How do I open my garage door without power?

One of the most frequent questions we hear from homeowners is “how do I open my garage door when the electricity is out?”.

While using the emergency release handle is fairly simple, there are some important safety considerations to keep in mind:

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

1. If your door is already open, do not pull on the emergency release handle. That may allow the door to fall unexpectedly if it is not balanced with proper spring tension, or if your springs are worn or broken. Use the emergency release handle only if the door is closed.
2. In order to open your garage door without power, you will need to have an access door to the garage, so that you can locate the Emergency release handle. If you do not have a side door or house to garage access, you will need a key to the vault release keyhole located in the center of the door. If you do not have that key, please contact us for assistance.
3. Do not  use the rope handle to pull the door open or closed. If the rope knot should become untied, you can lose control and cause damage to the door.
4. Never hang anything on the Emergency Release Rope handle.

HOW TO OPEN THE GARAGE DOOR

With those precautions understood, the steps to open and close the door without power are fairly straightforward. With the door closed, pull the release handle straight down to disengage the drive trolley. The trolley on Raynor garage doors has a lockout feature that will prevent it from reconnecting automatically. The door can then be raised and lowered manually as often as necessary. Never place your fingers between the sections! Use the properly installed lift handles or grasp the bottom of the door firmly and pull up from the bottom. Note: a properly balanced door will lift smoothly and with ease. If it’s heavy or flies up, you should contact us to adjust the spring tension properly.

To re-engage the trolley, pull the handle down and back (toward the opener). It will reconnect itself again when the power comes on and you press the wall button or by manually pushing it until you hear it click to engaged. You don’t have to worry about the door’s position when reconnecting the trolley. As long as the trolley is at least 4 inches away from the opener, it will reset itself automatically for opening and closing limits.

If you have another brand or an older model that does not have a similar trolley design, Just give us a call.  805-339-0103

If you find that opening and closing the garage door by hand is a challenge, you may be interested in our battery backup garage door openers