Garage door power outages: what do I do?
Power outages are often unavoidable, especially when it comes to wild weather, and can impact more than just your lights and wifi. With motorised doors, power outages can be a pretty big problem if you need to get in or out of your garage. Luckily, there’s a way to operate your garage door without electricity – modern garage doors usually come with an emergency release that allows you to manually open the door. Read on to learn about how to open and re-engage your garage door.
Opening your door manually
The first and most important step in this process is to make sure your garage door is closed before doing anything else. If you attempt to disengage your opener system with the door open, the door could fall and cause extreme damage to you or the equipment itself. If your door is open when the power outage occurs, it’s a good idea to call a technician to help.
Once you’ve made sure your garage door is closed, look for a red cord on your opener – pulling this will disengage the motor system from the door and permit manual use. Double check that your door is unlocked and your power cord is disconnected before you manually open the door.
After pulling the cord, you’ll need to use the lifting handle on the bottom panel or second section as the trolley operator that usually pulls the door will be disabled. If the door seems too heavy to lift, the spring may be broken – if this happens, call a technician immediately to arrange a service as a broken spring is a dangerous hazard. Additionally, if you notice any signs like shaking or uneven movement, there may be issues that need to be dealt with by a professional.
A quick note: Avoid leaving the garage door open unattended, as harsh weather can cause the door to fall. Instead, close the door as quickly as possible and use your manual lock to keep the door in place.
Re-engaging your door
To get your garage door up and running again, you have to re-connect the trolley to the opener. To do this, lift your garage door to a half-way position and then either pull the red cord for automatic re-engagement (roller door) or press the green button on the rail and operate the motor until it reengages into the trolley position (sectional). You should hear a click when the trolley re-engages and now be able to open and close the door again.
Motor not working after a power outage?
If the motor’s still not working after you’ve unplugged it from the power socket and waited 10 seconds before plugging it in again, call WA Roller Doors on (08) 6245 6474 for a service technician. Our friendly team is here to help and can get your door back up and running in no time.
