Due to the advent of technology, we are becoming more and more dependent on electricity. Almost every part of our day-to-day lives is now conducted by various electrical tools and appliances. Keeping up with this trend, garage doors have also become electronic, which has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the biggest problems is that the garage door won’t open after power outage.
There are plenty of reasons a garage door will not open after a power outage. The breaker boxes may be tripped, the outlets might be fried or the GFCI outlets may be damaged. Additionally, a garage door opener that has been damaged due to the power outage may also contribute to a garage door not opening.
Let’s take a deeper look at these reasons and also how you can reset the door after an outage.
Why won’t a garage door won\’t open after power outage?
Electricity has become such a big part of our lives, that we can’t imagine living for even an hour or two without it. We have modelled our lives in such a way that almost all of our activities are dictated by electricity. That’s why when a power outage happens, our lives become disarrayed as most of our electrical appliances and facilities stop working.
One of the parts of our lives that are affected the most due to a power outage is the security of our homes and businesses. And since electrical garage doors have become an integral part of our lives, it’s no wonder people go into panic mode when a garage door won’t open after a power outage.
Since garage doors provide security to our garages as well as homes, it’s scary when you think about the potential threats due to a power outage. That’s why it’s a must that you know why your garage door isn’t opening after a power outage caused due to storms or any other reasons.
1. Tripping of Breaker Boxes
The breaker boxers in your home ensure your home doesn’t fall victim to fire hazards caused by electrical short-circuit or any other electrical reasons. That’s why, sometimes after a power outage, the breaker boxes trip to ensure excessive electricity doesn’t flow into your house. So once the power comes back on, check the breaker boxes to see if they are tripped.
If that is the case, turn the switches back on to keep your garage door working. Sometimes you won’t even know that the breaker boxes have been tripped after a power outage. In that case, turn it off and back on again to see if the breaker boxes tripping is the reason for your closed Liftmaster garage door after a power outage.
2. Fried Outlets
One of the most common reasons for garage doors, or any other electrical appliances not working after a power outage is when power outlets are fried. When electricity comes back after an outage, sometimes the outlets can’t take the sudden load of excessive amounts of electricity and they end up being fried.
As your garage door is plugged into a power outlet, it might get fried after a power outage. This might cause the garage door to remain closed even after the power comes back on. The best way to check it is by unplugging the door opener and plugging some other appliance into the outlet.
If neither the door opener nor the appliance works, then you should call an electrician to fix or replace the outlet.
3. Fried GFCI outlets
GFCI outlets are there to protect you from being electrocuted due to electricity coming in contact with water. Although the garage isn’t the place we necessarily think of as being wet, water does come into the garage either after a storm or some other way. And storm happens to be one of the major reasons for power outages.
So there are GFCI outlets either in your garage or some room adjacent to it where the garage door might be plugged into. If that is the case, check the GFCI outlet to see if that is fried. Check the outlet by the aforementioned method, and if it is indeed fried, call an electrician to replace it.
4. The garage door opener is damaged
The last reason your garage door might remain closed is that the door opener itself is damaged. If you check all three things above and find out there’s nothing wrong with them, then it’s probably the door opener that is the root of the problem.
Sometimes the door opener gets damaged beforehand, and only after an outage, it stops working.
No matter what the reason is, if your door opener is at fault, then you have to manually detach it from the door and reset the garage door opener after power out.
How to reset the garage door after a power outage?
Now you know what causes your garage door to remain closed after a power outage. You should now understand how to reconnect the garage door after a power outage.
Because let’s be honest, nobody likes to keep their garage and house unprotected, especially after the power goes out. And if you can do something yourself, there’s no point in hiring a garage door repair service.
1. Pulling the garage door down
If you want to know how to reset the chamberlain garage door opener after a power outage, the first thing you should do is pull the garage down. This is an absolute must when it comes to resetting garage doors. If the door’s torsion springs are damaged, when you work on the door while keeping it open, it can cause serious damage.
2. Pulling the emergency cord to detach the trolley
Up next, you need to detach the trolley of the garage door from its carriage. To do that, you need to pull the emergency cord that hangs from the door opener’s trolley. Don’t pull the cord too hard though, as it will result in the door as well as the cord is damaged.
3. Manually lifting the door
Once you have disconnected the trolley from the carriage, you need to lift the door manually. If you see that the door feels heavy and doesn’t want to go up, this is because the torsion springs of the door are damaged.
Call a garage door repair service to replace the springs. Once you lift the door, pull the aforementioned cord again which will result in the opener being reconnected.
4. Connecting the trolley with the carriage
After you have connected the door opener, you need to close the door and open it again so that the trolley can be reattached to the carriage. You will be able to hear a clicking noise when they are connected.
Final Words
It is quite common that your garage door won’t open after a power outage. When that happens, don’t be scared and panicked, and follow the steps mentioned above to reset your door. If you fail to do so, we, at Precise Garage Doors are always at your service.
