Why is Your Garage Door Opening and Closing By Itself?

We could just say “ghosts” and leave it at that. But that’s not going to help you much in your quest to get to the bottom of why your garage door is just opening and closing randomly, potentially providing the whole world with access to your garage and its contents (which may no longer be there if a burglar happens to be close by at the time). As garage door installation and repair pros in Loveland, we’ve encountered, diagnosed and fixed this problem more times than you’d probably think. We’re going to discuss some of the more common causes below.

Reasons Why Your Garage Door May be Opening on Its Own

In our experience, the following are the most common reasons why you may appear to have a garage that’s possessed, and are the first things we would check.

• Remote Buttons are Stuck – How long have you had your current garage door opener? If the answer is something along the lines of “a long time” it might be worth having a close look at the buttons on the remote and the wall panel. Through use, they can get worn and dirty, and this can sometimes result in the button sticking. It’s often easy to diagnose this issue, as when the button sticks, the garage door won’t just open and stay open, it’ll go through a continuous cycle of opening and closing.
• Remote Storage is Not Ideal – Where do you store the remote for your garage door opener? If you have it hanging up somewhere or laid on the top of a desk, this won’t apply. But if you store the remote in a drawer, it’s possible that something else has been stored on top of the remote, pushing the button and sending a signal that opens your garage door.
• Batteries Need Changing – When was the last time your remote had new batteries? If you can’t remember, this is a quick solution you should definitely try. It’s not super common, but worn batteries have been known to randomly fire signals to the opener and open the garage door. See if fresh batteries make a difference.
• Button is Broken – Stuff breaks. It’s just part of life. But if the button on your remote or wall panel has broken, it could have caused loose wires inside that are shorting against the button housing. When that happens, your garage door opener could be activated. If this sounds like something that is a bit too “techy” and you’d like a garage door professional to look at it for you, call one of our garage door repair experts in Loveland.
• Someone Else Using an Identical Frequency/Code – Your garage door opener is activated when the remote or wall panel button is pushed, and a specific code is sent to it via a specific frequency. It could be possible that you’re incredibly unlucky and that one of your neighbors is using a garage door opener that transmits the same code via the same frequency. This issue is extremely rare on newer openers (but theoretically possible if their remote transmitter pairs with your opener), but is a known problem with older garage door openers. It’s also quite easy to diagnose this problem, since your opener will be activated at the same time as theirs. So if you see your garage door opening at the exact same time as your neighbor’s, this is likely the issue. Once diagnosed, your opener will need to be set to an alternative frequency.
• Debris Triggering Sensor – As with most products these days, your garage door opener comes with a number of safety features, one of which is the reversing mechanism. This consists of sensors that, when triggered, will cause the opener to stop closing the door and instead reverse it to the open position. This is to stop your garage door from crushing you if you were to get trapped on the garage floor at any point (it does happen). These sensors can be very sensitive and even things such as sticks, rocks or a stray empty box could cause your garage door opener to stop closing and open the door back up again.
• Your Safety Sensors are Misaligned – If your door is partially closing, stopping and then opening again, and you've already checked for debris blocking the sensors, this is our next suggestion. There are normally 2 sensors – one on either side of the garage door – that are connected/aligned using a beam of light. It all sounds very Star Wars, I know, but this is how they ensure they are properly positioned to be able to protect you. However, when one or both of the sensors is knocked out of alignment, this will trigger the reversing mechanism and cause your garage door to open again.
• Damaged Circuit Board – Electrical circuit boards do experience faults over time, and if you’ve had thunderstorms and power outages recently, this is definitely something to check. If the circuit board has been damaged, it can cause your garage door to behave very erratically, seemingly opening and closing at will.

If you’re having problems with your garage door and are in need of garage door repair in Loveland, C & M Garage Doors is the company to call. We’ve been helping homeowners and business owners alike diagnose and fix problems with their garage doors for over 30 years. Call our friendly team on 702-655-3667 to get help immediately.