Troubleshooting a Garage Door Opener Wall Button

When your garage door opener wall button is not working, it can be really frustrating. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell right off the bat what's causing the issue so you can repair it. That's where some basic troubleshooting can come in handy to help you identify the source of the problem and determine how to solve the problem. The good news is that most of these issues require simple DIY fixes.

First, see if you can open or close the garage door with your remote if you have one. This will help you identify if the problem is with your wall switch or the garage door opener itself. If it doesn't work even with the remote button, you may want to add new batteries to your remote (especially if you haven't used it for a long while) and test it one more time. If the door doesn't open or close with the remote, then the issue is most likely the garage door opener, not the wall button or remote, and you may need to troubleshoot it or contact a professional repair person.

If the remote opened the door but the wall button doesn't, then you'll need to see if the switch is bad. Luckily, the wires connecting it to the garage door opener carry a low voltage, so you can easily and safely test this by removing the switch and touching the two wires together. If the door opens or closes, then the switch needs to be replaced. In this case, replace it with one designed for your specific model of garage door opener.

If nothing happened when you touched the wires together, they could be damaged. To see if this is the problem, use a small piece of wire to connect the two wires together where they enter the terminal for the garage door opener. If the door opens or closes, then replace the wire between the opener and the wall button with either 18- or 22-gauge wire.

Occasionally, homeowners discover their garage door will only open when they hit the button, or it may go down partway and then go back up. In this case, the problem could be something blocking the door or an issue with the safety sensors. Look at the front of your garage and double-check if anything is in front of the sensor lights or in the way of the door that may be stopping it from closing properly.

If the space is clear, examine the sensors. Each sensor should be lit up when there is nothing in front of them. Try blocking any direct sunlight that could be hitting the sensors because the sunlight can sometimes interfere with the sensor's functionality. If the light is out even though there are no hazards or sunlight interference between the sensors, then you may need to replace the sensors.

In cases where the problem is caused by interference from sunlight, you can try installing the sensors a little further from one another so they are covered by your garage's walls, or you could install sun shields on the sensors.