Have you ever found yourself without power and simply hoped that it would come back on sometime soon so that you could get your car out of your garage? Do you know what to do if it doesn’t come back on so you don’t have to call in sick to work to escape the shame of having to admit you didn’t know how to exit your home without technology and electricity?
Thankfully, we know a thing or two about the mechanics of garage door openers, and we’re happy to give you a few pointers in case the electricity doesn’t come back on, but you really need to get your car out of your garage. All electronic garage doors have a manual override to open the door when there is a power failure, or you can’t open the door the traditional way for some other reason.
- Locate the emergency release cord hanging from your garage door opener. (It’s probably the only cord you can see there. Most of the time, the rope will be red and have a plastic knob on the end.)
- The cord is attached to a small lever. Pull on the cord to disengage the release lever. (You may need to climb on a ladder to do this.)
- Once the door has released from this arm (called the opener carriage), you should be able to manually lift the garage door. Ensure that it is all the way up before you let go, or it could come crashing down.
- If the door won’t open, it’s probably jammed or lacks this emergency release function. Give us a call, and we can walk you through disconnecting and reconnecting your garage door opener arm and the release. We can also determine if there is an issue you are having that needs further attention, besides just the lack of electricity.
- When the electricity comes back on and you are ready to use your garage door opener as normal again, climb back up on the ladder and push the lever upward until you hear a click. You may also be able to pull the release cord upward to re-engage the lever.