Owning a business brings about a lot of enjoyment, but it can also bring about high-levels of stress, especially when it comes to addressing malfunctions. When a piece of equipment isn't working right, the first thing on many business owner's mind is reduced productivity and expensive repair costs. Fortunately, when it comes to your overhead door, a malfunction doesn't necessarily have to be a complicated issue. There are a number of small things that could be causing the problem.

Photo Eye Misalignment

Photo eyes are the two small, sensor devices that are located just above the floor on each side of the overhead door track. If your door is located in a high traffic area, it's fairly easy for someone to bump into these sensor devices and turn them in the wrong direction. In order for the door to operate, these sensors must be perfectly aligned, creating an invisible beam between them.

If the door opens okay, but won't close, a misalignment of the photo eyes is likely the problem. Dirty photo eyes can also cause a similar problem.

Loud Operation

Most overhead door operators do function with some level of noise. However, this noise level shouldn't be excessively loud or involve banging or shaking noises. These types of sounds are generally indicative of a track that is out of alignment. When the track is bent, it prevents the door from gliding along the tracks smoothly, leading to the noise.

If your door is making noise, stop using it immediately as there is the potential for the door to fall off the track. Don't attempt to resolve the issue on your own, as it takes special skills to properly replace or realign the track.

Door Won't Operate

Many people understand that it's important to replace the batteries inside the handheld opener remotes they use. However, the idea of changing the batteries in the transmitter installed on the wall seems to slip their mind. If your door was operating without a problem and then it all the sudden stops responding to commands from the wall transmitter, an old battery is likely the culprit.

Before you panic, simply replace the old battery with a new one to see if this resolves the issue. It might be a good idea to change the batteries in your handheld transmitter and wall transmitter at the same time to stay on top of the issue.

If your overhead door stops operating suddenly, don't panic. There is likely a simple fix. Don't hesitate to contact a door professional to help resolve the problem.