You expect your garage door to open at the touch of a button. You don’t expect it to start opening randomly on its own for no real reason. As Cleveland garage door repair techs, we recognize such occurrences are unsettling, puzzling, and potentially dangerous.

As longtime Cleveland garage door repair experts, we’re committed to a thorough investigation of the exact cause and resolving the problem as promptly as possible.

There are several reasons why your garage door may be opening inexplicably. Our technicians have a systematic approach to identifying and addressing the root cause.

Among the most common sources of this issue:

Remote Radio Wave Interference.

Garage door openers, particularly overhead residential garage door openers, use radio waves to send signals to the door. Same with the keypad. If other devices nearby are on that same frequency, that signal could be interfering with yours. It could be something as simple as the neighbor’s garage door remote being on the same channel as yours.

Through the process of elimination, we can identify if there’s another device causing interruption. If so, our Cleveland garage door repair experts can reprogram your device or implement signal-blocking and resolve the issue.

Opener Malfunction.

Garage door openers can malfunction like any other electronic device. There may be a programming glitch. It could be a faulty wire. A bad battery could be to blame. A worn part might need to be replaced. Dirty wall pad keys can get stuck. Improperly stored remotes can become fried.

You can sometimes resolve a remote malfunction on your own by gently wiping clean the opener and/or wall mount to clear any obvious dirt and debris. Replace the battery if you know how to do so and have the right kind. If issues persist after that, it’s time to call a skilled garage door repair technician.

Garage Door Sensor Malfunction.

Most modern garage doors are manufactured with built-in safety features that prevent them from closing in on objects, such as a car, pet, or even a person. Sensors located on either side of the door are wired to detect any mass in the path of the door. If the sensors are malfunctioning, it could result in the garage door constantly re-opening, staying open, or not closing fully.

Sensors sometimes malfunction because they’re dirty, are improperly aligned, or have a frayed wire. The only way to be sure is to hire a Cleveland garage door repair company to assess the situation.

Power Surges.

Sometimes when there’s a power surge or power is restored after an outage, it can impact the garage door opener circuit board. A garage door tech can repair the issue and install a surge protector so it won’t happen again.

Code Hacking.

This one is less common, but highly concerning. As noted in a recent article by Vice, a security researcher discovered ways to remotely exploit vulnerabilities in certain brands of smart garage door opener controllers and hack into them online from remote locations. In particular, those offering Wi-Fi-controlled garage door openers may be vulnerable. Customers of one specific brand have even been contacted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency garage door remote hacking issues.

Our garage door repair experts can recommend secure, reliable systems that have provided superior protection for our customers.

Contact Our Cleveland Garage Door Repair Experts

Your garage door should open and close predictably – every single time. If you’re having problems with your garage door opening randomly, our Northeast Ohio garage door repair team can provide swift, reliable assistance to solve the mystery and fix the issue.

Advance Door Co. provides garage door products, services, repairs, and replacements to customers throughout Northeast Ohio, including Cleveland, Parma, and surrounding communities.

Additional Resources:

8 Common Garage Door Problems, By Geraldine Orentas, Samantha Allen, Forbes.com

More Blog Entries:

Top 5 Culprits of a Noisy Garage Door, Aug. 25, 2023, Advance Door Blog