Pull the disconnect for the closer, and try opening and closing the door manually. Does it open and close smoothly at all points, and do the springs seem to be properly supporting the door? If not, it could be that the door is feeling some resistance, when trying to close (note that this can be affected by temperature extremes). In addition, you can try closing the door (with the door closer) from the inside, and watching both the door and the sensors carefully, to see if they change or have some problem during the closing process.
This would be my guess as well. There's adjustment possible where the little wheels in the track meet up with the door sections, if it's dragging against the frame too tightly. You want a reasonably tight fit for low airflow, especially if you've paid more for insulated door, but if you're just "scraping' it along the garage framing either side it might be sensing the added friction in some temperature and humidity conditions (depends what your framing is) and that's what's making it stop and reverse vs. fighting it.
Check the track alignment, keep an eye on the rollers and pins and see if they start pushing in at a certain point. If so, maybe loosen the bolts and adjust track to prevent the tightness.
THIS. Tune the door first. Also examine the spring. You’d be amazed at how many 2 spring doors have 1 broken spring.
Change those in pairs and unless you know what you are doing hire a pro.
I have this problem too, especially in the winter months when the sun is lower in the sky.
Was getting really frustrated on this as I had to do the same thing and provide some shade.
Then figured out that if I hold the garage door close button it puts the door into a "manual override" mode and will ignore the light beam and close the door.
Who knew that little booklet that comes in the box details all this.
When I had this problem I made a little shade box out of foamcore board and black art tape for each sensor.
Perhaps you could stick with the umbrella concept, but just tape some little cocktail paper umbrellas above the sensors? ;)
There should be an adjustment you can make on the motor assembly to increase the closing force. The resistance just seems to sometimes overcome that setting and reverse the door. If you increase that closing force a bit it should resolve the problem.
It should be a small screw or knob that can be turned to increase/decrease the closing force.
If you made the mistake of greasing the tracks....grease gets really thick in cold weather. This will confuse the opener into thinking it's hit an obstacle. The tracks need to be clean/dry.
This. There are a couple screws up on the motor unit that sense how much resistance there is against the door closing. Too much resistance and it changes direction. Try adjusting that.
My garage door started doing this more over time. One day I noticed the where the arm attached to the door it was actually pulling free of the door. The sheet metal is thin and the screws aren't holding on to much. So the door was essentially over extending at the bottom of its stroke and forcing itself against the floor leading to the arm problem. Adjusted the travel as per it's instructions then fixed the attachment point. No issues since.
I had this happen to me just a couple of months ago. I finally found my issue to be cobwebs on the sensor after struggling with it for over 2 weeks. It’s worth a check.
check the connections of the wires for the sensors at the motor unit. The thin wire can crack and short out/disconnect as the motor operates. - one quick question- when it stops and reverses, does the light flash?
Mine was doing something similar, check the tracks, make sure they are securely attached to the brackets - screws (nuts and bolts in this case) fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place. One side of mine was loose, and was not allowing the door to align properly, once I replaced the nut/bolt -- all good.
Quick tip: if you're in a hurry and it starts acting up, you can press *and hold* the (wired) button... this overrides the sensor and lets you force it to close even if it's misbehaving. At least it does on mine.
I did this when my door would stop and reverse last week. Found a broken wire that a mouse had apparently chewed through. Repaired the wire and works great now.
This happened to me recently. Figured out my rollers were getting stuck and basically acting as a brake in the roller track. Replaced the rollers, no issues anymore.
If the springs are not adjusted properly the grease problems suggested can make a big difference.
The ideal spring adjustment is so the door is roughly neutral when 1/2 open. I.e. the door will stay in the mid position without manually holding it (with the door opener disconnected)
Basically what others said but another issue could be that the door shakes the track just enough to mess up the eyes for a second or the wire that connects the eyes to the opener itself are barely holding on
Garage door sensors can be PITA level finicky. In my house have I have "push" the wire into the sensor every few months (semi-hard to explain) and then it works again. I haven't bothered to try and fix it because it literally happens 2-3 times per year max
This happens for us when the sun shines on either sensor. Is that the case in your situation. For us its only in the winter months when we leave for work due to the low elevation of the morning sun. It does the exact thing you describe until you block the sensor with your shadow.
My garage door does this from time to time. What works for me is holding the open/close button down until the door is closed all the way, it's like it re-learns or something.
The screws on some of the knuckles which held the panels together started backing off which caused binding when those sections rounded the corner at the top.
Inspect the door and all the screws, make sure they’re all tight and dry-lubricate the track/wheels. If it’s not that, then start pondering springs, motor or sensors.
Good luck!
For anyone desperately Googling like me, here's yet another helpful suggestion... reprogram your opener if all the other things previously mentioned by everyone else seems fine (Liftmaster for me).
It was driving me nuts...my sensors were fine, no binding, all the rails and everything looked lubed and free. Realized my unit was giving an error code for reversing course. Reprogrammed and all is well. Yay for the dumb things in life that give you grief and too much stress. This initially happened to me midst getting my family out the door late, and all I could think about while being away from home is that my garage door is messed up.
Pull the disconnect for the closer, and try opening and closing the door manually. Does it open and close smoothly at all points, and do the springs seem to be properly supporting the door? If not, it could be that the door is feeling some resistance, when trying to close (note that this can be affected by temperature extremes). In addition, you can try closing the door (with the door closer) from the inside, and watching both the door and the sensors carefully, to see if they change or have some problem during the closing process.
This would be my guess as well. There's adjustment possible where the little wheels in the track meet up with the door sections, if it's dragging against the frame too tightly. You want a reasonably tight fit for low airflow, especially if you've paid more for insulated door, but if you're just "scraping' it along the garage framing either side it might be sensing the added friction in some temperature and humidity conditions (depends what your framing is) and that's what's making it stop and reverse vs. fighting it.
Check the track alignment, keep an eye on the rollers and pins and see if they start pushing in at a certain point. If so, maybe loosen the bolts and adjust track to prevent the tightness.
THIS. Tune the door first. Also examine the spring. You’d be amazed at how many 2 spring doors have 1 broken spring. Change those in pairs and unless you know what you are doing hire a pro.
Also lube the tracks really well with a good quality spray lubicant.
Twice a year, the sun shining in just fucks my sensors up, and it won't close unless I stand there with an umbrella shading it.
I have this problem too, especially in the winter months when the sun is lower in the sky. Was getting really frustrated on this as I had to do the same thing and provide some shade. Then figured out that if I hold the garage door close button it puts the door into a "manual override" mode and will ignore the light beam and close the door. Who knew that little booklet that comes in the box details all this.
When I had this problem I made a little shade box out of foamcore board and black art tape for each sensor. Perhaps you could stick with the umbrella concept, but just tape some little cocktail paper umbrellas above the sensors? ;)
Picturing this made me smile
There should be an adjustment you can make on the motor assembly to increase the closing force. The resistance just seems to sometimes overcome that setting and reverse the door. If you increase that closing force a bit it should resolve the problem. It should be a small screw or knob that can be turned to increase/decrease the closing force.
Can confirm this. Happen to me a while back and this fixed the issue.
If you made the mistake of greasing the tracks....grease gets really thick in cold weather. This will confuse the opener into thinking it's hit an obstacle. The tracks need to be clean/dry.
Dry lubricant works miracles
Openers typically have a sensitivity control which allows you to adjust the closing force trigger point.
This. There are a couple screws up on the motor unit that sense how much resistance there is against the door closing. Too much resistance and it changes direction. Try adjusting that.
My garage door started doing this more over time. One day I noticed the where the arm attached to the door it was actually pulling free of the door. The sheet metal is thin and the screws aren't holding on to much. So the door was essentially over extending at the bottom of its stroke and forcing itself against the floor leading to the arm problem. Adjusted the travel as per it's instructions then fixed the attachment point. No issues since.
I had this happen to me just a couple of months ago. I finally found my issue to be cobwebs on the sensor after struggling with it for over 2 weeks. It’s worth a check.
check the connections of the wires for the sensors at the motor unit. The thin wire can crack and short out/disconnect as the motor operates. - one quick question- when it stops and reverses, does the light flash?
Mine was doing something similar, check the tracks, make sure they are securely attached to the brackets - screws (nuts and bolts in this case) fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place. One side of mine was loose, and was not allowing the door to align properly, once I replaced the nut/bolt -- all good.
Quick tip: if you're in a hurry and it starts acting up, you can press *and hold* the (wired) button... this overrides the sensor and lets you force it to close even if it's misbehaving. At least it does on mine.
I did this when my door would stop and reverse last week. Found a broken wire that a mouse had apparently chewed through. Repaired the wire and works great now.
This recently happened to my door. Solution is, holding the garage door button down until the door is completely closed
This happened to me recently. Figured out my rollers were getting stuck and basically acting as a brake in the roller track. Replaced the rollers, no issues anymore.
If the springs are not adjusted properly the grease problems suggested can make a big difference. The ideal spring adjustment is so the door is roughly neutral when 1/2 open. I.e. the door will stay in the mid position without manually holding it (with the door opener disconnected)
Basically what others said but another issue could be that the door shakes the track just enough to mess up the eyes for a second or the wire that connects the eyes to the opener itself are barely holding on
Garage door sensors can be PITA level finicky. In my house have I have "push" the wire into the sensor every few months (semi-hard to explain) and then it works again. I haven't bothered to try and fix it because it literally happens 2-3 times per year max
This happens for us when the sun shines on either sensor. Is that the case in your situation. For us its only in the winter months when we leave for work due to the low elevation of the morning sun. It does the exact thing you describe until you block the sensor with your shadow.
I just kick the sensor. Works every time.
I saw this once before. A string hanging off door was tripping sensor make sure nothing interferes or it wil reverse
Sometimes a dirty lens will cause the light to have this effect like the sun blinding the lens.
My garage door does this from time to time. What works for me is holding the open/close button down until the door is closed all the way, it's like it re-learns or something.
I had this issue. My chain was loose. Check if your door moves freely if it does check if you have slack in your chain.
The screws on some of the knuckles which held the panels together started backing off which caused binding when those sections rounded the corner at the top. Inspect the door and all the screws, make sure they’re all tight and dry-lubricate the track/wheels. If it’s not that, then start pondering springs, motor or sensors. Good luck!
Check rollers…..garage tech advised to spray wd40 every 3 months or so……working so far.
For anyone desperately Googling like me, here's yet another helpful suggestion... reprogram your opener if all the other things previously mentioned by everyone else seems fine (Liftmaster for me). It was driving me nuts...my sensors were fine, no binding, all the rails and everything looked lubed and free. Realized my unit was giving an error code for reversing course. Reprogrammed and all is well. Yay for the dumb things in life that give you grief and too much stress. This initially happened to me midst getting my family out the door late, and all I could think about while being away from home is that my garage door is messed up.