Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting and Repair - How to fix common problems

[@loisdotcom]

Thank you Adam. I am a recent widow. I'm no handyman. My garage door opener stopped working. I was ready to purchase and have a new one installed... but decided to watch your video first. From one of your tips, I went and checked the sensor. Yes, something stored in my garage had gotten moved and was blocking it. My garage door opener is actually working fine. You saved me a lot of time, trouble, and money! Thanks again!

[@jeffreyburns7562]

Lol ll

[@ericdircks]

Thank You Adam. I Am a Recent Widow. I'm No Handyman. My Garage Door Opener Stopped Working. I Was Ready To Purchase And Have a New One Installed... But Decided To Watch Your Video First. From One Of Your Tips I Went And Checked The Sensor. Yes Something Stored In My Garage Had Gotten Moved And Blocking It. My Garage Door Opener Is Actually Working Fine. You Saved Me a Lot Of Time Trouble And Money Thanks Again

[@dalcer1]

My Chamberlain opener would not let the door come down .. just CLICKS! I had called a service company to come .. $$$$$! Thank you ADAM!! Your troubleshooting video saved me a ton of bucks on a Saturday! I was able to detect 10 flashing lights indicating the Reverse Sensor was not functioning .. then I found that the SENSOR WIRE WAS CUT IN TWO!! No sensor lights were on! I pulled the 110v plug to kill the power. I cut the wire in two where it was damaged, stripped the ends and remade them again and electrical taped them securely. PLUG BACK IN, BOTH SENSOR LIGHTS WERE NOW ON .. ! Put the ladder away and VOILA~ the door was working perfectly again! THUMBS UP!!! George D.

[@catherinecrawford2289]

YES!!!! Single Mom fixes another household device thanks to You Tube! You're the best!

[@CamberHill]

Your video just changed my 5 years of wondering what was wrong with my garage door opener. It's was the sensors. Thank you.

[@mdesai007]

I had the weirdest intermittent issue that started showing up a few weeks ago with the garage door openers suddenly not working after I exit the home but opening the door as expected when we return back to the house! Thanks to your video, was able to trace it back to the bulb that I changed in the opener a few weeks ago! Also, great tips as I went through a few of them to try and figure this out...

[@DipakPatel]

Holy CRAP!! You're the best! I bought a Tesla and my garage door would work intermittently. They came out to the house and tried to fix it and the car's been in the shop twice now. After watching your video, the literal light bulb went off! I installed LED lights on the garage door opener the week i got the car. I bet its not related at all. I plan on swapping out with the old bulbs to see if it works again. Thank you so much for the help your video provided! You just saved me buying a new garage door opener!

[@greenleafd724]

Awesome video. Thanks. After I checked everything else. I popped the cover. There was goop all over the inside bottom portion of the cover. The opener is 20 years old, so I knew at that point that the capacitor had blown. $24 later and I am back in business. No service call. You saved me some cash.

[@michelletobin9754]

QUESTION: MY GARAGE DOOR OPENER WORKS WITH THE HARDWIRED BUTTON, THE REMOTE, BUT NOT THE KEYPAD. REPLACED THE BATTERY..... NOTHING!! HOW TO FIX KEYPAD??? HELP????

[@Carluchs]

Hey!! I have the same issue!! How did you fix ir!!! Thaaaaankssss

[@av2551]

Did your capacitor itself appear normal (not swollen or busted)? I’m facing this also. Opened it up, looked around and realized/felt there was white goop on the bottom/on the white gear and immediately thought capacitor issue. However, could it be grease instead?

[@av2551]

@@Carluchs did you fix your issue?

[@debbieschuessler9605]

Thank you so much, Adam! After two weeks of my remote not working, I only had to watch the first tiny bit of your video to fix the problem myself! The “lock” button on the wall box did not say “lock” so I didn’t even know what that button was. I pushed it and viola! The blinking LED stopped blinking and my remote now works! Yay! So convenient to be able to use my remote again! Tanks to YOU! 😊 - signed, 66 year old single lady.

[@Dawn-S]

I thought the sensor light was to stay on always. Ours, Liftmaster, only comes on when we push the buttons on our remotes. Then I’ve figured out that the one sensor needed to be tightened. Thank you for your teaching! It was thorough and fabulous!!

[@ronaldwolf2599]

You nailed it! My wife hit the wire going into the unit with a broom. As soon as I moved the input wire, the led light came on. Works perfect! Thank again.

[@nathanschnieder470]

Thank you so much AdamDIY!!! You helped me fix my problem. Sensor wire was loose and needed to be tightened. Now the sensors work and the garage door now functions properly!!! Appreciate your help!

[@paulhansen5053]

Yet another success story. I replaced the rollers and must have bumped the sensor sideways, so that it "sort of" worked, but mostly not. Thanks to your video I was able to notice the problem, realign the sensors, and now it works fine!

[@minr6851]

Thank you so much for putting this for us. I just fixed our door and my husband promised me to pay $400 for it!!! Sometimes it’s such a simple thing but we ordinarily people don’t know anything so call someone and wait for days and pay fortune for it. Very appreciate your time and knowledge...

[@doddanand]

Thanks! What I liked about this video was, there is no BS and you focus on the essentials. Was worth every minute of my time watching it and of course helpful!

[@spiceytradeboat8893]

That was a really great video explaining all that goes on in a common garage door. Well paced, explained, thorough. Feel like a pro! Thanks

[@dvdprodave54]

Very good, very clear, well done! One suggestion that others MAY have already made: I would put the section about checking the torsion spring at the START of the video! (You now have it starting at about 12:30.) In my many years of home ownership, that has been the problem twice, and with a broken torsion spring, "you ain't goin' nowhere!" In fact, if it is broken, you can easily strip the gears of your garage door opener by trying, repeatedly, to get it to work. And, of course, if the torsion spring is broken, you NEED to call in an EXPERT repairman! Thanks.

[@razijun5272]

Thank you very much for extremely comprehensive instruction. Can you please help me understand what causes the garage door opener not respond, but after unplug, and plunging back (reset) starts working for few days, and gets unresponsive again.

[@62mry]

Hello. When watching your video, one of the things that helped me was seeing how the release cable worked. I own a rental property and one of my tenants, in spite due to being evicted, disconnected the arm that attaches to the garage door. Which is also a part of the release handle. So seeing how the arm worked, helped me troubleshoot the problem and now I can fix it. So thank you for all of the added information as well.

[@tingachang]

I was able to Identify and fix my problem right away after watching this. Great troubleshooting video. Saved myself $89 for the garage pros to come take a look. Thank you!

[@megmoritz880]

It was the flashing lock light...followed your instructions and it was fixed in 20 seconds. Thank you!!!

[@samklein9374]

Thank you for this VERY informative video. We had a "sensor" problem; neither light was on... So, I took your advice and EUREKA, the two common leads had come loose! Cleaned and reinserted wires, all's good. Thanks again.

[@ape54321]

Thanks!

[@macross25]

This video was very helpful. I cleaned off and checked my sensors. Sure enough they were slightly out of whack , a quick adjustment and all is good! Thank you for posting this!!!

[@ultimateelectricltd.4916]

Yeah, me too. Electrician here, who assumed it was a failed component in the motor control or relay or some such electrical pain in the neck. I had no previous experience of garage doors, but this video made it a very simple fix. Saved me a lot of time so top bloke for posting Adam, thank you.

[@charlesjones6686]

chain jumps off while door is on b its way up

[@navijohal2025]

B

[@dorothykaufman2035]

@@ultimateelectricltd.4916 1

[@ronniemo_1622]

Thank you for putting in the time to create this video. I have gone through a bunch of steps, but the chain is not moving when I press the button. It makes a grinding sound(pretty loud). Is there a way to make sure the chain is not locKed/frozen in place?

[@waidrogers4]

Thanks! Garage stopped working tonight. Watched your video and went out to find it was the capacitor. Just ordered. You saved me $200

[@taylorhead9842]

Adam, just wanted to say thanks you helped me fix my issue. My sensor must have kicked and got out of alignment. You're the man, thanks again for the helpful video!

[@TheJaime964]

Thank you, Adam, for posting the video. I quickly found the cause of the problem with my garage door, saving me the hassle of calling someone to make the repairs.

[@barbid1951]

Wonderful video with great and simple instructions! It's seldom that I can watch a video on troubleshooting and be able to completely understand the step by step instructions the very first time, if at all. This was very easy! Thank you for making my day!

[@michellelinn9681]

Called the garage door people yesterday.... can't get here until Tuesday....I'm hoping my hubby will be able to fix it before then after he watches this when he gets home from work. I found it very helpful but I don't do so well on a ladder. Either way, I really appreciate your video. I know a lot more now about garage door problems and the solution.

[@dukecarlisle5096]

This was the BEST diy repair video I have seen: solved our problem easily with no cost. Thank you, Adam.

[@dranet47]

Thank you!!! We've been having so many problems with our remotes not working that we were getting ready to replace the whole thing. When you mentioned LED lights interfering, I realized I stuck an LED bulb in there a few months ago. I took it out and put in a fluorescent bulb (which I don't like, grr) and now the remotes are working perfectly. Again, thanks! You saved me a lot of money.

[@lafeedulogis9589]

Wow🌟 Thank you Adam! In 20mn I understood correctly! You are perfectly structured with a good diction, clearly pronounced and explaining from simple to more complex troubles. I successfully realigned my sensors. Thanks 🇺🇸 You made my day, saving me a lot of time and money.

[@RickHarrington4106]

I too want to thank you for this excellent video. My garage door opener remotes suddenly quit working, but the keypad and wall button still worked OK. Checked batteries, wires, memory, sensors without success. Decided to check You Tube for help and ran across your video and BAM!!! there it was. You spoke of how LED lights in the unit can interfere with the signals from the remote openers. I remembered I had just put LED's in the opener. Replaced them with standard bulbs and all is well. You Rock!!

[@richlampman1332]

Adam you are a natural teacher. This video is much better than any manufacturer's video by far! Thanks for the info!

[@Ralcajul]

Thank you. I adjusted the sensors; one was not lit, but it had power. All I did was readjust it, and the light turned on solid, indicating it was aligned. Now it's working.

[@annien4639]

An absolute charm to listen to. Thorough and simply and systematically explained. Great teacher with the right use of words and progressions towards possible problems. Thank you.

[@joanneanderson6535]

TY sooooo much. Us ole ladies w/ out husband's can have many problems. One of my ground fault plugs in garage had tripped and just pressed that button and all was on again. I'm so glad to have your little tips to get my mind going in the right direction.

[@michaelwalling8281]

Thank-you so much for doing this video. That is my exact opener and now I'm pretty sure the sensor beams are at fault. You and You-tube are awesome.

[@sheilacranford2140]

Got two minutes in and fixed my problem. It was the lock. Thanks so much for posting this video.

[@justineestell7869]

Thank you so much, Adam!!! Your video helped me discover that our garage door was 'locked' and that is why the remotes weren't working!! I LOVE that you saved us a phone call to a professional. Thank you, thank you!!!! You explain things so well!

[@LuckyKoose]

This video deserves a diploma!

[@pjjohnson6477]

The video was amazing and I greatly appreciate the focus on the sensors. Although, you reference longer time with sensors in another episode, the little bit you covered solved my issue. THANK YOU!

[@psanscartier]

Thank you so much. I had been troubleshooting my garage door opener for a few weeks, I even contacted Chamberlain support, but they kept giving bogus answers about extreme cold. And then I clued in when you mentioned LED Bulbs could interfere with the signal. Removed the LED bulb, works like a charm now!

[@simplyvg]

I had tried so many fixes to my garage door before watching this video and figuring out that an LED bulb was causing erratic garage remote behavior. thanks a ton my friend.

[@ChuckJeanieFeathers]

My Liftmaster goes off and on. If it stops working, I tap it with my hand and it goes back on. It's getting worse and stays off most of the time. It acts like a loose connection somewhere. Adams garage door videos are the best I've seen.

[@KevinStJohn-zp9by]

YOU ARE THE BEST! Just fixed my sensor! Saved me a service call! Thank you!

[@AdamDIY]

+Kevin St. John That's great! Glad to be of help.

[@robt2625]

AdamDIY Hey Adam, I have a Liftmaster 1/2 Hp belt drive formula 1. Model 2280R. Produced in 2005. I have a 1 width double wide garage door with individual slats (4). I performed a garage door balance test opening the door disconnected from the release cord and raised the door to 4-5' and held the door at that height and door and slowly release the door and let go of the door and immediately started free falling to the close position. That means the door is not balanced.

[@robt2625]

How to balance the door

[@bosschichi]

@@AdamDIY Hey Adam, what if a door starts going up and then stops. Press button again and it does it again. Gets to half way and stops? Just wont do a clean run up anymore :-/

[@jefferygarnett4072]

This was the most thorough video on this topic. My problem was tricky, and I needed to consider multiple alternatives. Thank you!

[@lindabarnes1585]

You have described every conceivable problem in such great detail and saved us the cost of a garage door tech visit. Thanks so much. Great video.

[@EdwoodCA]

I was hoping he would cover where the sensor wires connect to the motor unit. Not just if they're loose, but which ones go where... in case they got mixed up by someone else trying to troubleshoot an issue. As well as, a way to troubleshoot to verify if a wire was broken internally with no obvious cuts to the outer insulation. So yes, nearly every conceivable issue... but not everything. He also didn't go over travel distance for opening/closing, nor the sensitivity adjustments for opening/closing force. If those are too far out of whack, doors often will stop and reverse believing they've hit a obstruction.

[@Rhygoo1]

Thank you Adam, just got a very little “I don’t even think about that “ problem. The second tip of yours about blocking/unblocking the remote worked. So I am very satisfied. Thanks again

[@Robmuniz1]

This is one of the best explained videos I've seen about garage door openers troubleshooting! Thanks!

[@arnoldmcneil1304]

Amen to that,.I had a lot of malfunction. You explained what had to be done so well. P.s. my wife thinks I'm a genius. I'm 83 and I fixed our garage door.

[@ACMxxxx2]

This helped me. A winter tip I found was that the arms that hold the sensors expand and contract out of whack. If it won’t close in the cold try gently bending them to position

[@mikemcpeters7220]

Thank you Adam. I especially appreciate how you started with the most common problems, and then escalated to the more severe. Within a couple minutes you got to my problem. My door would start to close, and would get a bout 2/3 rds of the way down before opening back up. I was able to override this by holding the wall mounted button down, thus indicating a bad sensor. I had absolutely no idea how to fix it, and contemplated buying a new system. At least I now have a place to start the repair. Thanks again.

[@ruthkotwica3334]

Thanks, Adam. Just a simple adjustment to the sensors postitions and, like magic, my garage door is staying closed. Thanks again!!!

[@huffmac]

You are my friend, Adam. Saw the part where you can override the sensor by holding down the wall button and the garage door was able to close! So good! Saved me the expense of a logic board. Funny that our tech didn't know that!

[@michaeljfrederick9920]

Thank you Thank you Thank you! I would have never thought that my new LED bulbs would be the cause! My garage door would open but would not close for both cars using homelink. I had to resort to my original hand held opener and hold it directly under the antenna to get it to close, then run out to the car while avoiding the laser beam. I checked everything, reprogrammed both car remotes, unplugged the unit to clear the memory, nothing was obstructing the door, etc. and nothing worked. I was getting ready to check/replace the antenna when I came across your video and decided to replace the lightbulbs and go back to CFLs. It worked with no problem! This is probably becoming more and more common as people move to LEDs.

[@tbHighlandRider]

Thank you Adam, I really appreciate your effort! I was going nuts about the garage door remotes not opening consistently, had to press it at least 20 times till it opened, sometimes never opened and sometime opened at once, Yes it was the LED bulb causing the problem. Now no issues. Thanks again !!!

[@marcdevinci893]

Thanks Adam for the thorough walk through. My garage did not close easily when leaving in the morning. Required multiple attempts with remote had to fiddle with it for several minutes but would work fine when coming home. The culprit = LED light bulbs I put in there recently that appear to interfere with remote signal. Makes sense lights are off when I come home but on when I open the garage door to leave in the morning. Saved me a repair call!

[@sherrysulochana7503]

wow you saved us money, as your easy steps to trouble shoot helped me to find out what was the problem and yes i did it, with your help, I am proud, thanks a lot

[@AdamDIY]

Awesome! I'm glad to hear it.

[@sherrysulochana7503]

Nate Iikubo

[@AdamDIY]

Not everything is awesome. Some things are Wicked Awesome!

[@IPas2System2014]

+ogfre123 really exit?

[@IPas2System2014]

+ogfre123 really exiting?

[@HashimTiger]

Thank you Adam. You did excellent start with the most common problems first. I was able fix my garage door issue after watching your video for 2:10 secs only. It was locked. Before watching your video, I watched couple other videos but no one discussed to check the lock button. Thank you so much again - God bless you! *****

[@crescentcarol]

My lens was dirty. Thank you! Saved me a service call on a Holiday Weekend!

[@EthanMB90]

Thank you for the video! I think you have helped me find my problem. I found a bunch of dark shavings on top of the big gear in my opener. I’m going to see if I can get ahold of one of the gear replacement kits and see if that fixes it.

[@TheTeddon01]

Thank you Sir. I got as far as the 5 minute mark and your insight that the bottom sensors were not aligned was dead on. Made sure the green light was solid at the bottom sensor (it was blinking green...) aimed it better until the light was solid green. My garage door is working again, Bad for days now. Thank you very much.

[@shubhanggupta8833]

Where has this product been all my life?! Works like a charm!

[@stuartleis9079]

Great video. I have that exact door opener and it quit. This gives me several ideas of what to look for. Very thorough and helpful. Thanks.

[@kymmcharette8598]

I was getting really frustrated going through all these videos from other sources; they are "horrible". Thank you Adam for a really well done and thorough video.

[@patrickwilliams5465]

great video Adam, thanks. I saw the torsion spring on my garage door busted in half. Watching your video explained that that spring could have been the problem why my door would not shut down all the way. It stays up 3-4 inches off the ground. I'm not going to mess with that torsion spring so I guess I'm going to have to pay for a garage door repairman to fix it. At least I know what's the problem thanks to your video.

[@lauralong6616]

Thank you for your video, I put a box in front of the sensor and couldn't understand why the lights of my Liftmaster kept flickering on and off. Your video was very informative and saved me $175.00 plus he wanted to sell me 2 garage openers for $45 a piece. Many thanks!!

[@amdjvd]

Thanks........... I had a sensor issue. This video saved me a lot of money.

[@moviestudioland]

Best video ever. You did not cover replacing fuses on the power supply. But you REALLY covered everything else. The fuses looked like there were black fuses in the power supply board?

[@silviarandall3110]

I was waiting for you to talk about the two buttons that rotate and have numbers and round arrows right and left and you never mention what they are for. Everything else was goodness

[@theresabraddock9310]

Perfect! My red sensor on the floor was blinking. I didn't know it shouldn't and I got intermittent problems. Fixed that in seconds and all is well. Thank you. You're video is a very easy trouble shooter. ❤

[@raymondsmith4541]

Thank you Adam! Problem solved! It's been more then a year, I thought I needed a new unit! It would stall and retract!

[@113MPG]

Thanks for all that. It was very helpful. I had an issue closing the door. It would go down some of the way, then stop and turn back. The fix was the turn the blue button clockwise to be less sensitive. This made it overcome the slight pressure on the turn when closing an open garage door. Easy fix.

[@jz5875]

Thank you so so much, I fixed my garage door. The sensor was blocked by a leaf, but I did not know. After I watched your video, I checked the sensor and found the leaf on the sensor lens and now all works.

[@JosephWolf]

How would the tracks come misaligned? Awesome instruction video though. Love the bit about the capacitor

[@AFEWS]

Tried using LED bulbs which made remote malfunction. Thanks to your video, we replaced them and now remote works fine!

[@valentinniculae9251]

This was great ,I changed the fried board ,got the motor back to work in 20 minutes thanks to the instructions I got from this video .Thank you.

[@shoaibb8862]

This was an awesome video that was to the point and covered everything I needed to know! It helped big time ...thanks!

[@michellethomas6199]

Thank you so much for this video! I moved a box in my garage and knew I hit something to cause my garage door to malfunction, but didn't know what it was. After watching the video, at 4:16 or before, I went out to check my sensors and sure enough, one was them was knocked out of line. I lined up the one and my garage let down like normal! I truly appreciate you for this.

[@FathersRightsOrlando]

Adam, thanks so much for the great video. I was able to follow the steps and figure out what was wrong with my garage door opener. Also, thank you for making such a high quality video. A real pleasure to watch!

[@suzetteturner1790]

Thanks for this detailed video. I was able to fix my door opener. I cleaned off the ground up bits. Inspect the motherboard and the unit worked. Thanks a million

[@thufirhawatt8737]

This helped. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

[@andrewelsbree2508]

Thufir Hawatt has

[@geminiwilson]

OMG the LED bulbs was exactly why my opener wasn't working. I would have never figured that out without you thanks!

[@ltroutblue]

Adam, my garage door keeps opening by itself. I have changed the frequency/reset it twice and no change. It happens when I'm home and when I'm not. It also happens even when the lock feature is activated. Thoughts?

[@AdamDIY]

Whats the model number? I would try disconnecting the wires to the wall mounted button. At least you can eliminate that possible cause. It could be a faulty circuit board.

[@rosemarychapman1432]

AdamDIY

[@kabutoyakushi6618]

I am having this same thing happening right now. Did you get it fixed? If so how did you do it?

[@dconfrost]

@@kabutoyakushi6618 im having this issue rn too. Any suggestions its been 10 months. Lol

[@USdefender1]

I thought this was going to be in excruciating boring video, but I had to watch it because I needed to adjust my door. I couldn't believe it, but you actually made this video so interesting it seems like only 4 or 5 minutes had passed before it was over. I felt like I was in garage door collage and you were the professor. Thanks for this valuable information.

[@mohammadmahmoodi2696]

thanks for your simple,easy and practical on truoble shooting info which anyone can do it.

[@rickjohnson7394]

Adam, great video. My problem was door would only open at certain times and when you talked about the led bulb possibly blocking the signal, I replaced those bulb's with standard bulbs and all is working. Thanks so much for saving me a service call. Blessings to you

[@josephd5715]

Grateful Adam, problem solved in the first 2 minutes 45 seconds. Thank-you!

[@dglankler13]

Only took 1:29 into the video to find my problem. Never even looked at the "LOCK" button. Thanks so much.

[@curtiskekoa5095]

9to5 - great video especially for "beginner" ... through knowledge in simple english and well done video. thanks.

[@johncoffey3316]

Thank you, AdamDIY, I was able to diagnose and correct the problem with my garage door opener. Thank you for giving clear instructions.

[@tammyanderson1548]

Great video but I wish you spent more time on the sensors. Specifically, light cutting off the sensor and how to fix that.

[@LCopJunior]

Thank you for this video. For some reason my garage door opener was in vacation mode. With your help, I fixed my issue.

[@dragonbud0]

Thank you for taking the time to explain. It helped me to debug my Genie door opener.

[@melissagreen_]

You had me at the very first issue, check the power! OMG it seems so obvious but I had completely forgotten that I clicked the power off at the wall, by mistake a little while ago and this simple thing was causing the problem. Thank you for putting this first on your list of issues, sometimes it's the most obvious things that we miss, but I just saved myself a whole lot of issues (and money) as I am unable to afford to get someone out to fix it at this time. Your video is a God send and much appreciated.

[@SertEngineering]

Such a good job. Appreciated. Thank you for video.

[@EugeneComiskey]

The garage door was opening intermittently and failed completely a couple of days ago. When failing to open, there was a loud buzzing noise. I removed/replaced the capacitor this morning and it’s back up and running. Capacitor was $13.50 on Amazon; labor cost: $0.00 Thanks for your help.

[@psfgtech]

My Genie went through a power surge! What else could it be

[@blainturner7855]

As soon as he mentioned sensor LEDs I went out and confirmed I didn't see a thing. The flimsy wires were loose/poor connection. Didn't have to call the housing office. Thanks, Adam.

[@gailsaunders2708]

Coding problem solved in eight minutes flat. Thank you. : )

[@DavidMoore-fd7hx]

open my garage and it went up. tryed to close and would come down a bit then back up.after watching your vid. took a closer look at the brackets notice one broken on the rt. side. noticed it wearing on the wood frame because without that support it veered outward toward my driveway and rubbing the wood. hope i can buy this small bracket (Hinge) at the hardware store. Then i need to tighten the chain and i hope thats it. will see Sunday. Its great to learn at You Tube University with terrific Professors. Thanks Adam