Garage doors are resilient, but they can be quite fickle. Due to the fact that many are electronic in nature these days, they can be prone to malfunction, but other mechanical problems may pose an issue as well. Read on and find out about a few explanations as to why your garage door might have trouble opening or closing.

Sensitivity Adjustment

There is a sensitivity setting and component on your garage door. It basically tells the door when to move from an open position to a closed one. It could be the case that your garage door is adjusted too far – one way or another – on the sensitivity scale, which explains why it is not opening or closing. There are usually one of two ways in which you can adjust the sensitivity on your garage door. The component is usually located either on the electronic section of the garage door, which is usually attached to your garage ceiling, or it might even be located on your garage remote. Consult the manual of your garage door make and model to find out where this component is located.

Blocked Sensor

The sensors of your garage door are located on either side of the inner portion of the door, towards your garage floor. These sensors basically act as a safeguard so that your garage door will not close on anyone or anything that is blocking the sensor's path. The sensors operate by sending an infrared beam to one another. If the beam is cut, the garage door will not close. It could be the case that something is blocking the sensor or that the sensor is smudged. Take a clean, dry rag, and wipe down the lenses of both sensors, and, of course, make sure that nothing is blocking their path.

Dead Batteries In Remote

Is your garage door able to open by hand, but your remote simply won't open it? Then there is definitely not a problem with the mechanics of the door. One of the easiest explanations for this problem is the fact that your remote has simply ran out of battery juice. You can easily take out the batteries of the remote and place them in a battery tester to see if they have juice. Or, if you lack a battery tester, simply pop in a fresh set of brand new batteries. If this solves the issue, then you have your explanation right there: the batteries in your remote were simply dead.

Contact a garage door service company for more information.