Garage Door Opener Shorting Out

The capacitor is a part inside your opener that stores energy and helps start the motor every time you press the button.

Garage door opener shorting out.

T his is a pretty uncommon problem but one that can happen after you ve first installed your garage door opener. If your garage door opener stops working and you see smoke coming from the motor you most likely have a blown starting capacitor. The burnt trace s are easy to see. If the wiring connections are okay wait a few minutes before plugging the garage door opener back in disconnecting the power resets the logic board after an electrical disturbance.

Sensors are a critical safety feature but can prevent an automatic garage door from working properly. Garage door sensors prevent the garage door from closing if there s something in the way. Try making small adjustments. If the circuit breaker or gfci is tripping repeatedly it s a sign that there is a short circuit somewhere in the system possibly even the garage door opener itself.

Then test whether the opener works. Garage door openers manufactured after 1993 include sensors to prevent a door from closing on a child or pet. If you garage door is lowering then reversing back to the open position there could. This is a problem that will require you or a service person to replace it.

If you repair the defect s with a soldering iron and a bit of thin copper wire the opener will be ok. Finally it s possible the garage door opener s motor has burned out and isn t operating at all. As its name sounds a garage door opener is a device used to open or close your garage door from a short distance without getting out of your car. This is related to the up limit switch.

Unplug the garage door opener and check the wiring connections on the panel. If your sensors or garage door motor is blinking or your door doesn t close it s a sign you could have faulty sensors.