The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: fatbaldguy on September 07, 2014, 07:06:23 AM
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The door will activate, open partially, then close. This will occur 2-4 times before the door opens completely. Any help out there?
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Double check all the clearances for binding and the tension settings.
That is where I go when our doors act up in season changes.
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I had a similar issue with my Craftsman garage door opener. I had to tweak two settings that control the opening force and travel. But I set it too high and one time I forgot that I locked the garage door. I tried to use the opener and and it ended up ripping apart the fiberglass door panel. Needless to say this was an expensive mistake and while I had the door repaired the installer was nice enough to fix the settings for me.
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I had that problem and adjusted the opening force upward...that worked. I didn't buy this opener (it was here when we moved in) so I found the manual online and downloaded the pdf.
These things are pretty finicky when they mess up.
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M58, you a likely correct. I know how to fix some things, others I break better than they were broken before. This would be one of the latter. I greased the rollers, track, and screw drive. Didn't help much. I'll try to find one of the neighbors that needs some produce and knows how to do the tension thingy.
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Our garage repair guy said under no circumstances should you ever grease the tracks or rollers. Same reason as for too much lube on a gun - it is a crap magnet.
Our door lifter did the same thing as yours. It was due to the min and max controls being out of sync and not adjustable as they had ripped themselves off the housing completely!!! >:( Had to replace the entire unit, remotes, inside button, track, etc. On the good news side, I did get an external keypad I had been putting off getting.
This was after the same repair guy saw that we had 2 different springs providing tension to the door. And by 2 different springs, I mean length, diameter and wire thickness - a trifecta of eff'd up garage repair by the previous guy. Probably contributing to the door lifter self-destructing too.
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The first question is when you disconnect the door and lift it manually, it is very hard to lift. It shouldn't be. That's the first thing, if necessary to correct. And if it's torsion springs, do let someone who has handle them before tighten them. They can break an arm if you don't know how to work with them.
Then as everyone else said, it's probably the settings on the force sensor.
I had opposite trouble, I couldn't close mine. Finally, removed the magic eye sensors. too much sun light and leaves were a constant bother. No safety on mine any more. I'll try to post a picture how I handled the lights. When I had the door replace, the tech said it was most creative.
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I had to replace a door opener when some gears and other s#!t fell out of it. (Genie?) That one was already in the house when we bought it. Then a couple years later the spring broke. The spring guy said that the door was so *over*sprung it was no wonder the previous unit failed.
The others have provided good info.
Test the door and clean off the grease...it will gunk up and overwork the motor.
I really like the Craftsmen door openers. Have had good luck with them over the last 15-20 yrs in two different houses. Chain drive is noisier than the screw drive ones but I'm totally OK with hearing the door open and close.
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Don't overlook the electronic side of these things. Mainly the electric eye sensors. They can be a real PITA. My house faces south. At this time of the year, and again in 6 months in the spring, the Sun aligns itself in the morning, and again in the afternoon, where it causes the electric eyes to malfunction. The door starts, then reverses.
I've got cardboard shields, plastic tubes, you name it, it still happens on occasion. I then have to get out, and go stand where I cast a shadow, protecting the electric eye until the door cycles completely down. My neighbor got so fed up he remounted them in the corner of the garage facing each other about 2" apart. I'm tempted, but I don't want to end up crushing the dog, a kid, or the ass end of my car if I don't get it in far enough. My truck just makes it as it is. Also keep the lenses on the electric eyes clean, or they can and will act up.
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Billt,
I had the same problem with the sun, plus add to that the humongous amount of leaves I get in the fall. I finally moved my sensors together, mounted above the opener, about 2" apart. Yes, I've disabled the safety feature. No, it isn't a problem as we're just careful about when we close the door.
All garage doors are dangerous.
Don't let anything stay under the door you don't want destroyed.
Keep your finger off the button until you are positive nobody is under the door.
Make sure everybody stays away from the door while it closing.
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Billt,
I had the same problem with the sun, plus add to that the humongous amount of leaves I get in the fall. I finally moved my sensors together, mounted above the opener, about 2" apart. Yes, I've disabled the safety feature. No, it isn't a problem as we're just careful about when we close the door.
The more I hear this, the better it sounds. I figure if I haven't shot myself or anyone else in the last 45 years shooting and messing around with guns, I can handle a garage door with a disabled "safety".
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I promised pictures.
First, since my ceiling joists run cross-wise and don't happen to conicide where I needed to hang the opener, I hung to uni-struts. Then the angle iron can be positioned at any distance from the door.
Then you can see the "magic eye" sensors. I gave up on trying to make the work reliably, so just bolted them to the cross piece and haven't had a problem since.
Finally, I screwed an adapter plug into where the light bulbs would be and made my own little fixtures. I'm no longer limited by wattage and can install some decent lighting in the garage. Plus they lamps don't get near the vibration they would if screwed into the motor and the lamps last longer.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/General/i-HcCRsCN/0/L/IMG_0264-L.jpg)
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That's a good idea with the light bulb adapters. I just may copy that.
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Unistrut is like duct tape...multi-use..
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I'm worried about the F.G.D.P., (Federal Garage Door Police), if I disconnect the electric eyes. Aren't they the same branch of government who put all those kids in jail for removing those sofa tags, some years back? I think they're connected with OSHA.
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Hey, I didn't disable the magic eye safeties !!! If you step between them when the door is closing it will stop. ;)
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Hey, I didn't disable the magic eye safeties !!! If you step between them when the door is closing it will stop. ;)
I don't think a French runway model could get between those. Provided she could jump high enough! ;D
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Not familiar with how this system works.
I would assume that one of the devices is a projector and sends the light source to the other one which is the sensor?
If so, then wouldn't only the sensor needed to be shaded from outside light?
Perhaps switching sides so the sensor was on the shaded side, if there is one, would work?
Or moving it further away from the door opening?
Or a tube in front of it to provide the shade, like the tube extensions you might see on scopes?
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I would assume that one of the devices is a projector and sends the light source to the other one which is the sensor? If so, then wouldn't only the sensor needed to be shaded from outside light? Perhaps switching sides so the sensor was on the shaded side, if there is one, would work?
It happens in the morning, then again in the late afternoon with the Sun on either side. so I'm assuming switching them would have no effect.
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Like Bilt said, it was a constant battle, especially in the winter when the sun is lower on the horizon. Moving the sensors back helped some, and sure I could futzy with sun shades, but then I also have a leaf problem in the fall. My garage door seems to just be a magnet. So if it wasn't the sun it was some big leaf stuck to the sensor. I got tired of fighting it. I have no outside pets that could get trapped and the grand-kids are never out of sight when they visit.