If you’re replacing a lost or broken garage remote, the model number on the motor is the most useful thing you can find. It tells us the make, the radio system and usually the frequency, which is everything we need to match a remote. The remote on its own often doesn’t say enough.
Here’s where to look, roughly in the order it tends to turn up.
1. On the side or back of the motor unit
On an up-and-over or sectional door, the motor is the box on the ceiling with a rail running from it to the door. Most have a sticker on one side, or on the end facing away from the door. You’ll probably need a stepladder. Have someone hold it, and don’t open the casing.
2. Under the light cover
Many motors have a built-in light behind a plastic cover, and on some the label sits near the bulb. If the cover comes off by hand to change the bulb, switch the motor off at the plug or isolator first, then have a look.
3. On a roller door, at the end of the roller
Roller doors usually have the motor hidden inside the roller at the top of the door, so there’s no box on the ceiling. Look at the ends of the roller housing for a label, and at any control box on the wall beside the door.
4. On the receiver or control box
Some doors have a separate box on the wall, often with a short aerial wire. It usually has its own label, and sometimes it’s the only part with a readable one. Photograph it with the cover on.
5. On the remote
Check the back of the remote and inside the battery cover. It won’t always name the motor, but it often gives the remote’s own model and frequency, which narrows things down a lot.
6. In the paperwork
If you still have the manual, or the invoice from whoever fitted the door, the motor model is often on it. Worth a look before you get the ladder out.
What you’re looking for
A typical label has the brand name, a model number (a mix of letters and numbers, sometimes after the word Type or Model), a serial number, the frequency in MHz, a CE mark and often a barcode. The model number is the part you need, but photograph the whole label. The frequency and the other lines help us confirm the match.
Taking a photo we can read
- Get close enough that the label fills most of the picture.
- Use the flash, or shine a torch from the side if the flash bounces off a shiny label.
- Zoom in on the photo before you send it. If you can’t read it, we probably can’t either.
- Take two or three. One is usually sharper than the others.
If there’s no label at all
Labels fade, peel off and get painted over. If you can’t find one, send a photo of the whole motor, the receiver box and the remote. That’s often enough to narrow it down, and if it isn’t, we’ll tell you what to look for next.