Garage Door Opener Problem

[Qs Laptop]

I have a 25 year old Craftsman (Chamberlain) garage door opener. In the past 10 years I have replaced the drive gear and one of the sensor units, specifically, the sending unit, or as it's called, the sending eye.

The problem is the garage door will not close. It opens just fine, but when attempting to close it, the door stops closing and reverses itself. The GDO overhead light blinks. If I hold the wall mounted GDO button I can get the door to close. This is a classic sign of a safety sensor failure.

When this happened before (about 9-10 years ago) I bought a set of safety sensors. I determined the faulty sensor was the sending unit, replaced it and the GDO had been working until last week.

I noticed that both safety sensors had their LED's lit up indicating they are getting voltage. I cleaned the lenses on both sensors and also checked for alignment of the sensors. Everything appears to be in working order. Since I had the new, unused receiving sensor unit that came in the set years ago I swapped that one out with the old receiving sensor unit. No joy, the door still won't close.

I went on eBay and found a replacement sending sensor unit, bought it and installed it today. The problem persists--door won't close. Both sensors are showing green lights, lenses are clean, sensors are in alignment.

I have adjusted the downward closing force setting but that didn't fix it. I've since put it back to its original setting.

Any ideas? By process of elimination I'm thinking faulty component on the logic board that's tricking the GDO into thinking a sensor isn't working. But I'm open to ideas.

 

[CardsFan]

I have a 25 year old Craftsman (Chamberlain) garage door opener. .......

.......Any ideas? By process of elimination I'm thinking faulty component on the logic board that's tricking the GDO into thinking a sensor isn't working. But I'm open to ideas.

BTD and have a new one installed. It will be quieter, and wifi enabled

 

[Car-Guy]

Sounds to me like it is time for a new one.

 

[aja8888]

Q, I rebuilt my very old Craftsman unit a few times over the years (BTW, many brands are identical inside). I got tired of buying worm gear replacements and other parts and threw it out two year ago. I put on a nice and quiet belt drive unit and life has been good (and quiet).

 

[Bruno]

Is it possible the door is getting tight when closing? Maybe try disconnecting from opener and see if it close freely. It could be hanging up and you may need to increase the amount of force to close it.
Like others said they really have some nice once out there that are belt driven that harley make any noise.

I'm with you as i get older i just dont like the idea or getting rid of OLDER things.

 

[COcheesehead]

The new ones have the best feature ever…you can program it to automatically close after a minute or more. No more silver moments of “did I close the garage?”

 

[aja8888]

The new ones have the best feature ever…you can program it to automatically close after a minute or more. No more silver moments of “did I close the garage?”

Good point. It always was a surprise to me to go out in the garage in the morning to head out and find the door open.

 

[savory]

I'm the last guy you want to get advice on mechanical stuff but we just had a garage door problem and it turned out to the the spring. Some of the things you describe is what happen to our door. Replacing the spring brought it back to its former personality.

 

[sengsational]

It's annoying to me when someone suggests that just because something is old, that it needs a complete replacement. Especially when it's probably a $3 part that the culprit. It's not a matter of being able to afford it. Of course most of us can blow the dough. It's about just being reasonable. But I must admit that if I get up one day, and the garage door exhibits problems, I KNOW it's going to be a good day because it's a problem I get to solve!

You (Q) seem to be doing all the right things. Have you tested the limit switches (presuming you have those). Mine are on the rail and at the far ends of travel. I had one limit switch quit working, and it exhibited symptoms like you're describing. You can disconnect the carriage from the door using the red rope thing, and watch the carriage go from one limit switch to the other. You can force short and force open the limit switches (manipulating the wiring) to see what's going on. Maybe you'll get a clue as to if one of those is involved.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

My daughter installed a new garage door a couple of months ago.
Many have commented on here how quiet the new ones are. Hers sounds exactly like mine does when the power goes out and it's running on it's backup battery It's been months now and I just can't used to the sound of it.
I'm curious if all the new ones sound like that, she has a Liftmaster.

 

[Gumby]

I had the same problem. In addition to the "eye", there is an adjustable over current switch in the motor. It is intended to sense when a door is jammed and to stop the motor to prevent burning it out. When first installed, they set it to the lightest setting (i.e. -- the least pressure will cause the motor to stop itself.) As the doors age, they build up a little bit of corrosion in the tracks and it takes more force to close the door. The fix was just to adjust the mechanism to require more current before it stopped. A simple tweek with a screwdriver. Fortunately, my neighbor's son owns a garage door company and he told me what to do.

 

[COcheesehead]

My daughter installed a new garage door a couple of months ago.
Many have commented on here how quiet the new ones are. Hers sounds exactly like mine does when the power goes out and it's running on it's backup battery It's been months now and I just can't used to the sound of it.
I'm curious if all the new ones sound like that, she has a Liftmaster.

Not all the models are quiet. It depends what you buy. The quiet ones, are pretty quiet.

 

[MC Rider]

Lube the door tracks and spring. We replaced our opener last year, the guy use chain wax, same stuff I use on my motorcycle. The old one was a screw drive and I replaced the carriage / trolley thing, then it died anyway less than a year later. The new is a Chamberlain chain drive and so much quieter it is amazing. About 700 beans installed.

 

[Gumby]

Lube the door tracks and spring. We replaced our opener last year, the guy use chain wax, same stuff I use on my motorcycle. The old one was a screw drive and I replaced the carriage / trolley thing, then it died anyway less than a year later. The new is a Chamberlain chain drive and so much quieter it is amazing. About 700 beans installed.

There is a special spray that you use for the spring. You can get it at Lowes. I just use a little grease on the tracks and the rollers.

 

[MC Rider]

There is a special spray that you use for the spring. You can get it at Lowes. I just use a little grease on the tracks and the rollers.

Didn't know that.


Our installer was a garage door specialist, fwiw.

 

[Jerry1]

You didn’t mention it in your post, but disconnect the opener and make certain that the door operates properly in a manual state. Look at the springs and be very careful to notice any binding on the way down. Then decide whether or not to look for repair issues on the opener.

I’m not certain of the circuit, but there may be a way to jumper the safety sensors to ensure that they are not the culprit. If you can direct wire the connection and it does the same thing, then you can rule out that component.

Next thing I’d do is disconnect the door and see if the condition exhibits itself with just the opener operating without the door. Maybe it binding on its own and not even with the door attached. That would rule out a few things. Good luck.

 

[RunningBum]

It's annoying to me when someone suggests that just because something is old, that it needs a complete replacement.

There have been a lot of improvements in the 20 years since mine was put in with the new house that I'd like to have. Most are quieter and smoother, so you don't wake up the house.

- Quieter and smoother. I was amazed at how much so my son's is. Not a huge deal because there's an enclosed stairway between my garage and house, but still, it just sounds like something that will last longer.

- Battery backup power. I don't mind pulling the red handle to disengage the opener but then it's unlocked unless I reconnect it right away.

- Wifi access to check and control the door. I hate having to go back up those stairs to check the garage, and I really hate when I go out in the morning and find it open. Once I trapped a skunk inside without knowing it until I came back and saw all the rubber molding on the bottom chewed up and other stuff tossed around. Luckily I didn't get sprayed. I left the door cracked overnight and it left.

- My outside entry pad has a cover I have to gently slide up, but not too far or it won't work. A real pain so I rarely use it, even though I'd love to when I go out for a run or walk from my house. And I have to tape up the battery compartment when I replace the battery. Must've been a bad choice by the builder because I've never seen another like it.

But, my opener still works so I'm not going to replace it until it breaks and simple diagnosis doesn't fix it. My electrician did one nice thing for me, he wired the outdoor lights to the opener so I can see the driveway better as I pull in, and I can tell the door is opening before I see it as I crest the hill just before my house. He warned me it would void the warranty so that makes me think I won't get that with a new one.

 

[MC Rider]

......My electrician did one nice thing for me, he wired the outdoor lights to the opener so I can see the driveway better as I pull in, and I can tell the door is opening before I see it as I crest the hill just before my house. He warned me it would void the warranty so that makes me think I won't get that with a new one.

This sounds like a better option to me then being able to open and close your garage from anywhere with your phone.

 

[CRLLS]

If it were me, I would just either fix it myself or have it fixed. I see no need for internet connectivity in my garage door opener. Having one replaced is just more "stuff" going to the landfill. I'm not necessarily a tree hugger but don't like to just throw it away if a bit of TLC can help it last a few more years. Our belt drive Liftmaster was in our house when we bought it 16 years ago and is the quietest GDO I have heard. It connects to our cars' Homelink transmitters. We also added the LED parking assists and keypad entry maybe 10-12 years back IIRC.

 

[RunningBum]

This sounds like a better option to me then being able to open and close your garage from anywhere with your phone.

It doesn't help when I'm inside and can't remember if I closed the door when I was bringing in groceries or whatever. The light times out with the interior light on the unit.

 

[COcheesehead]

The new ones you can program for auto closure which I love, but also the length the light stays on.

 

[Bamaman]

When I had a garage door opening problem, I just replaced the opener. They run $200-300 for the most part. In my case, I replaced it with the same exact opener it had previously. Used the same holes and supports.

Sometimes the spring is a torsion spring with cables attached to the ends on a pulley. It's often that they need to be adjusted to where it's not too heavy for the door to be lifted.

 

[Car-Guy]

When I had a garage door opening problem, I just replaced the opener. They run $200-300 for the most part. In my case, I replaced it with the same exact opener it had previously. Used the same holes and supports.

+1
I'm all for fixing mechanical stuff (actually enjoy it) but I balance the decision on things like the age of unit, cost of a new one, effort in maintaining/replacing, etc. At some point it just ain't worth it...IMO

 

[CRLLS]

RB, there are any number of 3rd party garage door monitors available for low money. Some even have wifi opening abilities. One doesn't have to replace an opener in good working condition to get these "modern" features.

If only I had a device to verify the condition of my car's rear hatch that seems to open with the keys in my pocket. The remote fob is too strong IMO.

 

[Jerry1]

RB, there are any number of 3rd party garage door monitors available for low money. Some even have wifi opening abilities.

Agree. I got this one. I can open my garage with my phone (WiFi) and can check my doors status (open/closed) with my phone. $30 and a very easy install.

https://www.amazon.com/Controller-S...=smart+wifi+garage+door+opener,aps,157&sr=8-8