Your garage door works fine. The springs on your garage door aren’t busted, and the tracks are aligned perfectly. When you press the wall switch, it glides open and closed. So, it’s not a problem with the opener. However, when you press the button on your garage door opener remote… nothing. The problem is that your garage door opener remote doesn’t seem to want to budge it. If this is the case, this guide should help you identify some of the key things that could be preventing your garage door opener from working.

Distance

Your garage door opener remote functions like a radio. It broadcasts 315 MHz signals to the garage door opener antenna, telling the opener to move your garage door up or down. So, if you are even a few feet away from where it normally works, try moving a little closer. The remote may just simply be out of range.

Battery

The battery on your garage door opener remote may just be dead. If so, simply take the back off the device (consult the user’s manual if you are having difficulties with this) and see what type of battery it has. Older devices typically use 12-volt batteries, while most of the newer remotes take 3-volt lithium batteries. Replace the battery and see if that gets your door moving again.

Antenna

The garage door opener remote has to directly communicate with your garage door opener. The garage door opener is generally a large box on the ceiling of your garage that’s connected to the garage door. If you look closely, you should see an antenna hanging from your garage door opener box. Make sure that nothing is obstructing the antenna and that it is facing downwards hanging from your opener box. Even something minor like cobwebs could be disrupting the radio signal from your remote to your opener.

Reprogram the Remote

If your remote still isn’t working after the above steps have been completed, it may need to be reprogrammed. Sometimes the remote loses communication with the opener itself and needs to be reset. For safety reasons, both the remote and receiver have unique codes that are tied to one another; if this gets messed up, you need to reset both of them so that they match transmission codes again. To do this follow these 3 easy steps.

  • First, you will need to clear the memory on the opener itself. To do this, you will need to locate the LEARN button on the opener itself. Here is a list of places that the learn button could potentially be located.
  • Once you have located it; hold the LEARN button for about 6 seconds until the light goes off.
  • Now, all you need to do is hold the LEARN button again (for about 6 seconds) at the same time that you hold your garage door opener remote button. Do this until you hear clicking or see flashing lights. Now your opener remote and opener should be resynced.

None of Above Worked

If none of the above worked, it’s likely that there is a short in the logic board. If this is the case, we highly recommend that you call a professional. Since shorts involve live wires and electricity, it is safer to leave it to the professionals.

We hope that this guide helps you. If you have any further questions about your garage door opener remote, or any questions about your garage door, in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us. When it comes to garage doors, we have your back.

Published On: June 26th, 2018 / Categories: Articles /