Garage door openers, contrary to many people’s beliefs, do not provide the lifting power to
open the garage door. The spring(s) do the heavy lifting, the opener just assists with the
opening and closing of the garage door. The first thing I would recommend doing is testing the
door for balance and anything that might be binding the door.
To do this you will need to pull the red release handle or cord to disengage the garage door from the
opener. Do this with the door in the fully closed position. With the door closed and disengaged from the
opener manually lift the garage door. If the door is very heavy, then you have a spring that is broken or
that has failed. In this case call a service company to replace the spring(s). Garage door springs
are very dangerous and can cause serious damage even death. If the door opens easily and
does not have anything binding the door during opening and closing manually, then it may need
a simple travel limit or force limit adjustment.
Be careful when adjusting force limits and
always test to ensure the emergency reverse works properly after making any changes to the
force limit adjustments.
