I just had a Genie Screw Drive garage door opener installed about a month ago, and it's worked fine until today. When I tried to open it a while ago, the door opened about one inch, then stopped. I disengaged the opener, and tried to open the door by hand, but I can't budge it. The screw is turning when I push the button to open the door, but it stops after a couple of seconds, almost as if the door is stuck or something, but I can't find anything that looks like it's causing the door to jam. And no, the door is definitely not locked. Of course, it's Saturday, and I can't get anyone out here to look at it until next week. Does anyone know what might cause this, and if it's something simple I could fix myself? Thank you for any information you might be able to give me.

 

You may have a broken spring!
It's either a torsion spring (located on wall above door) or extension spring ( on top of horizontal track)
JP

 

Thanks for the reply, JP. There is a big black spring on the wall above the door, so I guess I have a torsion spring. Is that hard to fix? How do you tell if it's broken?

 

IF the spring is broken it should be in two pces.
The cables that are attached to the bottom of the door and run up tp the cable drums on the shaft will have no tension on them.
How old is the door?
Torsion springs are under a great amount of tension, serious injury can occur if your not familiar working on garage doors.
check to see if the spring is broken, if not have a good look at the door & hardware to see if it's not binding.
Post back.
JP

 

Thanks, JP, it does look as if the spring across the top of the door is in two pieces, one long piece that runs across the middle of the door, and a smaller piece off to the left. I can't remember if it was like that before, I guess it must be broken, but the wires that run down the sides of the door from the shaft to the bottom of the door are still really tight. I guess I better call a professional, this doesn't sound like something I can fix. Thanks again.
Mary

 

Mary:
By calling in a pro, you have made a very wise decision on your part. Congratulations. They will have you back up and running in no time. Have a good day.