closed garage door
Written by Queen City Garage Doors on January 16, 2022

The Garage Door Won't Open Manually

Traditional garage doors are heavy to open and close. With updated and advanced technology, electronic garage doors were introduced. They do not require manual garage door opening and closing.

It feels good when you don't have to make that extra effort to open the garage door after waking up in the morning. An electric garage door has made our life a little less harsh.

Sometimes, when the remote control is not working, you have to open your garage door yourself. But what you see is that it won't open manually. In such scenarios, you need to look for the actual reasons behind that. First, examine your garage door and then fix it correctly.

The garage door is the first line of security to your essentials. When the garage doors do not work remotely, you need manually opening of the doors.

Need to open garage door manually

There are many possible reasons behind the urge to manually open the door. Here we have mentioned some of the possibilities that make you do so:

Garage door remote out of battery

When the remote has drained all the batteries after constant usage, it stops working. Also, when you have lost the remote, you aren't left with any other option except self-opening it.

In such scenarios, you must know the process of manually opening the door so that you can quickly rush to open it when you're already getting late.

Power outage

In the case of a power outage, the automatic door opener stops working since it needs electricity to function. When it happens, you need to open the door by yourself. A power cut is standard when there is forceful wind or storm.

To examine your garage door

To check if everything is working perfectly fine, you need to open the garage door manually. When the garage door is broken, it does not respond to its remote. Then the last option to access it is to open the garage door manually. First, you need to switch off the automatic garage door opener to ensure your safety.

Pull straight up the garage door using your hands. It should slide easily; if not, you must check the torsion springs. Broken springs can be the reason for the stuck garage door.

In case of emergencies

You cannot wait for enough to look for a garage door remote in emergencies. Perhaps, it's better to lift the garage door all by yourself rather than wait for somebody else to help you out.

Reasons why the garage door won't open manually

Broken garage door springs

The functioning of the garage door works on the correct working of torsion springs. The springs, along with hinges and rollers, support your garage door to open smoothly.

If the stubborn garage door won't open even after you have tried to open the garage door many times manually, then a broken spring is responsible for that. The heavy garage door also indicates something wrong with the spring.

Springs do break or bend after a long time of usage and rust. It's best to get them replaced.

Garage door opener

Garage door openers control the door movement and pace at which the garage door opens. There are sensors in the garage door opener to operate and set limits to control its working. If you accidentally shift the door's sensitivity to the highest, it will constantly stop halfway.

However, the low sensitivity results in garage door drop. You need to reset the setting and adjust it to standard limits to get the door functional.

Blocked Photo-eye

The need to manually open the garage door can be because of blocked photo-eye. Photo eyes are the sensors working in coordination with the garage door opener, and they are responsible for ensuring safety by a sensor mechanism.

The mechanism works by projecting a beam 4 to 6 inches above the ground. The sending eye sends it to the receiving eye. The photo-eye of your garage doors is blocked by dirt or dust, and cleaning them with a soft cloth can make your garage doors work again.

The garage door is not lubricated properly

If the door is not opening, the garage door track is possibly not appropriately lubricated. There might be something obstructing the way through the path, and it can be dirt, dust, or anything that can get stuck in the way. It would be best if you lubricated the tracks, rollers, and hinges to make the garage door open.

Power outage

Non-availability of electricity or simply a power outage can be the reason behind closed garage doors. Even a typical short circuit can do this. When the voltage is too high, or many appliances are working simultaneously, the circuit breaker cuts off the power.

The door is fully automatic except for the emergency release cord, and therefore, it needs the power to function correctly. Check the electricity box and ensure whether total electricity is being supplied to the door.

Non-functioning door remote control

Your garage doors may be working fine, but the remote of the door is not working. If the remote is not working, the remote may have exhausted all of its batteries. Check the batteries to see if they are working correctly. If yes, the remote may be internally damaged due to a fall or something else.

If that happens, you need to replace the remote and get a new remote instead.

Misaligned garage doors

Suppose the garage door is not working, then it's possible that the metal parts are misaligned. The parts include hinges, screws, metal tracks, rollers, and the door opener, and their coordination is important for the proper functioning of the door.

The door will stop working if it is misaligned, and therefore, you need to correct its alignment.

How to open a garage door manually?

Manual opening requires little effort, but you cannot wait to fix the glitch in your automatic opener when you are running late. It's best to look for methods to manually open the garage door without looking around for help.

If you wish to open your garage door manually, you need to follow the below-listed steps.

  • You need to first turn your garage door to manual mode.
  • After doing so, look around the garage door frame for an emergency release cord. The release mechanism is operated by a red cord attached to a liver.
  • Now, pull the cord by applying some force in the correct position.
  • Watch if the gate is rolling smoothly, then the metal parts of the gates are working fine.
  • If the garage door is making a loud noise, there may be a broken torsion spring. Or it may be that an unseen obstacle is present in the path of tracks or hinges.
  • If this happens, we suggest you stand away and maintain a distance from the door because it will speedily roll down, smashing whatever is underneath.

In such complex situations call for a professional service to fix your garage door without any fuss. You need to call a registered company service to mend your garage door.

FAQ

How to open the garage door manually?

If the door is in a closed position, then look for a garage door cable that will enable you to open the door. Some gates also come with a metal manual lock bar. You need to find it and push the door open.

When to call a professional?

You can call a professional help anytime you feel the door's opening is complicated rather than worsening it up even more.

Should I apply extra force to open the door?

When you cannot open the garage door manually, we suggest not applying extreme force to fix it. It will eventually break the door. You should better reach for professional help if it happens.

Where to search for professional help?

If you can't open the garage door even after doing possibly everything you could to repair it, then it's time to call a professional. Queen city garage doors offer reliable services to everyone who wants professional aid at affordable prices. You have to call 980-949-0990 and avail exciting offers along with discounts and free consultations.

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