Overhead doors are extremely reliable. But at some point, the following happens to most homeowners: they come home, hit the "open" button for the garage door and nothing happens. The door just sits there. What's going on? It could be any number of things.
If there is no movement or sound at all it might be that the circuit breaker for the garage was tripped for some reason. Or it might be dead batteries in the remote, or something blocking the electric eye. Whatever it is, you don't have the time or ability to deal with it now. You need to get inside. But how do you do that? In this post, we'll explain how to bypass the garage door motor so you can open the door manually.
Before You Call for Garage Door Installation in Littleton, Read This
We often get calls for Littleton garage door services from homeowners who are unable to get into their garage because the door isn't opening. Fortunately, there is a pretty simple work-around that will allow you to sidestep the motor and open the door the old-fashioned way; manually. Note that this fix assumes you can get into your house through the front or back door. So here goes...
- Enter the house and go to the garage.
- If the garage door has a deadbolt check to see if anyone engaged it.
- If so, unlock the deadbolt and try the door again. It should open.
- If there was no deadbolt then unplug the garage door motor.
- If you don't know where it's plugged in just follow the cord from the motor to the wall plug.
- Now that the motor has no power walk over to the door and stand at the centerpoint.
- Look up.
- You should see a red handle with a cord hanging down a foot or so.
- That is the Emergency Release Cord or ERC. Pull it firmly until you hear a loud click.
- The garage door motor and the door are now disengaged from one another.
- There should be a handle on the door you can use to pull it open manually.
- Once you pull it up to about head-height let it go. It should go the rest of the way by itself.
- Drive your car into the garage and pull the door closed.
- If there is a manual lock on the door, lock it.
Once you are safely inside and the door is closed you should check to see if the batteries in your remote have died. If you have a spare battery or batteries put them in the remote, plug the garage door opener back in, unlock the door and try the remote again. If it opens you're all set. If it doesn't you should call us.
But What if Nothing's Working and You Have No Other Way into the House?
In rare cases, people may find themselves not only frozen out of the garage, but unable to get into the house via the front or back door as well. This makes things a little more complicated but there is still a way to disengage the garage door opener and open the door manually (provided it's not locked from the inside). To do this you will need to have a coat hanger available and do what the local B&E guys do. We'll explain.
You know that ERC we described above? The cord that hangs down inside the garage and allows you to disengage the motor? Well, here's a secret: it can be accessed from outside the door as well. The local burglars in Littleton know this, but most homeowners don't. That's because the ERC is not meant to be accessed from outside. If you're going to reach it you'll need to perform a hack on the door using the coat hanger we just mentioned. Here's how it's done:
- Reshape the coathanger until it is one long piece with the hook at the end.
- Go to the center of the garage door.
- Take the coathanger and slide it up between the door and the door frame at the top of the door.
- (Make sure you are at the center point of the garage door opening.)
- Your goal is to use the hook on the hanger to grab the ERC inside.
- Once the hook is inside start moving it around and pulling on it until it snags the ERC.
- Once you have snagged the ERC give the coathanger a good yank until you hear the click that indicates the motor is now disengaged.
- Remove the hanger then pull the door open using the handle down near the bottom of the door.
As long as the door is not locked from the inside it should open. Once the car is inside just pull it closed and lock it to prevent those B&E guys from having easy access to your house.
Get in Touch With Arapahoe
Once you are safely inside your garage hit the light switch. If the light comes on the problem with the door is not a circuit breaker. After eliminating the circuit breaker check to see if the batteries in your remote are dead. If it turns out they are fine get in touch with Arapahoe by searching for "garage door installers near me" or simply call us at (303) 730-0232. If you like you can send us an email at: arapahoegd@gmail.com. Chances are you won't need a new overhead door installation. But we'll find out one way or another.