My garage door opens by itself. Is this possible? What could be the cause of this and what is the solution?

Is this an actual problem?

Yes, it’s possible, although rare, for your garage door to open by itself. There are a few unusual factors that can cause your door open by itself. Here are a few scenarios we've come across:

  • Residential electric garage door openers manufactured after 1993 are equipped with two safety mechanisms that operate while the door is closing. The first is photoelectric and the second is mechanical. The most common scenario is a misalignment of the photoelectric reversal system. When the two sensor housings are out of alignment, the beam is cut off, which the door opener interprets as an object in the way of the door’s descent. As a result, it automatically reopens the door. Realigning the beams will resolve the problem. To make sure that it has been corrected, check the wall panel near the entrance to your home. The indicator light should have stopped blinking.
  • Another common scenario: during the winter, the threshold of your garage door must be kept clean to avoid any accumulation of snow or ice. Otherwise, the door’s mechanical mechanism will butt up against this buildup, and depending on how sensitive it is, may reverse the door
  • Also, a power surge caused by a lightning storm, for example, may have damaged the electrical circuits of your door opener.
  • There’s one last scenario that applies to door openers manufactured before 1993. Before this time, remotes were programmed by positioning clips. By sheer chance, one of your neighbors may have a remote programmed with the same code. After 1993, LiftMaster started using a rotating code with millions of possible programming combinations.

According to a persistent urban legend, a plane passing over your home can cause your garage door to open. To correct many people’s misimpression, we should point out that it all depends on the frequency used by the door opener. The frequency used in older garage door openers could interfere with certain military planes. This problem was corrected starting in 1993 by employing a different transmission frequency.

A couple of possible solutions:

Before leaving home, wait a few seconds to ensure visually that the door is completely closed and that none of the security mechanisms have triggered it to reopen.

Another solution: if you want to be sure that your garage door is completely closed, there is a garage door monitor (829 LM) that you can install in your home (e.g. in your bedroom) that will indicate whether the door is completely closed or not.

The permanent solution: use of LiftMaster’s MyQTM technology.

For your peace of mind, we recommend MyQTM technology, which will allow you to:

  • Open and close your garage door from your smartphone, tablet or computer
  • Receive an email when your garage door is opened
  • Program the door to close automatically 60 seconds after it is opened

In order to benefit from this technology, you need to have a door opener model that offers built-in MyQTM technology.

Otherwise, if you already have a LiftMaster door opener manufactured after 1998, you can purchase the 888 LM wall station with an 828 LM Internet gateway to equip your current door opener with MyQTM technology.

If you have a LiftMaster model dating from 1993 to 1998 or even certain models made by other manufacturers, adding an 821 LM universal door controller can also equip your door opener with MyQTM

Consult a Garaga dealer to verify the model and year of your door opener and analyze the possible solutions… So you can sleep peacefully!

My garage door opens by itself
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