It really does happen! You come home and are startled; your garage door is wide open! You nervously pull into your garage and look around. Nothing appears to be missing. Is someone else home and didn’t shut the garage door? It can’t be that; there are no other cars there!
Here’s another scenario. You are outside in your front yard, playing with the dog. You came out through your garage door which is still open as you are going to work in there later. All of a sudden you hear and see the garage door close. It wasn’t you and no one else is home! What gives?
Don’t call Ghost Busters; you are NOT haunted! You are experiencing a phenomenon that happens to many of us, from time to time – someone is using your garage door code or frequency! No need to panic; it’s almost always accidental! Often, it’s a neighbor that just moved in or that recently changed garage door openers and their code or frequency is matched to yours. The solution is simple; change your code/frequency and see if the occurrence stops.
Here at Goodyear Garage Door Repair we had one customer whose garage door would open every day around noon; all by itself. Being curious, she observed that after she closed it, it opened again about a half hour later and her neighbor one house down would go back to work after her lunch break. After a chat and lots of laughs (they are good friends, now) the neighbor changed her opener code and the mysterious opening stopped.
Word of caution!
Our Goodyear, AZ garage door repair pros encourage locals to always lock their doors leading from the garage into the house. Get in the habit of doing this as often as possible. We’ve heard stores of folks coming home from vacation and finding their garage doors wide open. Can you imagine if the door leading in to the house was unlocked? It’s not only neighbor garage door opener codes that can mysteriously open garage doors. Other factors can cause the same effect and if it happens in the middle of the night or when you are gone camping or even to the store, you don’t want to leave your home unprotected!
Change your code!
If you haven’t changed your opener code before, it’s easy. Just take the cover off of your remote and find the code wheel. Change it to reflect your new code. Then, be sure to change the code inside the actual opener itself so that it matches the one you entered in the remote. Refer to your owner’s manual or go on YouTube for video instructions if needed.
Radio interference and short circuits
These instances are rare, but they do happen. Police radios, radio towers, a nearby radio station, or even CB radios can sometimes send an occasional signal that triggers your garage door to close.
A short in the circuit board also can have the same effect as can a short in the wall button, remote, or in the wall button wiring.
Check your remote battery
Another culprit to mysterious garage door behavior is sometimes your remote battery. A defective remote, or weak batteries, can cause the remote control unit to send out random signals that can trigger openings and closings of your garage door (and your neighbor’s too). Test your battery to see if it is still good and if it is weak; replace it with a new one. You can use a home battery tester or if you don’t have one, remove the battery and take it to Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Best Buy or Target and ask them to test it for you. They hope to sell you a new one but the test for no charge when asked.
Old opener units and remotes
Is your garage door opener or remote over 20 years old? If it still works reliably, that’s fine. One thing to keep in mind though is that older remotes have fewer codes that can be programmed into them and this increases the likelihood that someone in your development will have the same codes and frequencies.
Reprogram your transmitter
If you are still having problems with a garage door that opens on its own, then you might check, and reset your transmitter. You can do this finding the learn button on your remote. Press and hold this button for a few seconds. After a little while the indicator lights will start blinking. While all this blinking is going on press the remote button one more time. This action will re-program your remote. For best results check your owner’s manual. Keep an eye out for toll free numbers to call in case you need help or clarification. If you are renting or if your house didn’t come with a garage door opener owner’s manual then don’t despair. You can note the make and model of the unit and go online to find the owner’s manual. Most garage door opener brands now put their owner’s manuals online in PDF form and all you have to do to access them is to enter the name of the brand along with the words “garage door opener” and “owner’s manual” in the search bar and you should be successful. Be sure to check Vimeo and YouTube for videos any this subject or any other garage door or opener topic that you may wonder about.
Goodyear Garage Door Repair offers 24-hour emergency service if you feel the need to use it. Our rates are affordable and service is not only round the clock, it is available on weekends and holidays. Much of the tests and adjustments recommended here can be done on your own but if you need professional garage door repair assistance at any time don’t hesitate to call any of our local Goodyear, AZ garage door repair shops and request it. Garage doors that open on their own can be everything from a nuisance to an invitation for intruders to enter your home so take it seriously and follow our advice.
Aricle source here: Garage door opens or closes on its own
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