Frank's Garage Door Opener
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* My transmitters suddenly only work inside or real close to garage
- If you live near (10 mi) military bases, new military transmitters 1. My Garage door opener opens by itself. 2. My door won't close or goes a few inches stops and comes back up. 3. My opener hits the floor to close then opens right back up. 4. My door opener just hums and will not start. 5. My opener is dead. No noise or movement. 7. Flashing LED - Sears Chamberlain error codes 8. My doors are shaking back and forth and noisy 9. Sticky Door reverses or seals poorly 10 Loud noise in garage. door is difficult to open 11 Low ceiling prevents opener install 12 Motor makes noise but chain sprocket doesnt 1. My Garage door opener opens by itself: There are several distinct causes of this problem. A) Problem is more often caused by customers own transmitters. stuck button on transmitter. first Check the less used and spare transmitters as you may find a “stuck” button or something laying on top of the transmit button left in a storage drawer. This weak signal caused by an exhausting battery will interfere with other transmitters and cause intermittent door operation. receivers need a "reset" period between transmissions - battery depletion and interference with other transmitters can provide these resets. * often battery changes create this problem on Sears and Chamberlain transmitters because the mini pc card gets misaligned off shoulder when opened for battery exchange. when reassembled the button is constantly depressed. |
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| B) On new units be aware most openers have ability to “learn” multiple codes. Your unit may have inadvertently learned a neighbors code while you were "teaching" it a keypad or additional transmitter for multiple door control. You need to “flush” your unit and relearn code set. Typically hold learn button for 30 seconds to flush old codes then press once to re-armlearn cycle for 60 seconds. then resend your code by depressing the transmitter button. Repeat for additional transmitters and keypad. (rolling code Receivers can learn multiple transmitter codes but only 1 keypad code). You will have to wait and see if this fixes problem. |  |
C) Can be caused by shorted pushbutton wire. Make certain staples are not breaking insulation and excess copper wire at terminal ends is cropped. try pounding wall with your hand to trigger operation.
D) On older units Verify your unit was not left to factory default code. Newer units come pre coded from factory. to change code on new transmitters now requires new transmitter. If car is stolen Flush your code set immediately!
Check that your pushbutton wire is not shorted out. This is less frequent
caused by staples biting through insulation or excessive stripped lengths
at terminations that are making intermittent contact to adjacent terminals
under wall panel or on back of operator. Try pounding on wall or ceiling
to test.
2. My door won't close or goes a few inches stops and comes back up.
Most openers have infra-red sensors that mount on either side of the
garage door a few inches off the floor.
Check that they can "see" one another. The IR receive
sensor led should turn on and off as you break the beam with your hand.
Verify led on IR receiver is fully on and not faintly flickering. You
may need to cup your hand over led to verify this status as
flickering levels are easily overlooked (light level should be
steady). You want IR sensors perfectly aligned If the alignment is “marginal”
the vibrations encountered during operation will trigger a momentary break
and your door will go back up. The door won’t close if beam is broken.
Align the sender first by eye and then the receiver using the led indicator
as your guide. Make sure the wires that go to the back of the sensors
are not broken. Also verify lenses are clean and free of debris. In rare
cases down force setting can trigger this same problem but this normally
occurs at other door positions where more friction is encountered. A broken
spring or cable jumped behind its pulley can exhibit same but the opener
is actually operating correctly and going into safety mode. Avoid this
confusion by testing door manually before troubleshooting the opener.
If your motion sensors check good and door operates ok manually try turning down force dial clockwise, It is typically at 1 for a single width door or 3 for a double. Increase to 5 or 7 for test purpose. As doors get older their springs weaken. If you have increased down force threshold and the door continues to reverse, the RPM sensor is the culprit. There is no way to override or test this sensor by using the hand unit or the wall control. When this sensor goes bad the door will start down and the logic board will not receive the electronic pulses and it will reverse. It is this sensor that causes the door to reverse when it runs into something. The motor stalls, the logic board doesn't receive these pulses and it reverses. This little circuit board is located at the door end of the motor shaft and every door company has them in stock. Take the cover off the unit and you will see a black cap on the end of the shaft that rotates between infrared sensors. That small circuit board is the culprit. Make sure you reinstall serrated cap so that as it turns it breaks sender receiver path on new board.
3. My opener hits the floor to close then opens right back up.
Your front limit switch is either bad or out of adjustment. - Your down limit setting is out of adjustment. On Sears and Stanley the settings are dials located on the opener. Do not confuse Sears up/down force settings near gray antenna wire with up/down travel settings on side recess. Also know excessive adjustment can cause the plastic snap on rider contact inside unit to pop off the worm thread you are turning requiring you to remove case and snap rider back on. I have often discovered this rider swinging in the breeze attached by only its insulated wire inside the unit when on trouble calls.On Genie the up and down limit switches are mounted on the rail and tightened down at appropriate position with screwdriver.
- Your door is hitting an object when closing. Does it actually reach floor or is it binding near bottom causing the “force settings” to perform a safety reverse? Disengage opener and test manually. Repair door to smooth unbound operation then reattach.
4. My door opener just hums and will not start. (It doesn't’t know the words)
- Check to see the opener is not bound up. Make sure the “traveler” arm
latch has not backed into the stop bolt or opener housing. This can cause
a condition where chain has to be loosened before unit can release. Make
sure it does not simply “beach” itself again. Turn up limit in appropriate
direction so door does not try to open itself this far again –If it still
does than your up adjustment snap on contact inside unit has popped off
the thread gear you were adjusting and the cover will need removal to
snap it back on. After door is free slowly adjust travel stops back to
desired settings and re tighten chain. Leave a least 1 inch of free space
to avoid future repeats of this problem.
If opener chain or worm is moving but not door, check to make sure that
the opener door arm is engaged to the opener traveler mechanism. Pull
rope up and back to re-engage on screw drive, on chain cable you realign
door to matching part on opener then pull forward and release rope. Move
door until you hear them interlock.
In older openers check you’re starting capacitor. This is the part that gives the opener an extra boost to start. Some times these parts leak or smoke when they go bad. If this happens most times the opener hums and will not start.
5. My opener is dead. No noise or movement.
If you have no lights anywhere on system Check to make sure there is power to the outlet used by your opener. Often a GFI trip upstream goes unnoticed and kills slaved receptacles downstream. GFI outlets in kitchen bathroom and garage typically effect 2 additional outlets slaved to them. Most ceiling outlets are not GFI but wall outlets in newer garages are now GFI and an after construction installed outlet or extension may have put your opener on a GFI branch.
If you have lights on door sensors, Pushbutton wire could be shorted.
Open push button circuit at back of opener to test. Do you have any lights
on opener or sensors? Try pushing learn button. Check to see if the low
side of the transformer (pushbutton contacts) is producing ac voltage.
If no AC voltage on push button terminal then circuit board could be bad.
If voltage is present try shorting with screwdriver to see if opener activates.
If it operates check your wire continuity and wall button.
A) look at back of your opener and see if the led beside the learn button is flashing. A stuck button on neighbors remote will not open your door but it will be indicated as rf activity on this led. It will also interfere with your reception.
B) Check your battery. Use eraser on old battery contacts to remove oxides.
C)Some Shorter distance is to be expected on new rolling code transceivers. This is unavoidable as new 2 way transmission and handshake now relies on smaller remote antenna inside your car which is inherently more susceptible to RF shielding by metal frame and obstacles.
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Fault code |
Problem |
Cleared |
1 |
Protector open, misaligned
or a object is in the way for more then 4 seconds |
Up to 8 seconds after fault is cleared |
2 |
Protector shorted or
connected backwards for more then 4 seconds |
Up to 8 seconds after fault is cleared |
3 |
Command input shorted
to ground for more than 4 seconds. |
Up to 8 seconds after fault is cleared |
4 |
Protector intermittent
|
Up to 8 seconds after fault is cleared |
5 |
No RPM in the first
second |
Power On Reset or Limits Learned |
| 6 |
RPM pulses detected
after the motor was turned off (perhaps forcing up travel) |
Power On Reset or Limits Learned |
7 |
Limits not learned
yet |
Limits Learned |
8. My doors are shaking back and forth and noisy
Door
is noisy and moves jerky: The noise is likely your stationary pulleys
over which the cables from extension springs pass. They wear and turn
into cams which get out out of phase with each other causing the door
to cock back and forth sometimes driving
itself into vertical track. The test is too spray inner circle of the
pulleys where the bearings are housed. This will normally buy you
several months until warmer weather to replace them. If your bearings
when door is in full up position. It tends to be an invisible problem
because cable tension hides this giveaway indicator during operation.
I only use WD40 for all lubrication on doors.
Can also be caused by a cable that has jumped off roller and is passing behind wheel. this sometimes occurs after maintenance or if door is opened so far that all tension from extension springs is removed.
When you test for sticking - pull down on emergency release and
then grab the attached arm and exert force from this end of door. the
test you performed using the door handle is not the same resistance felt
by opener. the difference is dramatic, very often the act of pulling down
on the bottom section will mask a door stick caused by door bottom driving
itself into door jamb if clearance is too shallow. other sticking issues
are caused by track mounting not flush with jamb but you should have been
able to see this visibly and correct with spacers under track feet. good
troubleshooting method however is to loosen bottom 2 track feet on vertical
rail and experiment with slop provided. With door almost closed and hand
on handle you should be able to shift door side to side slightly if slop
is set correctly- carefull though -too much and rollers can escape. final
possible cause is vertical track is "stuck" on rough cement
floor and is ignoring your adjustments on feet. this is actually quite
common and just repaired one of these today. take a hammer and a blunt
item that fits inside track then hammer object to free the stick -even
an 1/8 inch will make a big difference if this is your culprit. one last
item about sticking and then off my soapbox. never paint a door unless
you have time and temperature to let it dry before closing- the paint
will transfer to vinyl sweep on door trim and effectively become a break!
10. Loud noise in garage and door is now very hard to open: Spring has broken. you need to replace them in pairs. if you have safety cables the carcass should be suspended upon it. Occasionally spring is ok and cable is found to be broken, again replace broken item in pairs as the other cable is likely worn equally.
11.Low Ceiling prevents opener installation. You need to order quick turn brackets which replace the 2 uppermost hinges and cause the door to turn sooner and reduce the high point of the turn allowing room for opener.
12. Motor sounds like it is running but sprocket doesnt move. This is a stripped gear or gears. replacement kits are about $ 30 but requires a fair amount of mechanical skill and strict adhearance to the procedures to repair. This is best left for a technician. to verify the diagnosis remove cover and white powder / confetti should be evident.
High turn door was installed to provide clearance for side door, now the opener must be mounted too high for arm to reach door. You need to purchase extension or prepare 2 pcs angle iron of suitable length bolted back to back to form reinforced T extension. You should take time to wrap all sharp corners with electrical tape or other esthetic solution to eliminate hazard.
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Subject: RE: Garage Door Opener stripped gear installation question
Thanks!
From: L HAAS
first of all , thanks for a great web site. would appreciate any help Larry,
Hi Frank - Just this morning, went to open garage door from inside and the screw turned and the motor sounded the same but nothing was lifting up the garage door. It did not shut off just kept turning the screw shaft. I lifted door manually and the motor stopped. Same thing when I tried to close door from remote in the driveway after I backed out my car. I closed it manually. What should I look for as the problem?
Thanks for your help. Tom, If the emergency cord is still in the “pulled” position this is normal..just pull cord back and upward and it should re-engage. If emergency release is not engaged then the plastic traveler is stripprd on the inside and needs replacement. It should be grooved to just like the worm gear which is designed to lie into the grooves and causes movement when the gear spins. Frank
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