How to Change a Garage Door Opener Travel Stroke

Your garage door opener needs configuring once it has been installed.

The travel settings of your automatic garage door opener tell the motor how far to lower the door before it touches the ground and how high to raise the door to allow your car to pass underneath. You might find the door fails to reach the ground, closes and reverses or stops before it is fully open if the travel limits need adjusting. Once set the travel settings should stay correct for the life of the opener.

Things You'll Need

• Stepladder
• Screwdriver

Instructions

1. Open and close the door to help identify which limit setting you need to adjust: the down limit needs adjusting if the door fails to reach the ground or touches the ground and reverses, the up limit needs changing if the door fails to fully open.

2. Stand on a stepladder beneath the motor head of the garage opener (this is the part mounted to the ceiling containing the light) and locate the limit dials marked with an up or down icon with the image of a garage door.

3. Turn the downward limit dial a full turn clockwise with a screwdriver to decrease the amount of downward travel by roughly 2 inches; this is the action to take if the door reverses after touching the ground.

4. Turn the downward limit dial a full turn counterclockwise to increase the amount of downward travel by 2 inches; take this action if the door fails to reach the ground.

5. Turn the upward limit dial a full turn clockwise to add an extra 2 inches of travel; do this if the door fails to fully open.

6. Test your new limit settings by opening and closing the door. Make further adjustments as outlined above based on how the door behaves. Stop when the door stays closed and fully opens.

References

• Liftmaster: Chamberlain Liftmaster Professional Garage Door Opener Manual
• Sears: Craftsman Garage Door Opener Manual