Lost Your Garage Door Opener Remote? Here's What To Do
We see people lose the remotes to their overhead doors in Parker all the time. Luckily, losing your remote doesn’t mean you need to have a new garage door installation.
While we’re experts in overhead door installation, we’re also experts in all things garage doors. That’s why we have all the tips and tricks for opening a garage door when you’ve lost your garage door opener remote.
You can manually open the door, replace your remote, or use a universal remote opener. It’s really not the end of the world!
We’re going to walk you through how to open your overhead doors if you’ve lost your remote. Keep reading to find out how!
Manually opening your door
The very first thing you have to do after losing your garage door opener remote is figure out how to open your door. If you lose your remote often, you probably know the deal. But let’s go over the key points.
- Be sure that your garage door is closed.
- Disconnect the opener by pulling on the emergency cord.
- Lift your door open all the way.
- Make sure it’s going to stay open before you step away.
- Manually close your door.
- Lock it with the lock bar.
- Make sure to unlock your garage before trying to open it once you find your remote.
Since losing remotes is a common problem and power outages happen, garage door manufacturers have made it pretty easy to open your door manually.
Replacing your remote
Garage doors often come with two sets of remotes. Manufacturers are aware that remotes get lost easily, so that’s why they give you two. It’s also convenient to have two if you have more than one person driving around and parking in the garage.
If you lose the second one as well, you’ll need to get a replacement (or two!). If you look at your mechanism unit, you should be able to see what the make and brand of your remote is.
The company name will be shown on either the external receiver or on the unit. It’s wise to order the remote from the same people who manufactured your door.
What to do if your garage door is older
We don’t all have brand new garage doors. Old garage doors can pose some problems if you lose your remote.
For example, the manufacturer might not make remotes for those doors anymore. Even worse, the manufacturer might not be in business anymore. Lastly, it might be hard to find information about installing or replacing things on an old door.
Your best bet is to find the manufacturer on the external receiver or unit. Search them up online and see if you can get a new garage door opener right from the company. But if this isn’t possible for one reason or another, you have other options.
Thanks to new technology, there are websites with the sole purpose of helping you get a new remote. Lots of garage repair websites have lists of brands and part replacements that you can buy even if that brand isn’t in business anymore.
The universal remote opener
If you’re really lucky, you’ll be able to program a universal remote opener even for an old garage door. Even if you’re not great with technology, universal garage openers aren’t too hard to program.
They aren’t a new invention. They’re very simple and come with thorough instructions.
There are two kinds of styles of programming when it comes to these openers. The first kind is called a “smart" or “learn" button. It’s made to be very easy. When you press the button, your unit will link with the remote.
If you have the manufacturer’s manual, pop it out and look at the steps you need to undergo to sync a new remote. To program a remote that has a smart button, you need to take the unit’s panel off and find the button that syncs the remote.
Usually, you press the button on the remote first. Then you press the unit’s button. The majority of units have a light that indicates when the reprogramming has been successful.
The second kind of programming is called a DIP switch. It’s a manual electric way to program remotes and has a bunch of switches in a circuit board that you can code to your device. There are usually around 10 switches.
Most universal remotes have both kinds of programming so you can pick which you want to do. Older garage doors usually need to use the DIP switch. Match up the DIP switches to what you find on the receiver, and voila!
Final thoughts from our garage door repair pros
Losing your garage door opener remote can be incredibly stressful. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you may be panicking that you can’t open your overhead doors at all.
Like we said, losing your garage door opener doesn’t mean you need a new garage door installation. But if you’re running into problems because you have an old garage door, it might not be a bad idea.
We’re the experts you want to call to install a new garage door if you live in the Parker area. Our garage door service team has been at it for years and know all there is to know!
We can help you pick out an incredible door based on your home and will install it perfectly. Having a new garage door can greatly improve the curb appeal of your home, so it’s something to consider! Maybe losing your remote was a sign that it’s time for a replacement.