What the sensor lights, the flashing opener and the odd noises are telling you, the fixes that are safe to try yourself, and where springs and cables become a job for a technician.
If your garage door won't close, check the safety sensors first: the two small eyes near the floor on each side of the door have to face each other with nothing in between, and both of their lights should glow steadily. If it won't open, check the power, the Lock (vacation) mode on the wall control, and whether the emergency release has disconnected the door from the opener. A door that's off its track, suddenly heavy, or hanging from a broken spring or cable should stay put until a technician sees it.
You press the button, the door drops a foot, has a think about it, and heads back up while the opener lights blink at you as if it's your fault. Usually it's a nudged sensor, the afternoon sun or a bumped bracket. Start with the cheap checks.
The photo eyes send an invisible beam across the opening, and if it breaks while the door is closing, the opener reverses. They're required, not decoration. The US rule 16 CFR 1211.8 says the opener must check the device on every close, and if it fails, an open door can't close more than 1 foot (305 mm) below the top. UL Standards & Engagement says photo eyes, edge sensors or equivalent devices became mandatory on these openers in 1993, and Canada has its own standard for powered door operators, CSA C22.2 No. 247.
On LiftMaster and Chamberlain openers, the sending eye shows an amber light and the receiving eye a green one. Per Chamberlain's troubleshooting:
Chamberlain's diagnostic codes add that the opener lights may flash 10 times for a sensor fault. Genie's Safe-T-Beams use red on the sending sensor and green on the receiving one, and Genie says both must be solid for the door to travel down. A flashing red light means a fault.
A bent bracket needs straightening before the sensor will aim true.
Chamberlain notes that sun shining into the receiving sensor can block the beam, which is why a door can fail at only one time of day. Genie's advice is to keep the green receiving sensor out of direct sun, or shade it with a small box or a piece of cardboard over the top without covering the lens. Wipe both lenses clean. For wiring, Chamberlain's checks are the white wire on the white terminal, the white-with-black wire on the black one, and a gentle tug on each. To test a suspect wire, connect the sensors straight to the opener's terminals: lights on means the old wire is faulty, lights off means the sensors are.
On many Chamberlain and LiftMaster openers, pressing and holding the wall control's push bar closes the door as a temporary measure, though Chamberlain says units made after February 3, 2022 don't have this feature. On a Genie, Genie says you can disconnect the beams and hold down the wall control button, and remotes and keypads won't work meanwhile. Watch the bottom edge the whole way down: you're the safety system now. Don't pull the emergency release to drop an open door, since Chamberlain warns a door with weak or broken springs can fall without warning.
Sensor lights steady and still no luck? Check the travel limits, which tell the opener where closed is, and the force setting, which decides how hard it pushes before backing off.
A door that touches down and bounces back up usually has its down travel set too far, Chamberlain says; less often it's the door, and rarely the logic board. Older openers adjust travel with screws and newer ones with buttons or arrows, so follow your manual, then run the reversal test.
Chamberlain's checklist runs: sensor alignment, then an obstruction, then a close limit set too short, then a door binding in its tracks. The door must be balanced before limits and force can be set correctly. For the balance test, pull the emergency release with the door closed, lift the door 3 to 4 feet (about 1 metre) and let go. It should stay put or drift gently. If it slams shut or shoots up, call a trained door technician.
Turning up the force makes the reversing stop, and that's exactly the problem. Chamberlain says never to increase the force beyond the minimum needed to close the door, and never to use it to overcome a door that binds or sticks. Chamberlain puts garage doors at a couple of hundred to a thousand pounds. Test the reversal monthly and after any adjustment, as Chamberlain requires: lay a 2x4 flat under the middle of the open door and close it. It must reverse. The US rule, 16 CFR 1211.7, requires reversal to begin within 2 seconds of contact with a 1-inch (25.4 mm) obstruction.
No light, no hum, no click? Check the plug in the ceiling outlet, the breaker, and any tripped reset button on a garage outlet. If the whole street is dark, use the emergency release, as in the power outage answer.
If the wall button works and the remotes don't, check Lock mode. Chamberlain says it makes the opener ignore remotes, and the giveaway is the opener lights flashing twice when you press one. Hold the Lock button on the wall control until the indicator stops flashing or turns solid. Leaning on the wall control with an armful of groceries can switch it on.
Motor running, chain moving, door not? Someone pulled the emergency release and the trolley is unhooked from the door. Chamberlain's steps: on a square rail, pull the cord toward the opener, then run the door fully open and closed; on a T-shaped rail, pull it straight down and the trolley reconnects on the next cycle. A motor that hums while nothing moves is a different fault, usually a worn drive gear or a tired starting capacitor.
After Lock mode, try a fresh battery, a test from right under the opener, and a look at the antenna wire. If the remote dropped out of memory, re-pair it using how to program a garage door opener.
Each hinge on a sectional door carries a roller that runs in the track, as Chamberlain explains. When one leaves the track, the door gets unpredictable.
Stop using it, unplug the opener, and keep people and cars out from under the door. Every extra cycle can bend another panel.
Worn rollers wobble, crack or grind, and track gets bent by bumpers and bins. Chamberlain's advice is to call a trained door technician whenever a door binds, sticks or is out of balance.
If a tune-up with lubrication doesn't quiet it, the part is worn, not dry.
It's not a good idea. The door is still hanging from cables and springs under tension, and Chamberlain's balance-test page says never to loosen, move or adjust doors, springs, cables, pulleys, brackets or their hardware. Prying a roller back in can shift the whole load at once. Resetting an off-track door typically runs $120 to $260 in Metro Vancouver, which beats replacing a panel.
Springs do the lifting: a balanced door is supported entirely by them, Chamberlain says. Most doors use a torsion spring on a bar above the opening, with cables from the bottom corners winding onto drums. Chamberlain also says these springs are under high tension, must be serviced by a qualified door systems technician, and aren't something it helps with. When an opener maker says hands off, take the hint.
Leave the door closed and stop running the opener. Chamberlain warns that a door with weak or broken springs may fall rapidly and without warning. Spring replacement typically runs $180 to $480 in Metro Vancouver, from a single spring to a matched pair.
Frayed strands, a slack cable or one corner hanging lower all point to a cable, and cables carry the springs' tension, so they're technician work too. A pair typically runs $110 to $240 in Metro Vancouver.
Call a technician for springs, cables, drums or brackets; a door that's off track or binding; a failed balance or reversal test; or sensor wire hidden behind drywall. Sensor alignment, travel limits and Lock mode are fair game for you. In a Richmond townhouse complex, check with the strata or property manager first, since the bylaws decide who maintains what, and a shared parkade gate belongs to the strata.
Typical Metro Vancouver ranges, parts and labour included:
Door width and weight decide where in its range a job lands. More is under garage door repair.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Who should fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Door starts down, then reverses | Sensors blocked, misaligned or in sunlight | You |
| Both sensor lights off | Broken wire or failed sensor | You, or a technician for hidden wire |
| Door touches the floor, then reverses | Down travel set too far | You, with the manual |
| Door stops short of the floor | Close limit, binding or poor balance | You for the limit; a technician for the rest |
| Wall button works, remotes don't | Lock mode or flat battery | You |
| Motor runs, door doesn't move | Trolley disconnected or worn drive gear | You to reconnect; a technician for the gear |
| Door crooked, roller out of track | Off track or broken cable | A technician |
| Loud bang, door suddenly heavy | Broken torsion spring | A technician; leave the door closed |
Not permanently. Under 16 CFR 1211.8 the opener checks the sensors on every close and won't close normally without them. The hold-the-wall-button workaround gets the door shut once while you wait for a fix. Don't make it a habit: the eyes stop the door before it meets a child, a pet or a car.
Often nothing, since Chamberlain's list of causes starts with misalignment and obstructions. When a technician is needed, realigning the eyes, fixing a bracket or replacing a sensor typically runs $60 to $140 in Metro Vancouver.
With the door fully closed, pull the emergency release and lift the door by hand. Chamberlain says never to pull the release handle to raise or lower the door, and to stop if the door feels unusually heavy, won't stay open or slams shut, because that points to the springs. When the power returns, reconnect the trolley and run the opener through a full cycle.
Usually, if the wiring is sound. Unplug the opener, buy sensors listed for your brand and model, and match the wires to the terminals. Mount the eyes facing each other no higher than 6 inches (15 cm) off the floor, align them until both lights are steady, then run the reversal test with a 2x4 laid flat under the door.
If the sensors check out and the door still won't cooperate, or the trouble is a spring, a cable or a door hanging off its track, Fast Locksmith Richmond repairs garage doors and openers on site, from realigning photo eyes and resetting travel limits to replacing rollers, cables and springs. Call 604.332.2291 or book online and describe what the door is doing and what the lights are showing.
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