It’s the middle of the night, you’re lying peacefully in bed and all of a sudden you hear your garage door open. A quick check reassures you that your spouse is in bed with you so who is opening your garage door? Is it an intruder? Probably not. While it’s a slightly spooky malfunction of the garage door, it’s pretty common for this to happen.
Why Is It Opening on Its Own?
Garage door manufacturers call this issue “phantom operation” (which doesn’t help alleviate the spooky factor). First off, they say it’s pretty rare for your neighbor’s garage door opener to also open your garage door. If one of you has a newer door, then the codes in the opener aren’t even remotely related as they change constantly with millions of combinations. But if your garage door is over 20 years old, then chances are your opener is of the generation where there were fewer codes making it slightly possible that someone else’s opener can work on yours–although it’s still pretty unlikely.
Stanley brand doors that are on the older side are notorious for having malfunctions in their circuit boards, making them so sensitive that having the opener in a drawer can cause it to go off.
Living by a military base can open garage doors as their electrical equipment works on the same frequency as garage door openers.
Most commonly, however, phantom operation occurs due to thunderstorms or electrical surges. These events can damage the transmitter’s inner workings and cause the opener to open and close the door at random.
How Do You Fix It?
Having a garage door that opens at-will can be a major security hazard for your home, especially if you leave on vacation and come home to your garage door having been open for a few days. The first and easiest fix is to change your garage code. If you take the cover off the transmitter, there’s a “code wheel” inside where you can change the code. You’ll also have to change the code inside the opener suspended from your garage ceiling to match the one in your transmitter.
Next, check the buttons on the transmitter and on the wall mounted button to make sure the buttons aren’t old and/or sticking. If you aren’t sure, there’s a “learn” button on most transmitters that flashes if there is a button that’s stuck. Remove the batteries to find the sticky button. If it isn’t fixable, then the remote should be replaced.
Garage Door Opener Repair Atlanta GA
If none of these things makes a difference, shut off the electrical circuit that powers your garage so your garage door doesn’t open while you’re away at work. At this point, you’ll need to call a repairman who specializes in garage door opener repair to come out and look at the entire system to see what’s wrong. They will check the wiring for damage and determine if there’s an electrical short. Your repairman will be able to tell you if it’s a simple fix or if the system needs to be replaced.
While having your garage door open on its own can be off-putting to the nerves, don’t forget it’s a huge home security hazard and essentially opens the door for break-ins to occur. If it happens more than once, go through the checklist to determine the problem and give a repairman a call as soon as possible if you can’t determine the cause of the problem.
Located in Marietta GA and serving metro Atlanta, All Four Seasons Garage Doors is the premier full-service garage doors vendor. Besides our wide range of products, we are home of the Service Call – cheapest in town – great starting point for your garage door opener repair! If you decide you want us to take care of the problem, we will count the towards your overall bill. We also offer 24/7 emergency service. Give us a call today at 678-981-8454 and have your garage door opener checked.