Garage Door Starts Down Then Reverses

One question some homeowners ask is why their garage door closes then immediately reverses to the open position.

Garage door starts down then reverses.

Your garage door is likely the largest opening on your home s exterior so it s important to have the peace of mind that it is functioning properly. This is almost always the result of a dirty or obstructed safety feature. It goes partway down reverses direction and goes back up again. If the door reverses part way down and you are sure there is no obstruction or binding increase the closing force a small amount and try it again.

The garage door will automatically go in reverse whenever it hits an obstruction such as the driveway or ground. In this case the garage door opener detects that it is coming into contact with. If you find that your garage door is reversing before even hitting the floor then it could be possible that there is a problem with the close force setting. Some older garage door openers do not have nicely labeled adjustment screws for force and travel limits.

The garage door starts to open then stops and reverses and sometimes will open on it s own without me pressing the the garage door starts to open then stops and reverses and garage door opens by itself. Reverses on its own if the garage door only travels down an inch or so before reversing something is probably blocking the beam between the two safety sensors at the bottom of the rails or the sensors aren t aligned.