Garage door opener repair and installation

Check these before you call

• Is the opener plugged in, and does the outlet work? A tripped GFCI outlet in the garage is common, and summer storms trip them.
• Are the safety sensors at the bottom of the tracks lined up, with both lights steady? A sensor knocked out of line, or a lens covered in pollen or a spider web, makes the door reverse or refuse to close.
• Does the wall button work while the remote doesn't? Then it is the remote battery or programming.
• Is the lock button on the wall control turned on? It blocks remotes.
• Was the emergency release pulled? The trolley has to be reconnected before the opener can move the door.

After a thunderstorm

NOAA's Storm Events Database lists damaging thunderstorm wind in the three counties around Orlando on about 8.5 days a year, most of them from May through September, and those storms bring lightning and power flickers with them. An opener that worked before a storm and is dead after it, with power at the outlet, may have a damaged logic board. On many units the board is a replaceable part, so it is worth a repair quote before buying a new opener. A plug-in surge protector on the opener outlet is a cheap precaution.

Average days per month with a damaging thunderstorm wind report

Problems that need a technician

The motor hums and the door doesn't move. Often a broken spring, not the opener. Look at the spring above the door first. If the spring is fine, the drive gear or the capacitor may have failed.

The door starts, then reverses. If the sensors are fine, the door may be binding on a bent track or a dry roller, and the opener is reading the extra force as an obstruction. Turning up the force setting to make it close hides the problem and defeats a safety feature.

Grinding or a chain that slaps. Usually a worn sprocket or a loose chain, sometimes a stripped gear. These are usually repairable on a newer unit.

Repair or replace

I'd repair an opener that is under about ten years old and has one clear fault, like a sensor or a gear. I'd replace one that is older, has no battery backup, or uses fixed codes instead of rolling codes. A new opener also makes sense when you replace the door, since a heavier wind-rated or insulated door can need more lifting help.

Bob Vila puts opener installation at $218 to $525, about $368 on average, with the unit itself running $150 to $250 for a chain drive, $160 to $450 for a belt drive and $250 to $515 for a wall-mount jackshaft unit. A battery backup adds about $100 and sensors run $50 to $100. How to choose an opener.

Battery backup in hurricane country

Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Ian both brought gusts of 74 mph or more to Orlando International Airport, and a storm that strong usually takes power with it. Without a battery backup, getting the car out means pulling the emergency release and lifting the door by hand, which is fine on a balanced door and miserable on a heavy one. I'd want the backup.