Garage door openers are designed to
last for an impressively long time. Most openers offer up to 15 years of
reliable service. However, as long as you pay attention to maintenance, you can
squeeze an additional decade of service from your garage door opener. But even
the longest-lasting garage door openers will start feeling their age sooner or
later.
Your garage door opener may
experience some of the following issues as it approaches the end of its life.
Spotting these issues early on can help you prepare for a replacement.
1. Sluggish Movement
Most garage door openers come
equipped with user-programmable speed settings. These settings let you choose
how quickly you want your garage door to open or close. As time goes on,
however, you might notice that your garage door works a bit slower than it used
to.
You can always readjust your garage
door opener if it works too slowly for your liking. However, some slowdowns
can't be solved by switching a few settings. Cumulative wear and tear of
internal components can cause your opener to gradually slow down as it ages.
Lax maintenance, whether it directly affects your opener or other components on
your garage door, can also cause slowdowns.
A little basic maintenance —
courtesy of your garage door specialist — can often help speed up your garage
door opener. If your garage door continues to experience sluggish operation,
however, you're better off with a replacement.
2. Noisy Operation
Garage door openers are bound to
make a certain amount of noise during operation. The older your opener gets,
the more noise it'll likely make as components succumb to wear and tear.
Eventually, the increased noise may be too much for your household and perhaps
even neighbors to take. Poor maintenance, including a lack of proper
lubrication, can also amplify the noise.
Remember that some garage door
openers are naturally noisier than others. Chain-driven openers, for instance,
tend to generate more noise than other types of garage door openers. If you're
looking for a quieter replacement, consider one that's driven by a rubber belt
instead of traditional bicycle-style chains.
3. Increased Vibration
Modern garage door openers are
designed for smooth operation. However, openers tend to vibrate as time and
constant use wears on internal components. Worn-out armatures, deformed shafts
and failing motor bearings can create vibration inside of the opener housing.
Rubber mounts can also deteriorate with age, causing increased vibration.
A little vibration is nothing to
worry about. Visible shaking during operation, on the other hand, is a cause
for concern. A vibrating opener will eventually shake itself loose from its
mounting brackets, posing a serious injury risk to anyone unlucky to be
underneath it when it breaks free.
4. Bouts of Unresponsiveness
As your garage door opener ages, its
controls may not be as responsive as they were when brand-new. In some cases,
it may take a couple of tries before you can command your opener to open or
close the door.
Aging circuitry can cause the
opener's logic board to malfunction, resulting in intermittent operation.
Although logic boards are replaceable on some garage door openers, replacing
the opener altogether offers reassurance and greater peace of mind.
Before you become too frustrated
over your opener's unresponsiveness, there are a couple of things you should
check. First, make sure you have a fresh set of batteries in your remote. Dead
batteries can make your opener seem unresponsive when, in reality, your remote
lacks power. Next, make sure your opener is plugged in or properly hard-wired
to your home's electricity supply.
5. Obsolete Features
Even if nothing is physically wrong
with your garage door opener, age can still take its toll. The steady march of
technology leaves much in its wake and your opener is no exception. Some of the
features offered on your garage door opener may have been state-of-the-art
years ago, but now they're painfully obsolete.
Take your garage door opener's
security features, for instance. Older openers stand vulnerable to code
grabbers and other tech tools commonly used by tech-savvy burglars. Traditional
dip switches feature a finite number of codes that anyone can easily guess.
Older technology can leave your garage door vulnerable to break-ins.
Modern garage door openers employ a
number of features to thwart thieves and prevent break-ins. Rolling-code technology,
for instance, helps prevent break-ins by randomizing security codes every time
you use your remote. With over 100 billion possible codes to sort through, code
grabbers will basically never be able to grab the right code.
You can’t avoid the need for a new
garage door opener forever, especially if your current opener suffers from the
above issues. When the time comes, the experts at Edgemont Garage Door Service
can help you find a replacement with the features you value most. Call today or
use our online form
to
get started.
