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Work down this list in order, easiest first. Most Las Vegas homeowners get a working door back in the first three steps. The rest at least know what to tell the technician.
Garage door opener not working at all: start with the power
If the motor makes no sound and the overhead light stays off, the opener is not getting power. Check the ceiling outlet plug first, because vibration works plugs loose. Then check the panel for a tripped breaker. Do not hunt for a reset button on the ceiling outlet: a dedicated opener outlet usually has no GFCI in it, and where the garage circuit is protected the reset sits on a wall outlet elsewhere, or at the breaker. Monsoon season runs from mid June into September, and a storm surge is a common reason an opener that worked yesterday is dead today.
Check the lock button and the vacation switch
Most wall consoles have a lock button, sometimes labeled vacation mode. When it is on, the opener stops listening to every remote and keypad, and the console blinks instead of moving the door. It is not a button you bump: it takes a deliberate press and hold of about two seconds, so it is usually someone testing an unlabeled button, or a child holding it down. Hold it for the same two seconds to clear it. If the wall button moves the door and no remote will, the lock is the first suspect, a dead remote battery the second.
It hums, clicks, or runs with the door standing still
A hum with no movement means the motor has power but cannot turn the drive. On an AC opener that points at a failed motor capacitor, a seized gear, or a door gone too heavy to lift. A single click then silence is the same story. If the opener runs its full cycle while the door sits still, either the plastic drive gear has stripped or the door is off the trolley. The trolley is the carriage that rides the rail and clamps to the arm bolted to the door, so look along the rail: a free hanging arm means someone pulled the release.
Photo eyes, dust, and the door that reverses
Two sensors sit facing each other on either side of the opening, no higher than six inches off the floor. That height is federal law: the beam has to catch a child lying in the doorway. Break it and the opener will not close, and most units flash the lights or beep to say so. Start with the lenses, because fine desert dust films the glass and reads as something in the doorway, and a dry cloth clears it. Both indicator lights should be lit and steady. One that flickers means the pair is off aim: loosen the wing nut, ease the bracket until the light holds solid, then tighten it back.
Travel limits and force settings
If the door reaches the floor and bounces back up, the close limit or force setting is out and the opener believes it hit an obstruction. The adjustment screws are on the opener housing, marked up and down. Move them a small amount at a time. After every change, test the reverse: lay a two by four flat under the middle of the door and close it. The door has to touch the wood and back off. That reversal test is the federal safety standard, and it is not optional. If you keep raising the force to make the door stay down, stop. You are turning down a safety feature to cover a mechanical fault.
A garage door opener not working is sometimes a door problem
The springs carry the door's weight, not the opener. When they weaken the motor inherits hundreds of pounds it was never sized for, and it strains, stalls, or reverses. Look first at the spring above the door and the cables each side. A finger wide gap in the coil means a broken spring, and a slack or frayed cable is as bad. Either one and you stop: do not pull the release, do not lift the door. A door with a broken spring is dead weight and it will come down. If both look sound, check the balance: with the door closed, pull the release cord, lift a few inches to feel the weight, then raise it to waist height and let go. A balanced door stays put. If it sinks or shoots up, the springs are the fault and a new opener would fail the same way. Keep your hands flat on the bottom edge and never stand under the door. Never adjust, wind, or replace a torsion spring, and never touch a cable: a wound spring holds several hundred pounds of stored energy and gives it up instantly.
When to call someone, and what is safe to do yourself
Power checks, the lock button, photo eye cleaning, remote batteries, and small limit adjustments are all safe with the door closed. Reconnecting the trolley is fine too, as long as the door is down first. Stop and call for a gap in the spring, a frayed or hanging cable, a crooked door, or a door that only closes on a held wall button. A gear set, capacitor, or logic board is a call too: that work is overhead, and a capacitor can hold a live charge after the opener is unplugged. Prestige Garage Door Services is local and family owned, open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week on (855) 866-4555, Nevada license 0091256, class C-3D Overhead Doors.