Garage Doors are designed to reverse direction – you should check your Antioch garage door’s reversal function

Homeowners in Antioch should check the reversal function of their garage door opener about once a month. That may seem excessive as, for most people, once the garage door is setup, they assume they can forget it. Considering that this is the most crucial safety feature of your garage door, a feature than can prevent your child or pet from being crushed, it’s not something to take lightly.

All garage doors have bolts at the top and bottom that are set to prevent them from crashing into the floor or the header. But, these bolts are the last resort, not the preferred method to stop for the motion of your Antioch garage door. Mechanically, limits are set. When the garage door reaches these limits it stops. When these limits aren’t functioning properly, the garage door reaches the bolts putting more wear on the garage door and the garage door opener.

When testing the reversal function of your garage door, check the movement up and down. You should reverse the garage door’s motion if you encounter resistance in either direction.

Testing your garage door’s reversal function is fairly easy

To test the downward reversal:

• Set a 2X4 stud flat on the floor below the door (to ensure that your door can reach about an inch and a half from the floor for this test).
• Use your remote to close the door.
• When the door reaches the board, it should reverse and start going back up.

To test the upward reversal:

• Close the garage door.
• Grab hold of the handle and push your remote to open the garage door while holding down on the handle.
• The garage door will start to rise.
• Once it encounters enough resistance from your grip on the handle, it will reverse and return to its closed position.
• The normal amount resistance required to trigger the reversal function is about 10 pounds of pressure.
•  If you want greater safety, you can change the setting to about five pounds of pressure.

These tests apply to both mechanical and electric garage door openers. If you have an electric garage door opener, you can test the reversal function anywhere in the raising and lowering cycle. The system checks the amount of pressure through the entire movement of the garage door. Five to 10 pounds of pressure, depending on your settings, will be enough to reverse the movement of the garage door.

Refer to your manual for instructions on how to set the reversal limit. If it is unclear or you feel uncomfortable with the process, contact a garage door professional for help.

Remember to do this on a regular basis - at least once a month - to keep your garage door safe for you, your children and your pets.