What's wrong wtih my garage door opener?

[misanman]

We've had occasions where bright sunlight stymies the optical safety system so that the door won't close. It's usually just temporary. I've had to get out of the car and use my body to block the sun. The last time it was a bright reflection off of our dining room window.

 

[ERD50]

How interesting.

I'd try taking the light out of the opener and seeing if the remotes work properly. Could be a super easy fix.

We tried that, too. We guess that somehow the socket is still receiving info/current even though the light is out -- it's probably the light's timer that's triggering that.

We went through several rounds of opening/closing and waiting for the light to go out and trying various remotes/the car's button and it's definitely somehow connected to that light being on = none of the remotes working. I can't believe we didn't make that connection before now.

I can only imagine what the neighbors think with our door going up & down over and over again.

There are reports of the switching circuits/drivers in CFL/LED bulbs causing interference with the remotes... but if you took the bulbs out, that's not it!

There shouldn't be any current in that circuit with no bulb, but maybe that relay getting pulled in is somehow interfering with things, or loading the power supply (which could be related to that cap).

Tough to say - good luck! Let us know if the cap fixes it.

-ERD50

 

[always_learning]

That makes about 12 different devices I've heard of that can be fixed by replacing a capacitor. The list grows longer. You'd think they'd start using longer lasting capacitors. Or not. Maybe they want a limited lifetime.

Do you have a list of those devices? I'm going to start a list and hang on to it.

We've had occasions where bright sunlight stymies the optical safety system so that the door won't close. It's usually just temporary. I've had to get out of the car and use my body to block the sun. The last time it was a bright reflection off of our dining room window.

Huh. That's the first I've heard of that. As I'm in FL where we get a little bit of sun laugh, I'm going to keep this in mind!

There are reports of the switching circuits/drivers in CFL/LED bulbs causing interference with the remotes... but if you took the bulbs out, that's not it!

There shouldn't be any current in that circuit with no bulb, but maybe that relay getting pulled in is somehow interfering with things, or loading the power supply (which could be related to that cap).

Tough to say - good luck! Let us know if the cap fixes it.

-ERD50

Ready for the big reveal? I'm posting it in a separate post so it doesn't get lost amongst these replies.

See my post below.

 

[always_learning]

Capacitor replacement update

For anyone interested in the outcome, here it is.

Drum roll, please.

One $.06 capacitor has resolved the issue. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Yep, the capacitor was bad, which caused all the remotes to stop working when the light at the motor had been triggered.

So, there you go.

Thanks, everyone, for helping brainstorm with me! It is appreciated.