Why Your Garage Door Is Opening/Closing On Its Own

If your garage door is driving you crazy because it keeps opening and closing on its own, this can be extremely frustrating.

Circuit Board or Wiring

If there is a problem with the circuit board or wiring, you may experience a problem with your garage door opening and closing. If it involves the wiring, the garage door opener will have to be reprogrammed or it might require a new fuse.

Sensors

There are sensors located at either side of the garage door toward the lower part of the door. If there is something that is obstructing the sensors, it will cause your garage door to come down and go right back up again. It could be something as simple as a spider web or the safety latch hanging too low that could cause this problem.

Impact of a Problematic Garage Door

When you don’t know when your garage door is going to open or close on you, it can be very problematic. Suppose you are pulling and your garage door hasn’t completely gone all the way up. If you begin driving in, the door may come down on top of your car. This scenario is all too common. If this were to happen, it could be dangerous to everyone in the car.

If your using tools and equipment that you store inside your garage, you may be outdoors performing yard work. If you need something that you left inside your garage, suppose it shuts as you’re approaching. You may find it inconvenient to have to go inside and open the door again. It could be even worse if you are going inside and then the door suddenly comes down on top of you. Sensors are a protection but again, if there is something blocking them, they won’t do you much good in this situation. Prior to sensors being installed and other safety features, garage doors were often the reason so many small children were admitted to the hospital due to the door falling on them. Since they have been installed, there are fewer incidences involving small children and garage doors.

Common Reasons Doors Garage Doors Open On Their Own

Reason: Your neighbor’s garage door remotes have the same frequency

Solution: You can ask change your frequency by reprogramming your remotes

Reason: A short on your wall button

Solution: Wiring should be examined and replaced by a garage door technician

Reason: Short in the keypad

Solution: Do the same as above (Remove wiring to have examined and replaced)

Reason: Short in the wiring of the safety beam

Solution: Troubleshoot the safety beam wiring. In order to do so the wiring must be removed and examined. When the weather is cold it can cause a short in the wiring. You should look for frays, cuts or pinches in the wiring. These are the types of things that can cause a short. If the wiring is stapled together this can also cause a short in the wiring.

Reason: Safety beam sensor shortage

Solution: You might have a safety beam sensor that is defective. The safety beam will need to be removed in order to effectively troubleshoot the problem. If there is more than one safety beam, both sensors need to be removed and added to the garage door opener sensor that isn’t working.

Reason: A defective circuit/logic board.

Solution: The circuit board must be removed and troubleshoot: (Apply the same methods as above)

Other none causes of your garage door opener opening and closing are as follows:

Reasons:

• Short in the garage door opener receiver board
• External receiver wiring shortage
• Remote sends random signals
• Radio tower or electric tower interfering with your frequency
• CB radios
• Police radios
• Faulty garage door electrical wiring
• Power surge

Getting Great Service

We certainly commend those who try to find the garage door problems and determine an easy fix. However, we can’t say the same for anyone who would deliberately put themselves in harm’s way just to save money. It is far more important to allow a garage door repair service to handle some troubleshooting to determine why the door will open and close without your doing anything.

You can definitely do something simple like remove anything blocking sensors, changing the frequency on your remote, asking your neighbor to change their frequency, reprogramming your wall remote if there was a power surge, changing batteries of your wall unit or handheld remote. These are not things that would put you in harm’s way. They are easy for anyone to do without the assistance of a garage door technician. Trying to handle beyond this point could be dangerous. Not only can they be dangerous but it could also cause further damages to your door, which means that you will likely incur additional expenses. You can avoid harm and additional expenses by relying on the services of a reliable garage door technician.

However, if you will notice from the above, there are many things that are electrical in nature, which could be the cause of your problem. If you have not been able to determine what the problem is on your own, it is safe to assume that is something more serious than what you can visibly see. Rely on the services of a trustworthy, reputable garage door service to eliminate the possibility of being electrocuted or having the door fall down on top of you. Regardless of how extensive the problem might be, you can trust that an experienced garage door repair technician will be able to find and resolve the problem that you are experiencing. We wouldn’t suggest that you try to handle any electrical issues on your own and contact the services of a garage door company.