Liftmaster Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting

I know you are having problems with your Liftmaster garage door opener. That’s why you are reading our Liftmaster garage door opener troubleshooting guide. Please sit tight, have a cup of coffee, and read along.

Lift master garage door openers are one of the very popular door openers you can find in the market these days.

These garage doors are operated via some codes and openers so are the safety features in the door’s system. Thus, you may come across some issues once in a while.

Most of the problems can be categorized under three main criteria- reverse opening, partial opening, or not opening at all. These are very common issues of lift master door openers that users find.

Generally, these issues are resolvable and can be done within a few simple steps. So, all you need to do is to identify and understand the issue correctly and then troubleshoot accordingly.

Another related article: Craftsman garage door opener problem fixing

Liftmaster garage door opener troubleshooting

Liftmaster Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting

Reversing garage door

You may sometimes face the issue that the garage door reverses whenever you try to open or close it. There might be a few reasons behind this, like-

Safety sensor issue

The sensor of the lift master doors ensures that there is no obstruction on its pathway. Otherwise, objects can be damaged or people might get injured.

But a lot of times, there are some issues with the safety sensor and making the door open in opposite direction.

In that case, the sensor needs to be properly aligned. The symptom of this problem is- flashing the opener light ten times.

To troubleshoot this, try to follow the following steps-

  • Check if something/someone is in the way of the safety sensor, and make it free if it is.
  • Check if the sensor is properly aligned. The sign of a misaligned sensor is- the LED lights of the sensors will remain off or will flicker.
  • Then loosen the wing nut to adjust the sensor’s position. You should expect the green led light to turn on. When you have positioned the sensor in its place, tighten the nut to fix the sensor in its place.
  • Then test the door opener with the remote control to see if it worked or not.
  • Open and close travel limits

Sometimes, another similar issue to reverse-opening the door is found on the door openers and it is when the door closes fully to the floor, and comes up back again. This might be the causation of the door’s travel limit that is set in the system.

If you program it to minimize the traveling limit, it will close to the proper distance. To limit this, you need to,

  • Get a Step Ladder and put it under your lift master door opener.
  • Find the two dials for controlling the travel limit at either side of the door opener. You can find them by searching the signs of the garage door with an upward or downward pointing arrow.
  • Take a Flat Screw-Driver and turn it in the opposite direction to the shown arrow. This will reduce the travel limit of your lift master. If you make a full rotation of the dial, it will decrease the limit to two inches.
  • Now, test the door opener to see if that worked. If it did not fix the issue, perform the previous step another time. If you find that you have reduced the limit a little too much, then screw the dial in the opposite direction to adjust the limit. With multiple trials, you will develop the intuition to adjust the limit accordingly.

Partial opening of the garage door

If you face this issue with your lift master door opener, check for the following features which mainly cause this occurrence.

Power door lock

When you open the garage door, the power lock is supposed to deactivate. If it fails to do so, the door cannot open properly, it remains partially open.

So, if you see your garage door is opening partially like that, check if it is because of the power door lock or not. If that is working fine, look for the other features of the following.

Damaged door tracks

Sometimes, the damaged doors or the tracks can resist opening or closing the garage doors. You can fix this issue by following these steps-

  • Close the door manually or use the remote control.
  • Disconnect the door opener from the door by pulling down the emergency release handle, and then again pull it towards the garage opener.
  • Then open the door manually. Be gentle and look out for any obstructions that make it hard to open.
  • Check the tracks, jambs, and roller of the garage door.
  • If you find the door to be sticking or binding, you need to address this with proper handyman tools. If you do not feel comfortable with tools, ask for a professional to sort that out.
  • Then you need to reconnect the door with your lift master door opener. For that, close the door manually, and pull down the emergency release handle. Then you will have the scope to move the trolly and position to reconnect the garage door.
  • Finally, check if it works out by opening it with the remote control.

Force adjustment settings

If either of the previous methods did not resolve the issue of partial opening of the door, then try this method.

  • The force adjustment setting is to regulate the power level that is put in opening or closing the garage door. You might need to set it on a higher level to make the door close fully. However, before you go on with this process, make sure that you have tried both of the previously mentioned methods to troubleshoot the issue.
  • Check the manual for force adjustment dials that are at the back of your lift master door opener.
  • Set the opening force setting a little higher than it already is.
  • Open the garage door with remote control to check if the door opens smoothly. If not, increase the setting a little bit more.
  • If you find the door opening around 5ft, then increase the opening travel limit slightly.

Finally, when the garage door opener does not work, check the following

The power supply of the door opener

An inadequate power supply will deter your garage door opener to function properly. If you see that the door opener is not responding to the remote-control commands, check if it has electricity.

To do this, you can unplug the lift master door opener and connect any other electrical device. If that works fine, then you might need to repair your garage door opener. If that device doesn’t work either, check the circuit breaker or the fuse of that electric setup. 

Door locks

If there is an automatic door lock is installed and it does not unlock, it will prevent the door opener to function. So, check if the door-lock unlocks the door before you command the door opener. 

If the garage door is frozen

Sometimes, the garage doors freeze during the winter and seal themselves to the ground. In that case, you need to figure out ways to get rid of the frost to open the door. Otherwise, the Liftmaster door opener cannot open your garage door.

If the spring of the garage door is broken

Usually, the weight of the garage door is too heavy for the door opener to function by itself. The door opener needs the boost from the spring of the door. If the spring is broken or damaged, then the lift master cannot pull up the garage door. So, you will need to fix the Door Spring to make the door opener function properly.

If that is the case, you probably can get some quick fix to mend the spring, however, we recommend you to go for expert technicians to deal with this.

FAQs – Liftmaster garage door opener troubleshooting

Liftmaster Garage Door Opener problems

Q: how do I factory reset my lift master garage door opener?

A: there is a yellow “learn” button on the back or side of the motor unit of your lift master door opener. You need to find this one first and then press and hold the button for about 8 seconds. Then press and hold again immediately till the LED goes out. Then do it again, this time you should expect to hear 3 beeps. This indicates that the previous memory is erased and is a factory reset.

Q: what is the function of the lock button of the lift master garage door opener?

A: the lock button is to lock the function of the remote control for the door. If the door opener is locked, it cannot be operated through the remote control. But push bar and keyless entry will allow the door to open or close.

Q: how many buttons are there in a garage door opener?

A: you will find three buttons in a garage door opener. One to open or close the door, one for locking, and another for light.

Q. How to connect my Liftmaster to my Wifi?

A: It’s a quite simple process. MYQ mobile app will make this process easier. Install the app (android, Apple users) on your mobile or tablet. For the installation guide, FishBee Productions has created a video guide. Feel free to watch and subscribe to their channel.

Conclusion

If you face any issue with your lift master that you have not come across anywhere or feels a little tricky, we suggest you contact your seller or an expert who is acquainted with the issues of the door openers.

If you find the problem to be a minor one and the service provider approves you to perform the troubleshoot by yourself, then you can troubleshoot according to the instructions. Otherwise, let the experts take care of it for you.

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Abdulla Zatar
About Abdulla Zatar

Hi, I’m Abdulla! Your go-to tech troubleshooter! Sharing my knowledge so that you can fix your tech issues with ease. Let’s make fixing things easy and fun!

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