We all come to depend on our automatic garage door openers. They deliver wonderful convenience for our busy lives — but we often tend to take them for granted.
When something like a power outage renders your garage door useless, it suddenly becomes a huge inconvenience. How are you supposed to get your car inside the garage — or get it out? Do you need to call a company that offers garage door repairs?
Fortunately, the answer to that question is no. Opening your garage door during a power outage is simple once you know how to do it. Here’s a look at getting into your garage when your garage door opener is rendered unusable due to a power outage.
Start With the Bypass
Your garage door is most likely equipped with a function that turns off the automatic opener and allows you to use the door manually. Have you noticed a rope hanging down from your garage door opener system — probably a rope with a handle connected to the end? That’s your bypass trigger.
When you yank down on this handle, the opener disengages from the automatic system that’s become unusable by the power outage. It’s a good idea to pull down on the handle and activate your bypass only when the garage door is closed. If you choose to do so while the door is open, the weight of the door could cause it to slam shut at a violent speed — which could damage the door or be dangerous to objects, animals or people standing nearby.
Operating Your Door While Power Is Out
Pull the rope back and as close to the garage door opener motor as possible. This will keep the rope out of the way while you operate the door in manual mode. Hopefully your power is out for only a short period of time, and you’ll soon return to automatic operation of your garage door opener.
If not, don’t worry. Homeowners used garage doors manually for years before automatic openers became widely available. It’s more effort and certainly less convenient, but a power outage shouldn’t prevent you from using your garage however you like.
What To Do When Power Returns
When the power comes on, you’ll need to reattach your garage door to the automatic opener. Pull down on the handle at the end of the rope again, just as you did when you first disengaged the opener. Then pull up on the door until you hear or feel it snap back into place once more. Alternatively, you can also push the button on your automatic opener. You’ll see the spring attachment reconnect once the opener reaches a certain point — and you’ll be back in business again.
If for any reason your garage door fails to engage again with the automatic opener after a power outage, you may need to call a provider of garage door repairs. It’s always possible that the return of power has led to a power surge that’s made the automatic opener inoperable.
Keep Safety First
A power outage can certainly mean a serious inconvenience in your home, but it shouldn’t make your garage door useless or unsafe. Power or no power, garage doors are heavy items that operate under massive amounts of tension. Your garage door and its opener are designed to manage this tension safely, but be sure not to do anything that feels risky or that seems outside of normal operation.
Disengaging and reengaging your automatic garage door opener should be simple and straightforward tasks that allow you to use your door even in the case of a power outage. If they aren’t, however, a few moments or hours of inconvenience aren’t worth damage to your door or a threat to your safety.
When You Need Expert Support
At Custom Overhead Doors, we offer garage door repairs, service and installation to homeowners throughout Raleigh, Greenville, Greensboro and Fayetteville, North Carolina. We’ve been in business since 1989, offering customers like you the best in garage doors and openers as well as outstanding customer service that responds with urgency to your needs.
When you need assistance getting your garage door opener going again after a power outage or similar support, we’re just a phone call away. We offer a team of experienced and knowledgeable technicians who can quickly diagnose any issues with your garage door or opener, make recommendations and then execute on the services you choose. Make sure you’re getting the best for your home and its garage door and opener when you choose Customer Overhead Doors.
Contact Custom Overhead Doors when you need garage door repairs or other assistance for your door or opener.