Guide

Opening Your Garage Door in a Power Cut, Safely

How to open a garage door by hand during a power outage, when the red cord is safe to pull, and when pulling it is the wrong move.

Only pull the red emergency cord when the door is fully closed and the springs are intact. It disconnects the door from the opener so you can lift it by hand. If the door is part open, or feels far too heavy, do not pull it: the spring has probably gone and the door can drop.

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The Two Minute Version

Make sure the door is all the way down. This matters more than anything else on this page.
Check there is nothing under the door and nobody standing in the opening.
Lift the door by hand a few inches first. If it is light and it stays where you put it, the springs are fine and you can carry on.
If it is very heavy, or it slams back down, stop. Leave it closed and call somebody. That is a broken spring, not a power cut problem.
With the door closed and the springs fine, pull the red cord on the trolley straight down. That disconnects the door from the opener.
Lift the door with two hands, evenly, from the bottom edge. Not from the side, and not by a panel edge.

What The Red Cord Actually Does

It does not unlock the door and it does not make the door lighter. All it does is disconnect the trolley from the arm that pushes the door, so nothing is holding the door except its spring. Everything holding the weight of that door is still the spring above it. That single fact is why the order of the steps above matters.

When Pulling It Is The Wrong Move

There are two situations where the cord makes things worse.

The door is part open

If the door is stuck halfway and you release the trolley, the only thing left holding it is the spring, and if the reason it stopped halfway is the spring, the door comes down. Get the door closed first if you safely can, and if you cannot, leave it and keep everybody out from under it.

The spring is broken

A 16 by 7 insulated door is 180 to 250 pounds and the spring normally carries all of it. With the spring gone, you are the spring. People hurt their backs on this every summer, and a door that gets away from somebody halfway up is how panels get creased and fingers get caught.

The check is the one in the list above: lift it a few inches by hand while it is still connected. A healthy door feels like lifting a heavy suitcase and it stays where you leave it. A door with a broken spring feels immovable.

Getting It Closed And Secure Again

Bring the door down with two hands, controlling it the whole way. Do not let it run the last foot. If you are leaving the house with the opener disconnected, slide the manual lock across if the door has one, because a disconnected door can be lifted from outside by anybody who knows to try.

When the power is back, most openers reconnect by running the opener once: the trolley travels along and clicks back onto the carriage. On some models you pull the cord towards the door instead. If it does not reconnect on the first cycle, stop pressing the button, because a trolley that is fighting the carriage is how people strip a gear.

The Monsoon Version Of This Problem

In this Valley the power cut and the dead opener often arrive on the same evening for the same reason. A surge takes out the logic board, the power comes back, and the opener stays dead. If the light does not come on at all when the power is back, that is not a setting, that is the board or the transformer, and it is worth a phone call rather than an hour with the manual.

We work Monday to Friday 7am to 8pm and Sunday 8am to 6pm. There is no after hours service, so if a door goes down late in the evening the useful thing to know is how to get the car out safely tonight, which is what this page is for.

Answers

Questions People Ask About This

Where is the emergency release on a garage door?

A red cord hanging from the trolley on the rail above the door, usually with a red handle. Pulling it straight down disconnects the door from the opener.

Is it safe to pull the red release cord?

Only with the door fully closed and the springs intact. On a door that is part open, or whose spring has broken, releasing the trolley can let the door drop.

How do I know if my spring is broken before I try to lift it?

Look for a two inch gap in the spring on the bar above the door, and lift the door a few inches by hand while it is still connected. If it is very heavy or it will not stay put, the spring has gone.

How do I reconnect the opener after a power cut?

On most openers, run the opener once and the trolley clicks back onto the carriage. On some you pull the cord towards the door. If it does not reconnect on the first try, stop and check rather than pressing the button repeatedly.

If You Would Rather We Just Looked At It

This is what we do all day. Every job is priced on the price list, the service call is 35 dollars and it comes off the price if the work goes ahead, and you get the exact number on the phone before anyone is booked.

Call (480) 405-0909 Garage Door Spring Repair

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