The plastic gear on the drive shaft is designed to fail if the garage door gets stuck in the travel tracks protecting the expensive drive motor from damage.
Garage door sprocket not turning.
Inside the garage door opener there is going to be a gear reduction system to adapt the motor speed to the chain sprocket speed.
As a result of the worn gear the sprocket cannot turn the chain and the door will not open nor close.
This turns the chain and moves the door.
There are a number of reasons why the motor will run but the chain doesn t move.
If the gear is worn or damaged the door won t move properly.
However if you hear the motor turning skip to step 5.
Simply push the button and see if the light comes on.
Getting out of the car at the end of a long day to open the garage door can be frustrating especially when the automatic garage door opener sounds like it s working but isn t.
So if you suddenly find that the motor on your garage door opener sounds like it s running but the door is not moving checking for worn gears is the first thing you should do.
How to fix a chain drive garage door when it won t open.
Fortunately the repair is neither difficult nor expensive and it should only take an hour of your time.
As the drive shaft and sprocket rotate they drive the trolley that lifts and lowers the garage door.
If the light does not come on then check the power by plugging a light or fan into the socket.
2 if it is getting power then disconnect the door and then see if the chain will move.
The most common issue that occurs is when the ridges in the gear wear out because the gear lubrication has evaporated.
Having an automatic door opener in your garage is a great convenience but you have to give the opener and all its parts regular.