• Garage motors can lose power or develop wiring problems.Garage image by Angelika Bentin from Fotolia.com
  
  Garage door motors provide the force necessary to draw the garage door up and reel it back down again. When garage doors experience problems, they tend to develop faulty sensors or remote controls. The garage door motor fails less often, but when it does the problems usually lie with wiring or position. Homeowners usually need to call in a professional to fix problems that occur with a motor itself.
  
  

Power Problems

• One of the most common problems with garage door motors is power difficulties. Typically, power is supplied to the garage door from the motor itself. If something happens to disrupt this power, then neither the motor nor the sensors of the garage will work, and the door will remain unresponsive. This occurs when the power cord itself is faulty, or the power outlet connected the motor to the grid had malfunctioned.
  
  

Wiring Issues

• Loose wires also plague garage door motors. Loose wiring is more difficult to diagnose, because the problem is often intermittent. With a power problem, the motor will not function at all, but with loose or faulty wiring, the motor may only function occasionally. It may only work with the signals from the garage door button inside the garage, but not the receiver that picks up signals from the remote.
  
  

Travel Limit Issues

• Travel limit refers to the garage door itself, and how far it can travel down. Garage doors are designed to fall down to the ground and then stop. If the travel limit on the motor chain is set too low, the door will continue to descend, and the motor will register that it hit an obstacle and retract. If the chain is set too high, the door will either hang open, or the motor will register that it has not closed and retract it again.
  
  

Centering Issues

• Garage door motors are meant to be placed in the center of the garage door, centered on the garage door. If the garage motor is placed to the side, it will tilt the garage door every time someone tries to open it. Unfortunately, some garages do not have enough room for a centered motor, so the motor must be placed to the side. Over time, the constantly angling can damage the garage door.