An automatic garage door opener is a great investment for any homeowner. Not only does it save time and effort, but it also helps to ensure the security of your vehicles, tools, and other valuables.
Most homeowners rely on their garage door opener to smoothly and efficiently open and close their garage door. However, an electric garage door opener will not automatically open the door when the power goes out. Fortunately, linear garage door opener manufacturers have taken this into consideration and built in an emergency device to disconnect the roll-up door opener, allowing you to open the garage door manually. This is a valuable feature, as it allows you to access your garage in the event of a power outage. In addition, it can also be helpful if your garage door opener is ever malfunctioning. Keep reading to learn more about how to open a garage door without power and how to reset a garage door opener.
1. Disconnect the garage door opener from the power source
When the power goes out, it is important to unplug the automatic garage door opener. If the garage door motors engage while the garage door is disengaged, it can cause damage to the assembly and make it more difficult to reconnect the garage door to the track. To avoid this situation, just unplug your automatic garage door opener before the gate is disconnected from its tracks and keep it that way until reconnecting.
2. Pull straight down on the emergency release cord
The emergency release cord is a red plastic handle that connects to the track and should hang down. When you see this, pull straight down on it until there's click sounding indicating your garage door has been disconnected from automatic opener.
Make sure that you don’t yank too hard on the emergency release cord, because you might snap or break the cord. If you are pulling the cord and the garage door will not disengage, make sure the garage door is closed completely before trying to pull the handle again.
3. Manually open the garage door
Even with the automatic opener disengaged, the door should open normally with a little effort. Grab the bottom of the door and lift up, making sure that you are lifting with your legs instead of your back.
You should be able to roll up your garage door easily if the springs are in good condition. Don’t put too much energy into lifting, since this can cause the door to fully open and spring back down into the closed position with a significant amount of force.
4. Close the garage door
After you leave the garage, it’s recommended to close the door. Since the garage door is not connected to an opener, it can potentially get blown down by strong winds putting nearby people and pets at risk. This can also damage the garage door.
The garage door can be manually closed by grabbing and slowly lowering it. The weight you are holding will increase as each part of the door slides into place, so maintain your grip to avoid any damage from occurring during this process.
5. Connect the garage door opener when the power comes back
When the power comes back on, you'll need to reconnect your garage door opener. To do this, you'll need access from inside of course, with the garage door fully closed. Once the garage door is in position, pull the emergency release cord down and toward the door opener unit, or reach up and pull the lever at the top of the emergency release cord to reconnect the opener.
Plug in your garage door and press any remote control button you have programmed with the automatic garage opener. This should automatically reconnect the door with the track. If the door is still disconnected, you can also manually lift the door about 1 foot off of the ground until it clicks into place on the track. Open and close the garage door to ensure it is properly connected.
Throughout the process, it’s advised to keep the door closed whenever possible, especially when leaving it unattended, as the garage door no longer has any mechanisms holding it in place.
Still having issues manually opening and closing your garage door?
As you can see, it is possible to open a garage door without power. If you find yourself in this situation, follow the step-by-step guide above and you should be able to manually open and close you garage door. And if you still have questions or need help, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are happy to assist our customers in any way we can.
