We have two garage doors. I know, I know — cool story, bro. But stick with me: this actually gets better if you like practical tech or small conveniences. My partner Sherry tends to tune out when I start in on this stuff, so this one’s for anyone who loves remote-control convenience. Anyone?
Each door came with its own remote from the previous owners. One of them barely worked until I replaced the battery, and then it worked almost too well — sometimes it opens or closes the door if it shifts in my cup holder. It didn’t have a visor clip, so that’s why it lives in the cup holder.
The other remote was more consistent but needed duct tape to stay together. Its large size meant it didn’t fit conveniently anywhere in the car. Not exactly ideal.
Fixing our remote situation wasn’t a priority — until I spotted a Clicker Universal Remote at Home Depot. It was about $34, but the idea of replacing two bulky, tape-bound remotes with one small, tidy unit was too tempting.
You only live once, right?
Sidenote: that YOLO joke gets quoted around our house more than it should.
I didn’t stop to think much about programming it. I don’t know a lot about garage-door tech — what is a “dip switch” anyway? A quick search explained that a dip switch is a row of nine or twelve tiny switches inside the opener; their up/down pattern forms a unique code. Match that pattern in the universal remote and it will operate the door. Here’s a partially obscured dip switch from one of our existing remotes.
All I had to do was recreate that pattern on the new Clicker remote.
Using the tip of a screwdriver, I moved each tiny switch to match the up or down position shown on the old remote. (Note: in one photo the last five dip switches hadn’t been set yet.)
Once the dip switches were set correctly, I pressed and held the button on the new remote that I wanted to assign to that door until the door responded.
It was surprisingly easy to program. Both doors were set up in about ten minutes. Programming the second door was the same process as the first and didn’t undo the first door’s settings when I adjusted the dip switches, so soon I had one compact remote that operated both doors. Hallelujah.
I had to share because it’s an easy tech swap that might seem intimidating but isn’t. If I can do it, you probably can too.
In short: I think I might be a bit of a remote addict. The best part? The Clicker included a visor clip, so I could finally mount the opener in a convenient spot. Goodbye duct-taped, cup-holder-hogging remotes — hello tidy solution.
Who else gets oddly excited about small technological upgrades? Sherry was surprised by my enthusiasm, but I’m genuinely happy to be done with those old remotes.
Welcome to the future — it’s pretty nice here.