Garage doors are designed to protect the belongings in the garage. As technology has advanced, the quality of protection the garage doors provide also improved. A lot of it can be attributed to the doors being electronic. But it comes with some cons as well, an example is when the garage door won’t open after a power outage.
There are a lot of reasons a garage door can’t open after a power outage. Some of them are tripped breaker boxes, faulty outlets, etc. When that happens, you have to manually open your garage door. To do that, you need to follow a few steps such as disconnecting the garage door from its opener, pulling the emergency cord, etc.
Let’s take a deeper look at the reasons a garage door won’t open after a power outage and what you can do about it.
Why garage door won’t open after power outage & What to do
Power outages are very common in our day-to-day lives. When you think about how much we are dependent on electricity and how much the demand for it is, it’s surprising that power outages aren’t more common. The main cause for power outages in this country is natural calamities such as lightning storms and hurricanes.
Among all the things that are affected by a power outage, garage doors are a bit unique. Because power outages don’t just make it immobile, they can also make your belongings in the garage vulnerable. As a result, you can’t wait till the power comes out.
Also, it will suck if you wanted to go out and due to a sudden power outage, your garage door is stuck and you can’t do so. So you need to open your garage door as soon as possible. But before that, you must know what is shutting down the garage door opener after a power outage.
1. Tripped Breaker Boxes
One of the most common reasons for garage doors not opening after a power outage is when the breaker boxes are tripped. Sometimes the breaker box doesn’t look like it has been tripped after a power outage. Even then, turn the box on and off once to be sure.
2. Faulty Outlets
Sometimes electricity from lightning fries the outlet in your garage, which causes the garage door to not open. If the breaker boxes are okay, then check the power outlet in your garage. Unplug the garage door opener and then plug in something else to see if the outlet is working. If not, then you need to call in an electrician to change the outlet.
3. Fried GFCI Outlets
Sometimes the outlet in your garage is okay, but the GFCI outlet is fried after a thunderstorm. Try resetting the GFCI outlet in your garage. If you don’t have one in the garage then find which one the garage door opener is connected to and reset that outlet. If you are sure the damaged GFCI outlet is the cause of the door not opening, call in an electrician.
4. Damaged garage door opener
Last, but not least, your garage door may not be opening after a power outage because the garage door opener is damaged. If that happens, you will need to manually open the door and reset it to make it operational again.
How to reset garage door after a power outage
Once you find out that it’s because of a damaged garage door opener that your garage door isn’t opening after a power outage, you have to manually fix it. This is where the knowledge of how to reconnect the garage door after a power outage comes into play. The following are the steps you have to follow to make the garage door work again:
- Ensure the door is in the down position: The garage door must be down before it is reset. If the torsion springs of the garage door are broken and you try to reset it while it is in the open position, you are just inviting disaster. It can come down on you or anything under the door.
- Pull the emergency cord: You will notice an emergency cord hanging from the trolley of the door opener, Pull it so that the trolley is disconnected from the carriage. This will allow the door to be moved manually. Don’t pull the rope too hard or it will damage the door and the rope itself.
- Lift the door manually: Once the door is disconnected from the opener, it can easily be moved up and down. If you can’t move it up because the door feels too heavy, you may have a broken torsion spring. If you’re able to open the door, then pull the emergency cord again which will ensure the door and the opener will be able to connect again.
- Connect the trolley and the opener again: Push the door open and close once, which will be enough to reconnect the opener carriage and the trolley. You will hear a clicking noise when they are reconnected.
If you can’t do any of these steps by yourself, then call in a professional garage door repair service. They know how to reset the chamberlain garage door opener after a power outage properly without causing any damage.
Also, read this article if your garage door keeps going back up.
Why isn’t my garage door keypad not working after a power outage?
Garage door openers aren’t the only thing that is damaged by a power outage. You may have keypads on your garage doors, which may also stop working after a power outage. If your garage door keypad stops working after a power outage, try changing its batteries. If that doesn’t do the job, then either call in an electrician to fix it or change it entirely.
Final words
There are plenty of reasons why the garage door won’t open after a power outage. See which one is causing this and act accordingly. If you aren’t confident to fix the electrical problems and the door yourself, it’s best to call in an electrician or a professional garage door repair service.
FAQ
1. Does a power outage affect the garage door opener?
Power outages affect everything that runs on electricity. So, yes, a power outage does affect the garage door opener. Sometimes the circuits will be fried, the outlets will be damaged or the keypads will stop working.
2. Do garage doors have a reset button?
Whether your garage door does have a reset button will depend on whether the door is old or new. Newer models will have a reset button in them. But if your garage door is of an older model, it will not have a reset button.
3. Can a power surge damage a garage door opener?
Yes, power surges can damage a garage door opener. It is one of the main reasons garage door openers are damaged after a lightning storm. The electricity that flows during a lightning storm is too much for the circuits of the garage door openers and they are fried.
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