• A failing opener: worn gears or a bad logic board.

What not to do

Don’t hold the button down to force it, and don’t disable the safety sensors to “make it work.” Those sensors are what stop a door from closing on a car, a pet, or a person. If the simple checks don’t fix it, it’s time to pick up the phone. Rick will diagnose the real cause and quote a fixed price. Call (508) 563-6266, anywhere on Cape Cod from Falmouth to Chatham.