The garage door opener’s release is a red rope with a red handle hanging from the opener’s trolley. The feature allows users to disengage the garage door from its opener and manually open or close it in case of a power outage or malfunction.
Before You Use the Door’s Manual Release
Always disconnect your garage door when it’s in the closed position. If your garage door won’t close, check the door’s mechanics for any breakage before using the manual release as disengaging a faulty garage door could cause it to slam shut or crash.
How to Release the Garage Door to Manual Mode
To manually open or close your electric garage door, pull the red cord downward to disengage the opener’s trolley from the carriage. The trolley’s latch should shift from a sideways position to pointing downward. See fig. 1 for reference.
How to Reconnect the Door to the Opener
First, ensure that the trolley is in ‘connected mode’ or ‘automatic mode’ by positioning the trolley’s latch sideways. See fig. 2.
Then you can either manually pull the door along its tracks until the trolley and carriage meet, or use the garage door remote to operate the motor until they both re-engaged. The goal is to bring the opener’s trolley and carriage together.
How to Use Liftmaster Manual Release
The manual release function of LiftMaster garage door openers is different from retail openers and can be somewhat tricky to use.
To disconnect your LiftMaster opener from the garage door for manual use, begin by pulling down the red cord. To maintain it in a manual mode, pull the cord sideways, away from the garage door. The goal is to position the release handle diagonally. See fig. 1.
To reconnect your LiftMaster opener to the garage door, pull the red cord down and towards the garage door. You want to bring the release handle to rest in a straight position. Refer to fig. 2.
Once the release handle is in a straight position, operate the garage door either manually or automatically so that the trolley engages with the carriage. See fig. 3.
What to Do If Your Manual Release Doesn’t Work
If your opener’s release function is malfunctioning, remove the pin or keyring from the metal security plug and pull the plug out. The goal is to remove the bar that connects the garage door to the opener’s trolley from its mounting points.
All garage door openers are required to have a manual release function by law. While there are typical signs indicating that your garage doors need maintenance and repairs, breakdowns can occur suddenly and without warning. Understanding how to use garage doors manually not only enables users to operate them during malfunctions but can also be crucial for saving lives during emergencies.
