Common Reasons Your Garage Door Remote Won’t Work
There are a few reasons garage door remotes stop working. We highlight four common scenarios that lead to remote failure and what you can do to try to fix it. You may need a new remote if your door won’t open after trying these suggestions.
1. The lock button is on
Coming home from work late and your opener doesn’t engage your door? It worked earlier when you left home but now it’s unresponsive and you’re miffed. The first thing you should do is call your partner to see if they locked the garage door on the wall control panel. The wall panel overrides the remote, so the remote won’t work if the lock button is on.
Why lock the garage door?
Part of my wife’s nightly routine is asking me if all the doors are locked – garage included. By engaging the lock on the wall unit, we can deter someone from entering the garage by hacking the opener. This peace of mind helps us sleep with a house full of kids. In the morning, I’ll put the car in reverse, hit my remote opener and start to back out when I notice nothing happens. Then I remember I forgot to unlock the garage door, so I get out of the car, disengage the lock on the control panel and do it all over again.
2. Dead remote batteries
If the garage door remote doesn’t operate the door but your control panel does, try new batteries. LiftMaster 895Max, 893Max, and 890Max remotes run on 3V CR2032 or 3V CR2016 batteries. To replace the battery, open the case according to the manual and insert the battery positive side up. Dispose of the battery properly. “Make sure the garage door opener has a working light bulb because it is a programming indicator.” – LiftMaster.
Garage door remote not flashing?
The LED(s) on your garage door remote will alert you to low batteries. As soon as the remote control stops flashing, replace the battery so you’re not locked out of the garage.
3. Disconnected from the opener
Garage door repair calls increase shortly after severe weather. Power outages and lightning strikes can wreak havoc on your home and the garage door remote and opener is no exception. Bad weather can wipe the memory of the opener, so you remote isn’t recognized. To remedy this, reprogram your opener and remote following the manual.
It’s inconvenient when you garage door remote doesn’t work, but we hope this article helps you uncover the problem. We repair and install garage doors and parts across Southern California, so please call or contact us if you need more help.
