Few machines in your home work harder than your garage door opener. According to Popular Mechanics magazine, the typical U.S. garage door opens and closes about 1,500 times a year. Each operation involves pushing or pulling hundreds of pounds of garage door.

Most garage door openers will do this 10,000 times before mechanically failing. However, as with anything with moving parts, every now and then something goes wrong.

This post will help you with garage door opener troubleshooting…situations when the door won’t work at all. Part Two will address certain operational problems.

OK, the door isn’t opening or closing. Now what?

Start with the garage door opener car remote. Does it activate the door? If not, check the batteries. They could be losing power or simply dead. Some advanced remotes actually display a code that identifies operational glitches.

If the remote works, your next step is checking the wall unit. Does it engage the opener? If not, test the batteries and replace if necessary. If your unit isn’t battery operated, it either ties into your home’s electrical wiring or plugs into the wall. Take a good look at the electrical outlet or wiring to see if you can see any damage.

Does everything check out? Go to the fuse box and check the circuit that controls the garage door opener. A tripped breaker – one that looks out of line with the others – could be the culprit. Reset it or replace the fuse. If the breaker looks fine, turn it off, wait 60 seconds, then turn it on again to reset it.

Your final stop should be the sensors. Newer garage door openers include safety sensors that are mounted on each side of the garage door about 12 inches above the carport floor. Each garage door sensor sends a light beam across the opening. If something blocks the beam or one sensor can’t receive the other sensor’s beam, the garage door will fail to open or will stop during operation.

Fixing this is easy. Just look for anything obstructing the sensors and remove it. Also, if the sensors aren’t directly across from each other, adjust them. Or clean the sensor’s surface to remove dirt or moisture.

Chances are one of these steps found in  Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting: Part 1 that will solve the problem. If not, it’s time to call a professional repairperson.

For tips on what to do if your garage door opener troubleshooting problems such as the door works but isn’t operating properly, visit our next blog – Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting: Part 2.

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