Tag Archives: garage door opener
Garage Door Safety Tips
While working in the garage the other day, my next door neighbor was outside playing with his toddler son, in front of my driveway. Just as I was wrapping up my project and on my way into the house, I made sure the coast was clear, hit the button for the garage door and it began to close. The last beams of daylight were just beginning to disappear when I suddenly noticed out of my peripheral vision, a pair of legs, belonging to that toddler, standing about a foot from my closing garage door. I quickly hit the door button and fortunately for myself, the little toddler and his father, the door came to an abrupt stop. Talk about close calls!
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, garage door related accidents account for an astonishing 20,000 emergency room visits every year. The types of injuries range from crush injuries to fractures and worse. And those are just the incidents that were reported. If those numbers don’t impress you, then check these numbers out:
77.6% of garage door injuries happen at a person’s own home.
37.7% of injuries occur in the summer months. (June-Aug)
59% of injuries involve caught or cut fingers and [more]
How to Prevent Garage Door Accidents
Garage door accidents, like so many accidents in the home, could be avoided if more care and attention was paid.
A garage is not essentially a play area or a work area, but a place to store your vehicle and household items. You should therefore never let children play around in an open door, especially when we are talking about traditional spring doors, as you are creating a danger zone.
Garage doors should be kept closed. They are not really designed to stay open, and if they were used correctly, then many accidents would be prevented. Although the springs in a traditional garage door are designed to hold a garage door open at half way up, springs can fail at any moment, the garage door falling abruptly down.
Keeping up to date with your garage maintenance is really important if you wish to prevent door accidents. A simple once over, periodically to make sure that none of the moving parts or hardware of the door are broken is all it takes to prevent so many accidents. If you do the simple test of leaving your door half way up, you should be able to determine if the torsion springs are in good order [more]
A Resource for Homeowners: Home and Garage Access During a Power Outage
LiftMaster launched their new site, GetInYourGarage.com, as a resource for homeowners, providing them with tips on how to manage their home and garage access during a power outage.
Coupled with statistics on the frequency of power outages across the country, this site helps connect homeowners to installing dealers who can educate them on and install tangible battery backup garage door opener and access solutions so they are never inconveniently blocked or locked out by a heavy powerless garage door when the power’s out.
Whether caused by inclement weather or grid failures, power outages are inevitable, leaving homeowners with a lot to handle until the power goes back on. GetinYourGarage.com offers a resourceful starting point for homeowners and families on what to do during a power outage and what steps they can take to ensure that access to their home is not jeopardized, leading them to a local dealer to learn more about maintaining peace-of-mind during an outage.
The site also features information on the LiftMaster 3850 Belt Drive unit with battery backup built right into the opener, as well as a preview of LiftMaster’s new national television spot that highlights the features and benefits of installing this battery backup-enabled unit.
LiftMaster is a [more]
Garage Door Operator Problems? Let’s See…
When your garage door opener suddenly stops operating properly, the explanation and solution are usually pretty easy to deal with.
Here are the most common problems, along with the most likely repairs for each. For adjustments and repairs that aren’t self-evident, check the owner’s manual or contact a professional.
Garage door opener does not operate with either the remote or the wall switch.
The power source has probably been disrupted. Make sure the motor unit is plugged in. Check the circuit breaker, fuse or GFCI.
Garage door won’t close all the way.
The close limit switch needs adjusting. If not, see if the door is binding when raised and lowered manually.
Garage door reverses immediately after hitting floor.
The close limit switch probably needs adjusting.
Garage door reverses before hitting floor.
The close force probably needs adjusting.
Garage door does not open completely.
The limit switch may need to be moved toward motor unit.
The garage door opens, but the motor won’t stop running.
The limit switch probably needs to be moved away from the motor unit.
The garage door won’t open or close with remote control.
There are several possible solutions: (1) Move closer to the door (you might be out of range); (2) Make sure that the antenna on the motor unit is [more]
Your AGDO
Your Automatic Garage Door Opener (AGDO) works just fine, you say. It’s opened and closed your door reliably for years. All you’ve needed to do is change the light bulb or the battery in the remote control once in a while. Replace it? What more could you want? What could be new in garage door openers? Plenty!
Safety First
If your opener was installed prior to 1993, you may be missing out on a great safety feature that is now required on all U.S. and Canadian openers manufactured since that time – photoelectric eyes or some other device that provides equivalent protection against entrapment.
Photoelectric eyes – mounted about six inches above the floor – cast an invisible beam across the door opening. If a door is closing and, for example, a child or pet were running underneath the door, they would “break” the beam, causing the door to automatically reverse
Because your garage door is the heaviest and largest moving part of your home, a new opener with entrapment protection makes a great deal of sense, particularly if you have small children. (Note – It’s important, too, to teach children that the garage door system is not a plaything.)
Your local professional door dealer [more]
Mysterious Garage Door Opening
There was a local news piece about a homeowner reporting to police about a possible crime working its way though her neighborhood. She told them that one of her garage doors randomly opened late one Saturday night. She was worried someone was driving around with a garage door opener, hoping to find a door that opened with it, and then perhaps break into the home at a later date.
Police checked on it, and here’s what they found.
When the homeowner saw her garage door open by itself, she first thought it was a family member. She went to check it out, and once she got to the front of the house, she heard a car driving away very slowly. She got a bad feeling about it, so she went back inside.
The police told her that there were no other occurrences in her neighborhood. But that they would keep an eye on the neighborhood.
There are stories like this all over the country. Thieves are using old remotes and driving down neighborhoods to find garage doors that will open.
Is your home safe?
It depends on the age of your garage door opener. If it’s 93 or newer, it has what’s called a rolling code. That [more]
No Power to the Garage Door?
The needs of homeowners and the designs of garages today have evolved to include many distinct needs and applications that demand that garage door openers are diverse in their design and application.
Garage Door Openers are considered a necessity by most homeowners today and often rely on the garage door as the main entrance to the home.
You don’t want to get out of the car in driving rain, blizzards or freezing cold – just press the button on your remote transmitter and your garage door opens automatically. The new generation of garage door openers are reasonably priced, safe and easy to install. They are affordable and no longer a convenience for only a select few.
So what happens when you lose power in your home? Operating your door manually is no fun, especially in areas with frequent power outages. If you’re fortunate enough, you opener will have a battery backup system that will continue to operate your garage door.
For example, the LiftMaster 3850 opener features an ultra-quiet 12V DC motor with a belt drive system and the industry’s only integrated EverCharge™ Battery Backup system. The integrated battery backup technology not only powers the opener for up to 40 full cycles but continues to [more]
You’ve Come A Long Way, Garage Door
Garage doors have come a long way since they were first invented. In the early days of garage doors, they were made from heavy wood and were difficult to open and close. These doors were large and awkward and were much more difficult to use than today’s counterparts.
Sectional garage doors became popular in the early 1990s and the they had widespread acceptance because they offered convenience and affordability to the average person. Some of the things that the modern garage offers are efficiency, ease of installation, and affordability.
The first thing that a good garage door should offer is efficiency. The most important thing that a garage does for you is store things. Many people choose to store their cars in their garages, but there are others that keep other contents in there as well and you need to keep the contents of the garage safe from both intruders and the elements. Since people keep to many things in their garages it is important that the garage door take up as little space as possible. The roller garage is perfect for this because it takes up a very small space and allows for the storage of other items.
When looking for garage [more]
Escape the Elements!
The needs of homeowners and the designs of garages today have evolved to include many distinct needs and applications that demand that garage door openers are diverse in their design and application.
Garage Door Openers are considered a necessity by most homeowners today and often rely on the garage door as the main entrance to the home. You don’t want to get out of the car in driving rain, blizzards, freezing cold or scorching heat – just press the button on your remote transmitter and your garage door opens automatically.
The new generation of garage door openers are reasonably priced, safe and easy to install. They are affordable and no longer a convenience for only a select few. So what happens when you lose power in your home?
Operating your door manually is no fun, especially in areas with frequent power outages. If you’re fortunate enough, you opener will have a battery backup system that will continue to operate your garage door.
For example, the LiftMaster 3850 opener features an ultra-quiet 12V DC motor with a belt drive system and the industry’s only integrated EverCharge™ Battery Backup system. The integrated battery backup technology not only powers the opener for up to 40 full cycles [more]