What the garage door manual release does
Openers have a release that unhooks the door from the motor, so the door can be moved without power. On Merlin openers it is a red cord. Pulling it disconnects the door; it does not raise the door for you, and the door then moves on its springs and your arms alone.
Merlin explains where to look. On a roller door the opener sits at one side of the opening with the cord attached to it, while on sectional and tilt doors the motor is in the middle of the ceiling and the cord usually hangs from the rail.
Only with the door fully closed
Chamberlain's support page puts it in capitals: use the release only when the door is fully CLOSED, if you can. The reason is the springs. Merlin warns that if they are weak or broken, an open door can fall rapidly once it is freed from the motor. If your door is stuck open or part way, leave the cord alone, keep everyone clear and tell us the job.
Using the release, step by step
Check the door is fully closed
If it is open or stuck part way, stop here and go back to the warning above.
Find the cord
Look beside the opening on a roller door, or along the rail in the middle of the ceiling on a sectional or tilt door. B&D's Smart Pro manual has the release handle fitted less than 1.8 m from the floor, so on that opener you shouldn't need a ladder.
Pull it down firmly, once
Merlin says one firm pull down disconnects the opener. Don't use the cord as a handle: Merlin warns it will snap under the load, and Chamberlain says never to pull the release handle to raise or lower the door.
Raise the door slowly
Lift from the handle or the bottom rail, not the cord. B&D's manual says a balanced door should move smoothly and need no more than 20kg of force at the bottom rail. Start gently, and if it barely moves or feels far heavier than usual, stop before it leaves the ground.
Reconnect when the power is back
Merlin says to pull the cord down firmly again to re-engage the opener. Then run the door once with the remote and watch it all the way up and down.
How to open a garage door without power from outside
If the garage door is the only way in, a cord on the inside is no help. Steel-Line says its roller door openers have an emergency key release, which lets the door be opened by hand when the opener fails or the power is out, and it is most useful when there is no other way into the garage.
Not every door has one. If yours doesn't and the garage is your only entry, ask about an outside release the next time the door is serviced.
Battery backup means no release needed
A battery backup keeps the opener running through a blackout, so the door works as normal for a while. B&D sells a Battery Backup add-on for its Smart opener, and Merlin lists battery backup as built in on its Commander Ultimate and as an add-on for its other Commander sectional openers except the Commander Essential.
If the power goes out often where you live, or lifting the door is hard for someone at home, battery backup is worth raising when you tell us the job.
Get ready before the next blackout
- Show everyone at home where the cord is. B&D says everyone in the household should know how to work the emergency release.
- Check the cord for fraying now and then, as Merlin suggests.
- Keep the floor under the cord clear so you can reach it in the dark.
- Keep a torch in the garage, and know which key fits an outside release if your door has one.
Worth mentioning to the door specialist
- Your opener's brand and the door type
- Whether the door felt heavy, crooked or noisy once released
- Whether the cord is missing, frayed or out of reach
- Whether you'd like battery backup or an outside release added
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Use the release with the door fully closed
- Re-engage the opener when the power returns
- Check the cord and keep it within reach
Leave to a door specialist
- A door that is heavy, uneven or jerky once released
- Springs and cables, every time
- Adding battery backup or an outside release
What we would do
Practise once on a calm day, with the door closed and the power on. Pull the cord, raise the door a little, lower it, and re-engage the opener. Doing it for the first time in the dark during a storm, with the car needed, is when mistakes happen.