My roller shutter will not go up (or not all the way): causes and what to do

What you need

• PZ2 Pozidriv and flat screwdrivers
• Torch
• 3-step ladder
• Vacuum cleaner or a brush
• Silicone spray (Wolfpack or WD-40 silicone, 5-8 euros)
• New battery for the remote if it is motorised (CR2032 or AAA depending on model)
• 14 or 22 mm roller shutter strap (Gaviota or Micel, 6-9 euros at Leroy Merlin or Bricodepot)
• New strap recoiler if the spring is worn out (Gaviota Mini, Pujol, 8-12 euros)
• Slat end caps in the size of your slat (2-3 euros)
• Shutter stops (2-3 euros)

Step by step

1. 1

   Pull the strap gently and watch

   A gentle pull, no forcing. If there is no resistance, the strap is broken. If it is very hard and the strap stays slack, it is the recoiler. If it goes up in jerks and jams, it is a slat or the guide. Note the height at which it stops.

2. 2

   Open the lid of the box

   Remove the screws or unclip the access panel, vacuum out the sand and, with the torch, look at the pulley, the wound strap, the hangers and the top edge of the curtain.

3. 3

   Check the strap on the pulley

   If the strap is intact, count the turns on the pulley with the shutter down: for a 1.2 m window there are too many if there are more than 6. Unwind the extra ones. If the strap is broken, replace it.

4. 4

   Check the recoiler spring

   Take the recoiler off. If the reel turns freely without winding back, the spring is broken and the recoiler is replaced. If it winds back weakly, give it 2-4 more turns and test.

5. 5

   Look at the guides at the height of the jam

   With the shutter at the point where it sticks, shine the torch into the guides. Look for a twisted slat, an end cap that has come off or built-up sand. Push the slat back into place from the box, refit the cap and vacuum the guide.

6. 6

   Clean and lubricate with silicone

   Run a damp cloth down both guides from top to bottom, let them dry and give each a short burst of silicone spray. Raise and lower twice to spread it.

7. 7

   If motorised: remote, thermal cut-out and end stop

   Change the battery in the remote and try the wall switch. If the motor has been working hard, wait 15 minutes. If it goes up but stops short of the top, adjust the upper end stop with the key or the screw on the motor head, a quarter turn at a time.

Roller shutter will not go up: the 6 causes in order of likelihood

1. Strap broken or out of the recoiler. If you pull and feel no resistance, the strap has snapped or come off the pulley. It is the most frequent cause and the cheapest: the process is in how to replace a roller shutter strap. 2. Worn-out recoiler spring. The shutter goes up if you pull, but it is hard work and the strap stays slack and does not wind back in. The spring no longer helps; the whole recoiler is replaced with a new one of the same size.

3. Shutter jammed by a slat or the guides. It goes up in jerks and always sticks at the same height. Nearly always there is a twisted slat, an end cap that has come off, or sand and salt built up in the guide. It is corrected from the box, pushing the slat back into place and cleaning the guides. 4. Shutter that will not go all the way up. It gets to 20-40 cm from the box and stops. Either the strap has too many turns on the pulley and runs out before the curtain reaches the top, or the spring has not enough tension for the last few centimetres, or a stop is in the wrong place.

5. Tube, pulley or bearing. The tube has shifted to one side, the plastic pulley has split or the bearing in the bracket has seized with rust. The shutter feels twice as heavy going up and makes a noise. Here you need parts and tools. 6. Motor not responding. On motorised shutters, in this order: batteries in the remote or wall switch, the motor's thermal cut-out (it stops after 4-6 minutes of use and recovers on its own in 10-20), end stop out of adjustment, exhausted capacitor or burnt-out motor.

Mistakes that make a jammed shutter worse

Pulling hard is the first thing everyone does and what does the most damage. If there is a twisted slat in the guide, a yank snaps it and drags the ones next to it. If the spring is worn out, a sharp pull breaks the strap. And if the motor is stalled and you force it by hand, you damage the gears. When a roller shutter will not go up, you open the box and look.

The second mistake is putting oil or grease in the guides. For a day it runs better; then, on the coast, sand and dust stick to the grease and the shutter jams worse than before. Only silicone spray, sparingly and on a clean guide. And the third is winding the recoiler spring without knowing how many turns it had: you over-tension it, the spring jumps and you have to buy another. Count the turns or buy a new pre-tensioned recoiler.

On motorised shutters, the typical mistake is replacing the motor when only the thermal cut-out has tripped or the battery in the remote is flat. Before anything else, wait 15 minutes, try the wall switch and change the battery in the remote. A tubular motor costs 90-180 euros and is not touched until the cheap options have been ruled out.

When to call a professional

If the shutter feels heavier than normal going up and makes a metallic noise, if the tube has shifted, if the pulley is broken or if the motor does not respond after checking the remote, the thermal cut-out and the end stop, the repair needs parts that are not sold in any ferretería (hardware shop) and tools for handling a 20-30 kilo curtain. The same applies if the box is external and has to be reached from outside.

Fixed prices including the call-out: jammed or dropped shutter 50-120 euros, strap replacement 35-60 euros, recoiler and cord 40-70 euros, tube or pulleys 80-150 euros, motor repair or full motorisation 180-320 euros. The table is in how much roller shutter repair costs and the service in roller shutter repair. From a photo of the open box we give a price by WhatsApp before setting off and arrive in 20-45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm.

Local pages with arrival times: roller shutter repair in Valencia, in Alicante and in Elche.

Roller shutters on the coast: why they jam more

In homes near the sea there are three factors that do not exist inland. Fine sand gets in through the gaps in the box and the guides and acts like sandpaper between slat and guide. Salt air rusts the tube brackets and bearings, which are galvanised steel, and seizes the pulley. And the heat on south-facing terraces expands PVC slats: a shutter that goes up fine in March jams at four in the afternoon in August because the slats rub on the guide.

What we recommend: vacuum the guides and the box every spring, wash the slats with fresh water, do not lower the shutter all the way in the hottest hours if it is dark PVC (leave 5 cm of light so it can breathe) and, in second homes, raise and lower every shutter at least once a month so the spring does not seize in one position.

Related guides

If you open the box and see the curtain crooked or slats out of the guide, follow roller shutter dropped or off its track. If the shutter has a cord, how to replace a roller shutter cord. And to see the seven most common faults with their fixes, how to fix a roller shutter.