Diagnostics
Garage Door Won’t Close
Nine times in ten this is one of three things, and two of them you can sort out yourself in a few minutes.
Start here
Check the photo-eye sensors first. Both LEDs near the floor should be on and steady. If one is blinking or dark, that is your answer and it is a five-minute fix.
If both are solid and the door still refuses, the next most likely cause is the down travel limit set too shallow, so the opener believes it has hit an obstruction before the door reaches the floor.
Why won’t my garage door close?
- Sensors. Both LEDs solid? Wipe the lenses. Full detail on the sensor page.
- Beam path. A bin, a bike wheel, a coiled hose. Anything breaking the line counts.
- Travel limits. If the door stops a few inches short and goes back up, the down limit needs adjusting. See limit settings.
- Track obstruction. Grit or a bent section stopping the door running square, common here after a dust storm.
- Stuck remote button. A remote wedged in a car door pocket transmitting continuously will hold the door open. Rare, but it happens.
- Lock engaged. Many doors have a manual slide lock that people forget about entirely.
The Lubbock-specific version
Two causes come up here more than they would elsewhere. Dust on the sensor lenses is the first, and it is genuinely the single most common reason a Lubbock garage door refuses to close.
The second is grit in the tracks making the door drag. The opener reads unusual resistance as an obstruction and reverses as a safety measure. In that case the opener and the sensors are both working correctly and the door is the problem. Cleaning the tracks and lubricating the rollers often fixes it outright.
Questions we get asked
The door closes then immediately opens again. Why?
It reached the floor, decided it had hit something, and reversed. Either the down limit is set slightly too far or the close force is too sensitive. Both are adjustments, not parts.
It closes fine with the wall button but not the remote.
That points at the remote rather than the door. Try a fresh battery, then reprogramme it. Covered on the opener page.
Could a broken spring stop it closing?
A broken spring usually stops a door opening rather than closing, but an unbalanced door can behave unpredictably in both directions. If the door is very heavy by hand, read the spring page.
Is it safe to leave it open overnight?
We would rather you did not, for security. If you cannot get it closed, pull the emergency release and lower it by hand, then call us.
Get it fixed today
Worked through the list and it still will not close? Call and describe what the LEDs are doing.