Your garage opener remote should be able to open and close your garage door from a distance of at least six metres. If your remote isn’t working from this distance, then there’s likely a problem. Here are some troubleshooting tips for remote range and interference issues.

Understand the Problem: The Causes of Interference

Garage door opener remotes contain a radio transmitter. The opener unit contains a receiver. When you operate your remote, it sends a radio signal to the opener across a specific frequency. Most garage door openers function on frequencies between 300 MHz and 390 MHz, with the most common frequencies being 300 MHz, 310 MHz, 315 MHz, and 390 MHz.

When interference occurs, it’s because an electronic appliance or device in your garage, home, or near your property is emitting signals at the same frequency. In rare cases, the interference may come from miles away. Notably, radio equipment at military bases and airports and electrical transformers can generate electrical interference across a large radius.

Rule Out the Simplest Solutions

It isn’t always easy to resolve interference issues. It’s therefore best to rule out all other causes first. Here’s what you should do:

• Check your remote. First, examine the batteries in your remote. Replace them with a new set and see if that does the trick. If not, determine whether your specific remote is malfunctioning. You may just need to repair or replace the malfunctioning remote. This is easy to do if you have multiple remotes. Test each one. If none of them are working, then there’s probably an interference issue.
  
  
• Remove your remote from the visor. Do you keep your remote in your car visor? It’s possible that something in the visor or the metal in the roof of the car is causing interference. Remove the remote off the visor and find out if this improves its range.
  
• Adjust the antenna. If your opener has an antenna, ensure that it’s straight and adjust it as needed. Test your remote again to see if this changes anything.

Check the LEDs

Homeowners should be aware that certain brands of LED lights emit a strong enough electromagnetic signal to interfere with the radio waves sent by your garage opener remote. This has only recently come to the industry’s attention, and some garage door openers have built-in LED bulbs that generate interference.

However, due to their energy-efficiency, many homeowners favour LED lights. Genie has therefore developed its own LED light bulb. In addition to being shatter and vibration resistant, Genie’s LED bulbs don’t cause any radio interference.

Test the Devices in Your Garage for Interference

If you still haven’t got to the bottom of the issue, there’s a possibility that one of the electrical devices in your garage or home is causing interference.

You can perform a power down test to try to locate the source of the interference. Follow these steps:

• Use an extension cord to plug your opener into an electrical outlet inside your home
• Shut down power to the garage in your circuit breaker box
• Test your remote control at various distances to see if the range improves
  
  

If the range improves, then unplug everything in your garage and turn on the breaker again. Then plug in the items one at time while testing the remote to see if its range has been affected. If you find the item causing the interference, you’ll need to remove it from your garage or replace it.

If you didn’t find the source of the interference, you can perform a power down test of your entire home. This can be a long and tedious process. Alternatively, you could call an electrician to try to get to the bottom of the problem or simply replace your opener for a model that operates on a different frequency.

Replace your Opener

A new opener that runs at a different frequency may be able to resolve your interference issues. In particular, you may want to opt for a Genie opener. All newer Genie openers are dual frequency, which means that they can be toggled to operate at two different frequencies: specifically, 315 MHz and 390 MHz. This way, if there’s interference at one of these frequencies, you can simply switch to the other frequency.

If you have an older Genie opener, you can also purchase the Genie GIRUD-1T Universal Conversion Kit, which upgrades your unit to a dual-frequency device.

Alternatively, you can get a Genie opener with Aladdin Connect technology and dispense with your remote altogether. Although these openers come with traditional remotes, they can also be opened and closed using a smartphone app, without any reliance on radio signals. Instead, they use your home’s Wi-Fi connection.

Garage Door Opener Repair and Replacement in Western Canada

If you can’t get to the bottom of your garage door opener issue, trust the experienced technicians at Creative Door Services™ to resolve it.

For superior garage door opener repair services, contact us at one of our locations. You can find us in Vancouver, British Columbia; Kelowna, British Columbia; Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Fort McMurray, Alberta; Regina, Saskatchewan; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.