Garage Door and Garage Door Opener Safety Tips

Published on: June 3, 2019

The Garage door is the largest moving object in any home, so safety  is key.   The garage door and garage door opener should be properly maintained for safety and proper function.  Here are some tips to help keep you and your family safe.

1. Always make sure the garage door is completely closed before driving away. If something is in the path of the door, the safety beams can reverse the door back to the opening position, causing your door not to make it to the closed position upon leaving. You know what will help with this tip?  The Genie Aladdin Connect Smartphone garage door controller.  This controller will alert you when the door closes fully and opens fully with a notification on your smart phone!  We made this step super easy!
2. Keep people clear of the garage door opening, while door is moving. This means don’t try to hop over the safety beams while the garage door is closing.  This is very dangerous, and injuries can occur from doing so.  This step is so easy by simply closing the garage door after exiting the garage with your wireless keypad.  Don’t have one? Check them out here.
3. Safety Beams. Those safety beams that we said to not “hop over” are there for a reason.  Safe-T-Beams are required per UL325 to be installed on garage door openers manufactured January 1, 1993 to present. They are to be installed no less than 5” and no more than 6” off of the ground.  If you have a garage door opener that does not have required beams, it should be upgraded to a current model.  Our Genie safety beams found here, work on all Genie garage door openers manufactured since January 1, 1993. 
4. Do not allow children to play with door or opener, including the wall control and/or remote. Did you know that the wall control should be installed within sight of the garage door, at a minimum of 5 ft so children can’t reach it? Children should never operate or be close to the garage door while its opening or closing – keep them safe!
5. Do not operate a door that has jammed or has a broken spring. A garage door is a very heavy object.  The garage door springs carry about ¾ of the weight of the door, if you have a broken spring, that door will be quite heavy – do not try to lift the door manually or with the garage door opener. If this happens ensure to contact a Genie professional for service.
6. Before installing a Genie® opener, remove all ropes from the garage door (typically on newly installed garage doors), and remove or disable any garage door locks in the open (or unlocked) position. Why?  If you happen to close your garage door and manually lock it and forget, the next person who tries to open the door with the garage door opener may not know, causing severe damage to the door.  Ropes being left on the door, can interfere with the safety sensors, or get stuck to objects also causing damage to the garage door.
7. Make sure you have installed the emergency release cord. This cord is there for a reason.  If you have no power, and cannot get out of the garage electronically, the red cord allows you to detach the garage door from the garage door opener to manually open the garage door.
8. Carefully read and follow all safety, installation and operation instructions in your owners' manual (and installation instructions, if you are installing an opener yourself ). If you have any questions or you do not understand the instructions, contact Customer Service at 1-800-354-3643 or your local Genie Professional Dealer here.
9. High Tension Springs: Warning! Do not remove, repair or adjust springs or anything to which door-spring parts are fastened, such as wood blocks, steel brackets, cables or any like items. Repairs and adjustments to high-tension springs must be made by your local Genie® Professional Dealer, using proper tools and instructions. Upgrading your door requires a properly matched spring, consult a professional for assistance. Never attempt to complete this task on your own. Stick with a professional! Genie Dealer locator here
10. Monthly & Yearly Maintenance: Visually check your garage door springs and hardware. Oil door rollers, bearings and hinges. Use silicone lubricant (for doors only) or light oil. If you have an earlier style Genie screw drive garage door opener, and it seems to be noisier, check to see when the last time it was lubricated. The screw drive should be lubricated with Genie lubricant once a year.  (lubricate according to instructions)
11. Check your garage doors balance. Here is how you do this: Close the garage door.  Release carriage from rail assembly by pulling the red emergency release cord. Manually raise door about 36 inches (i.e., three feet) off the ground (make sure nothing including your feet are under the door) then release the door.   The garage door should remain stationary. If the door moves more than a few inches in either direction, your door is not properly balanced. Contact your Genie Professional Dealer immediately.  If the door is properly balanced, reattach carriage to rail assembly.  If you are unsure how to disengage the emergency release cord check out this article here.
12. Perform contact-reverse test for your garage door: Here is how you do this: Lay flat a single 2" x 4" board (wide side down) on the floor in the center of the garage-door opening. Close the garage door using the wall control or remote.  The garage door should begin to reverse off the 2” x 4” within two seconds, proceeding to a fully open position. If the door fails to reverse on contact with the board, then close-force settings must be lowered. Refer to "Contact Reverse" section in your owners' manual. If, after lowering the force setting, the opener still fails to reverse, seek the expertise of your Genie Professional Dealer or our contact Genie Customer Service at 1-800-354-3643. If your opener is unable to pass the contact-reverse test, you may need to replace the unit.  This video shows you how to perform this test.
13. Test non-contact reverse (Safe-T-Beam System): Place an object in the path of the safety beams, Activate the garage door opener by using either the wall control or the remote, and insert an object into the path of the sensor beam. (Rolling a ball that is big enough to interrupt the sensor beam works well.) The garage door opener should stop the downward movement and reverse the door’s travel direction. If the opener fails test, seek the expertise of your Genie Professional Dealer or contact Genie Customer Service 1-800-354-3643. If your opener is unable to pass the non-contact reverse test, you may need to replace the Safe-T-Beam System found here .

Your owners' manual may provide more details regarding required monthly maintenance, including drawings and labels of the parts referenced.  Here is a link to all of our available owner’s manuals

You can also check for the manufacturer of the actual garage door, and the owners' manual for your door, for more instructions on maintaining your garage door.  These tips from DASMA also are helpful for safety on your garage door and garage door opener.