Garage Door Opener Remotes & Parts

This depends on the age of the remote and the technology. Typically, a garage door opener remote should work about fifteen feet at the end of your driveway. Newer generation equipment now comes with a more extended range, so some remotes may work thirty feet away. Usually, you need to be on the driveway at the minimum, but if you can be on the street in front of your driveway, that is acceptable.

Garage door remote costs usually range from $30-$60 depending on the brand, style, number of buttons, and what the remote is capable of, whether it is universal or has cloning capabilities.

If you lose a garage door remote or believe it may have been stolen, it is essential to erase the memory on your machine. To do this, if you have a dipswitch machine, you can change a couple of switches and change the switches on your remote to match. Suppose you have a smart or learn button or rolling code (which all have been for over twenty years). In that case, you are going to typically hold down the learn button on the motor for about ten seconds and then test the remote and see that all the buttons have been erased and then introduce each button to the motor one by one by pressing the button on the machine and then pressing the remote. It is important to erase the memory when concerned about theft because that may mean someone may have access to your garage.

First, start with what brand your garage door opener is by checking the owner's manual or calling a garage door professional. If you have a Liftmaster, the easiest way is to check the color of the smart or learn button. The manuals explain that if you have a green, orange, yellow, or purple learn button, this is the replacement remote control you need. If you call us, we can also give this information to you. One suggestion is to buy a universal remote compatible with any of a manufacturer's products.

Yes, in the past, Liftmaster sold the garage door monitor, requiring you to be at home to check the status, but since 2012, the MyQ app connects to your home's internet to see if your garage door is open or closed. Genie came out with Aladdin later, and other brands now have similar apps. If you do not have a newer motor with this built-in, it is possible to retrofit your motor with an add-on product from Liftmaster and Genie. For example, for Liftmaster motors aged 1999-2011, you can add a new wall button called an 889LM and an internet gateway 828LM, which makes your previous older motor capable of connecting to the app. If you have a motor 2012 or newer, you may only need the 828LM or you may already be able to easily add the MyQ app.

Yes, smart home garage door openers are the safest. They have encryption capabilities that often avoid false openings, and the rolling code LEARN systems make it so that it is not a code that someone can write down or duplicate or change with switches and change it, but it is much more secure. Because you can have apps on your cell phone that notify you anytime it opens or closes, it gives you a better ability to track security.

When battery backup garage door openers came out in 2006 and became law in 2019 in California, only certain models came with a battery backup that give you the ability to use your motor without electricity.

No, it must be brand-specific or universal.

If you have very old equipment, you will find dipswitches that you match from the garage door motor to the garage door remote. If you have a motor from the last twenty-five years or more recently, it will typically have a learn button or smart button, which could be black, but most are multicolored that indicate the age of the motor.

Yes, as long as it is a universal remote control, it is unnecessary to research ahead of time. However, universal remotes can be more expensive, so if you can figure out what remote came with it or is compatible, you can potentially pay less.

Yes. There are universal garage door opener remotes available by Liftmaster. These include models 380UT and 374UT (keychain), which work on all major brands and dipswitch remotes, so they are very versatile. They can be used when you buy a new garage door motor, as well as older ones. Liftmaster Chamberlain also carries universal for Liftmaster, which means that they are backward compatible so that you don't have to have more than one remote when there are different ages of motors. For example, if one motor is ten years old and you also have a new one, you would have to have two separate remotes and multiple buttons if you don't have Universal by Liftmaster Chamberlain. The most popular Universal by Liftmaster is the 893MAX. Genie also has universal overhead door garage door opener remotes available.

No, most garage door remotes are incompatible because most brands change their frequency and security every few years. For example, Liftmaster has been on the same remote control for the last ten years, and Genie has been on the same remote control for the last twenty years. But if you have different brands, a Genie remote control will not work on a Liftmaster garage door opener remote unless it is a universal remote control. When you buy the motor brand new, they do not come with universal remotes.

Most of the universal garage door opener remotes include most major brands, so it depends on whether your motor is common. If it is an uncommon motor, it may not work.

A garage door remote is the transmitter; a receiver is typically built into the motor and is part of the circuit board unless it is over thirty years old, and the receiver was an add-on wired part. A transmitter, remote, or garage door clicker are all the same item.

Yes, transmitters or remotes definitely can go bad, but we have also seen them for the last thirty years. Manufacturers recommend replacing the battery every five years. Often, when your remote does not work, only your battery has died, so try to change that first. Next, try reprogramming the remote; it is possible that somehow the memory was erased.