Travel limits tell your garage door opener where to stop: fully open at the top and fully closed at the floor. If they drift or were never set correctly, the door stops a few inches short, leaves a gap at the bottom, or bumps the floor and goes back up. Setting them takes a few minutes on most openers, but only on a door that is already balanced and in good repair.
Signs your travel limits need adjusting
- The door stops before it is fully open, or the top panel hangs down into the opening.
- The door stops before it reaches the floor and leaves a gap.
- The door touches the floor and then reverses back up.
Chamberlain notes that incorrect travel limits can make the door stop early or reverse. The same symptoms can also come from a door that is out of balance or from force settings that are no longer correct, which is why the door gets checked first.
Check the door before you touch the opener
An opener is built to move a door that the springs already balance. Changing the limits will not fix a door with a spring or cable problem, and it can hide one.
Stop and call a technician instead of adjusting anything if:
- You heard a loud bang, or you can see a gap in a torsion spring above the door. Do not operate the door, by hand or with the opener, when a spring is broken.
- A lift cable is frayed, loose or off its drum.
- The door is crooked, jumps its track or binds as it moves.
If none of those apply, test the balance:
- Close the door.
- Pull the red emergency release handle to disconnect the door from the opener.
- Open and close the door by hand. It should move easily with one hand.
- Lift it 3 to 4 feet off the ground and let go. A balanced door stays in place, held by its springs. Rising or settling slowly is acceptable.
- If the door slams down or shoots upward, it is out of balance. Leave the springs, cables, brackets and pulleys alone, because they are under extreme tension, and call a door technician.
When the door passes, reconnect it to the opener as your opener’s manual describes before you continue.
Find the type of limit control your opener has
How limits are set depends on the brand, model and age of the opener. Look on the motor unit and in your manual for one of these:
- Two adjustment screws marked UP and DOWN on the motor unit, found on some Chamberlain and LiftMaster models.
- Programming buttons on the motor unit. Some LiftMaster and Chamberlain models use a black button with a purple or orange button; Security+ 2.0 and myQ models use an Adjustment button with up and down arrow buttons on the side or back panel.
- Genie arrow buttons: up and down arrow buttons with a SET or PRGM button and blue indicator lights.
Find your model number on the label on the motor unit and follow that model’s instructions. The steps below summarise the manufacturers’ own guidance; your manual takes priority if it differs.
Openers with UP and DOWN adjustment screws
Chamberlain and LiftMaster give these directions for openers with manual limit screws. Use a flathead screwdriver.
- Door does not open far enough: turn the UP limit screw clockwise to increase up travel.
- Door opens too far: turn the UP limit screw counterclockwise.
- Door does not close all the way: turn the DOWN limit screw counterclockwise to increase down travel.
- Door closes too far: turn the DOWN limit screw clockwise.
One full turn moves the stopping point about 2 inches. Make a small change, run the door through a full cycle, and repeat until it stops where it should.
Openers with programming buttons
On LiftMaster and Chamberlain models with black and purple buttons, or black and orange buttons, black moves the door up and the coloured button moves it down while you set each stopping point. Security+ 2.0 and myQ models use an Adjustment button with up and down arrow buttons. The order of steps differs between models, so start from Chamberlain’s guide to find the instructions for your opener, and complete that model’s whole setup, including any force adjustment it calls for and the safety tests below.
On Genie models, follow Genie’s travel limit programming instructions for your model. Genie warns not to run the opener from the wall control before the limits are set, because that can seriously damage the opener.
Test safety after every change
Changing travel limits affects the safety reversal system, so these tests are not optional.
- Safety reversal test. With the door fully open, lay a 2×4 flat on the floor, centred under the door. Close the door. It must reverse when it strikes the board. If it stops on the board instead of reversing, the door is not travelling far enough down: increase the DOWN travel and test again.
- Safety sensor test. The sensors on each side of the opening should be mounted no higher than 6 inches above the floor, and both lights should be solid when they are aligned. To test them, open the door fully, then place an object (never a person or any part of your body) in the path of the sensor beam so the light on the receiving sensor goes out or starts blinking. Press the remote to close the door. The door should not close: it may move a few inches and reverse, or stay where it is. Light and sound signals vary by model; check your opener’s manual for the expected indication. If the door closes all the way with the beam blocked, stop using the opener to close it and call a technician.
- Repeat monthly. Chamberlain says the safety reversal system must be tested every month, not only after an adjustment.
If the door still fails the reversal test after you adjust the limits, stop using the opener to close the door and call a trained door technician.
When the problem is not the limits
If the limits keep drifting, or the door will not travel fully no matter what you set, the cause can be the door (a balance or spring problem, or rollers and tracks that bind) or the opener itself (Chamberlain also lists force settings and the opener losing track of how far the door has moved). Springs, cables and door hardware are jobs for a technician.
Need a hand in Madison, Milwaukee or Rockford?
If your door fails the balance or reversal test, or you would rather not adjust it yourself, call the team that serves your area: Madison (608) 420-2377, Milwaukee (414) 800-9271 or Rockford (815) 800-2025. Twins offers a $0 service call with repair.
Manufacturer sources
- Chamberlain Group: adjust limits on openers with manual adjustment screws
- Chamberlain Group: find the travel and force instructions for your opener
- Chamberlain Group: program travel limits on models with black and purple buttons
- Chamberlain Group: program travel limits on models with black and orange buttons
- Chamberlain Group: program travel on Security+ 2.0 and myQ models
- Chamberlain Group: test the safety reversal system
- Chamberlain Group: test the balance of a garage door
- Genie: how to set the up and down travel limits
- Chamberlain Group: align the safety reversing sensors
- Chamberlain Group: test the Protector System safety sensors
- Chamberlain Group: what the opener’s flashing diagnostic light means
- Chamberlain Group: garage door won’t fully open or close
- Genie: maintenance and safety tips
