Automatic garage door openers are equipped with several mechanisms that help ensure safe and proper operation. These include the opening and closing limit switches, the opening and closing force mechanism, and the reverse contact mechanism. All of these are usually set when the opener is installed, but sometimes need to be adjusted.
Be very careful when making any adjustments to your garage door opener or doing any kind of garage door repairs. Garage doors are heavy moving objects and can easily cause a serious injury. If you are uncomfortable at all with adjusting the garage door, please allow an experienced garage door service professional to handle the adjustments.
The open and close limit switches control how far the door opens and closes. If the garage door stops before opening or closing completely, you may need to adjust the open or close limit switches. Also, if the door closes completely, but then immediately reverses direction you may need to adjust the close limit switch. What is happening here is that the opener is trying to close the door too hard and reversing safety feature is being activated.
Your owner’s manual will provide the details for your specific opener, but in general you can locate the switch adjustment knobs on the back or side of the opener power head. They may be behind a panel or under the light cover. You will probably need a flathead screwdriver to adjust the switch. Turning the adjusting knob in one direction or the other adjusts where the door stops in the open or closed position. Make small adjustments and operate the door to check the open and closed adjustments. Continue making adjustments as necessary.
