Any Garage Door Opener Folks Here?

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66fyssh

66fyssh

Don't Stop Believin'
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Im looking for some help. Today my grandson came in from the garage and said the door opener (which was open at the time) light was flickering. By the time I got there it was out.

But the wall switch (door bell kind) was flickering and the opener would not work. Car remote would not work either.

I tried a working wall switch, unplugged the motor for awhile and then tried it, no go. The door sensor is green and goes out when blocked so I assume it's good.

There is a very slight "clicking " for lack of a better word inside the motor box. I pulled a cover and didn't see anything obvious.

Does anyone have any ideas on what it could be. Thanks!
 
sounds like it may be in the "locked" position

is there a lock button on the wall switch?

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i know i've accidentally hit mine once or twice before, and it got me stumped...but the light flickering seems to be a tell
 
Many have nylon gears which can strip out. I will make noise, but nothing moves.
 
If the operator is equipped with safety sensors (electric eyes) they must be in alignment and connected, when they are not, the result is typically what you are describing. What brand of door opener do you have?
 
I went from a Genie screw drive to a Chamberlain and never looked back. Easy install and the belt drive is awesome! It works from my iPhone and gives me alerts. I have 3 remotes, with the outdoor station, but always have the phone app for back-up as well the door station. Also it has a battery in it for power outages!
 
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diymirage said:
sounds like it may be in the "locked" position

is there a lock button on the wall switch?

View attachment 1715741959


i know i've accidentally hit mine once or twice before, and it got me stumped...but the light flickering seems to be a tell
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's what first came to mind, but I just have the simple "door bell" push button on the wall.
 
On some older openers if the light bulb fails the unit will become inoperable! May be that simple!
 
missing linc said:
If the operator is equipped with safety sensors (electric eyes) they must be in alignment and connected, when they are not, the result is typically what you are describing. What brand of door opener do you have?
Click to expand...

It's a Chamberlain Professional 1/3 hp. The eye is lit green and when I block it, it goes out, then come right back on. I'll double check that since the kids could have easily "bumped" into it.
 
1969383S said:
I went from a Genie screw drive to a Chamberlain and never looked back. Easy install and the belt drive is awesome! It works from my iPhone and gives me alerts. I have 3 remotes, but always have the phone app for back-up as well the door station. Also it has a battery in it for power outages!
Click to expand...

Ours is a Chamberlin but I'm sure it's original to the house built in 2007. It's chain drive.
 
66fyssh said:
Thanks, that's what first came to mind, but I just have the simple "door bell" push button on the wall.
Click to expand...

Well, the fact that the light flashes tells me the unit wants to work, but something is overriding it

That something could be the light curtain, the lock button, or something mechanical exerting more torque on the door then the opener can overcome



One more option could be the boy hit the "learn" button on the opener and he reset the codes (but that is very unlikely)


Have you tried holding the button down for 10 seconds, or using a remote?
 
Sounds like you may have a pinched wire to the switch. Unhook the wall switch wiring at the head unit and try just momentarily shorting the terminals at the head unit.
 
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diymirage said:
Well, the fact that the light flashes tells me the unit wants to work, but something is overriding it

That something could be the light curtain, the lock button, or something mechanical exerting more torque on the door then the opener can overcome



One more option could be the boy hit the "learn" button on the opener and he reset the codes (but that is very unlikely)


Have you tried holding the button down for 10 seconds, or using a remote?
Click to expand...

Thanks DIY. Yes, I tried deleting all codes and resetting them.
 
If all else fails, go to Home Depot and get one of these newer units with belt drive. Nice wall station with clock and temperature. Easy setup and install and very quite!

Add the screen door unit like “shown” built here in GA. Over in Winder. Best mod I have ever done in my garage! The screen door is the cats meow!

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CE3CC248-7283-4EC3-929F-AB4634FD0C8F.jpeg
 
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When my screen door is down it blocks the eyes for the main door and keeps it from working accidentally.
 
Mine had that clicking noise. On mine (Craftsman chain drive) it was the safety sensors. I live near the coast (high humidity), as it turns out the safety sensors (electric eyes) develop corrosion and stop working, either that or the lenses get foggy???. If they don't "see" each other it stops the door from working. It happened many times. I finally got really pissed off and moved the eyes to a place where they wouldn't be exposed to so much moisture. I taped them directly to each other so that they would always "see" each other and put them in a low moisture location. The doors no longer have that "automatic trip" safety feature but they have not given me any trouble for over 15 years!! The door will still stop if it runs into something (internal clutch) but it can not see if anyone crosses under the door when it's closing. There's no way to remove the sensors from the system, they designed it that way.

Another thing I changed was the counterweight system. The high humidity would also rust the big spring in one year then it would break. It used to cost me $300 each year to replace the spring. That really pissed me off so I disconnected the spring and put in a counterweight system. I connected a cable from both sides of the door (8 X 10 door) to a pulley system to some steel (iron) weights. It's been working flawlessly for over 5 years now. No more damn springs to replace, I saved 1500 bucks, should have done it 20 years ago!!!
Now the garage door man is pissed!! He can't make any money off of me.:mad::mob::realcrazy::soapbox:
 
Treblig said:
Mine had that clicking noise. On mine (Craftsman chain drive) it was the safety sensors. I live near the coast (high humidity), as it turns out the safety sensors (electric eyes) develop corrosion and stop working, either that or the lenses get foggy???. If they don't "see" each other it stops the door from working. It happened many times. I finally got really pissed off and moved the eyes to a place where they wouldn't be exposed to so much moisture. I taped them directly to each other so that they would always "see" each other and put them in a low moisture location. The doors no longer have that "automatic trip" safety feature but they have not given me any trouble for over 15 years!! The door will still stop if it runs into something (internal clutch) but it can not see if anyone crosses under the door when it's closing. There's no way to remove the sensors from the system, they designed it that way.

Another thing I changed was the counterweight system. The high humidity would also rust the big spring in one year then it would break. It used to cost me $300 each year to replace the spring. That really pissed me off so I disconnected the spring and put in a counterweight system. I connected a cable from both sides of the door (8 X 10 door) to a pulley system to some steel (iron) weights. It's been working flawlessly for over 5 years now. No more damn springs to replace, I saved 1500 bucks, should have done it 20 years ago!!!
Now the garage door man is pissed!! He can't make any money off of me.:mad::mob::realcrazy::soapbox:
Click to expand...

You really pissed off the garage door company!!! They are another scam industry since a lot of people know nothing about them or aren't smart enough to troubleshoot.!

I'll double check the sensors.
 
I figured out how to replace and rewind the spring but that thing is dangerous!! Much better with my counterweight system, plus, it's free!!!
 
Yeah, I'm in no hurry to fiddle with the spring!!

I went back up and had another look. Again, I couldn't see anything burnt, etc.

When I plug in the unit, the light bulb pulses and gets less and less bright until it stops.

There is a large capacitor. Could that cap be bleeding off through the light? The light buld connects to the orange and white wires going to the bottom left in the picture. @67Dart273, any thoughts? I posted a picture of the cap.

20210524_175746.jpg
 
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