Garage door opener making me mad!!!!

[kwolfe]

My house is only 3 years old. I installed two Sears garage door openers when we first moved in. One works great, the other really aggrivates me!! For the first year, it worked fine then all of a sudden did not. It started to travel too far which would cause it to hit the floor tripping the sensor which would make it go back up.

I thought maybe it need to be adjusted a little bit. Needless to say, this has not proved succesful. These days, it either stops one inch from the conrete, or goes to far and bounces back up.

The wife says to get a new opener, however I don't feel like spending $150 if the fix is not that hard.

Any suggestions???

 

[Bird]

If it's working; i.e., the motor runs and it raises and lowers the door, a new one probably wouldn't do any better. I don't know how to tell you to adjust it without seeing it, but if you have been able to adjust it where it stops an inch from the floor, can you not then pull the rope to disconnect from the power drive, push the door down to the floor, and pull the rope the other way to re-engage the drive?

 

[MrJimi]

My house is only 3 years old. I installed two Sears garage door openers when we first moved in. One works great, the other really aggrivates me!! For the first year, it worked fine then all of a sudden did not. It started to travel too far which would cause it to hit the floor tripping the sensor which would make it go back up.

I thought maybe it need to be adjusted a little bit. Needless to say, this has not proved succesful. These days, it either stops one inch from the conrete, or goes to far and bounces back up.

The wife says to get a new opener, however I don't feel like spending $150 if the fix is not that hard.

Any suggestions???

its all in the adjustment screws, turn them very little like about 1/8 of a turn or less at a time

 

[DocHeb]

Disconnect the garage door opener and make sure the springs are balancing the weight of the door in all positions. If the spring is broken or needs adjusment, it will make the opener have uneven torque loads that can mess-up the endpoints of travel.

 

[RonMar]

Let me guess, the stopping 1" from the floor started after you adjusted it? It sounds like you have a bad switch or electrical connection in the door stop switch circuit. It is intermittently allowing the door stop switch closure command to stop the door at the set point when the door closes. When you adjusted back the door stop point, that adjustment was successfull so now when the switch does work, it is stopping the door before it fully closes. Of course when the stop switch dosn't work, the door hits the ground and the overcurrent on the motor reverses the direction(lest we squeeze the life out of whoever gets caught under the door).

Stop switches are in different places on different models. Some are out on the drive mechanism with the closed stop switch by the door and open stop by the motor, activated by a tab on the travelor. Some are in the motor head activated by a reduction gear mechanism, it depends on the design.

You should be able to watch the mechanismin operation to determine where the closed stop switch is located. If the garage openers are the same, you can try swapping the closed stop switch from one unit to the other to see if the problem moves. If it does, you have found the problem child. If the problem dosn't move to the other opener then it is in the wiring or perhaps the control board that acts upon the switch info to stop the motor. I would guess it is the switch or loose wiring connection so check those first.

Good luck

 

[kwolfe]

Ron,
That is just what I was looking for. I will have to try and locate that switch. It is aggrevating trying to close the dorr 6 times before suceeding.

 

[RonMar]

Most openers will stop the door at the second press of the button. You can probably get pretty close to closed with a well timed button press untill you find the problem. This is usually easier with the wall mounted button. What model of opener do you have? If you get me the Sears model number off of it(usually 3 digits, a period then 6 digits 123.456789) I can probably look up the diagrams on Sears website and perhaps give you some specific places to look for trouble.

 

[escavader]

After you get the stop switch adjusted right,make sure nothing is interfearing with the electric eyes.I bet your initial problem was you needed. a little more downforce on the opener.There is an adjustment on the unit for that too.Be carefull when adjusting your opener travel.If the door comes up too far you can get too much slack in your cables,causing them to derail from the pullys.When that happens you can tear a perfectly good door to scrap in a hurry,using an opener.I have 3 different openers.If you show me a pic of yours i can tell you exactly how to adjust it.Good advice before,pull the release and check the door manually to see if all is well.
ALAN

 

[kwolfe]

Sorry for the delay guys. It is budget time and I have been working non stop. The model number I got off the unit is 139 53975SRT1. I also attached a few pictures of it. You can see the height and pressure adjustments as well as the unit itself.

This unit worked great for the first year or so. Then it just started getting tempermental. I have also checked the beams. The door will not start to shut if the beams are not aligned right (have had this happens as well).

I sure would appreciate the help. I don't know the first thing about sensors. However I am a fast study.

 

[RonMar]

Sorry for the delay guys. It is budget time and I have been working non stop. The model number I got off the unit is 139 53975SRT1. I also attached a few pictures of it. You can see the height and pressure adjustments as well as the unit itself.

This unit worked great for the first year or so. Then it just started getting tempermental. I have also checked the beams. The door will not start to shut if the beams are not aligned right (have had this happens as well).

I sure would appreciate the help. I don't know the first thing about sensors. However I am a fast study.

OK, if you type that part number into the parts search at the sears website Welcome to the Parts Store you will get the exploded views and installation diagrams. This is one of the things I like about Sears as if you have the number, you can find most of the diagrams and documentation on line. Here is a link to the print I found most valuable.
Imaging Page

In the last pics you posted, you can see the open and close stop point adjustment screws. Your switches are actuated by a screw driven contactor behind where those screws are located. If you remove the bottom cover(4 screws) you should see the limit switch mechanism driven off a worm gear on the end of the motor. There should be a grey wire that goes to the center contactor(on the driven screw). This wire and contactor alternatly moves between the contact with the yellow wire when the door opens and the contact with the brown wire when the door closes. When the grey-yellow make contact the door stops at the top of it's travel. When the grey contact touches the brown wire contact the door should stop at the bottom of it's travel. Cycle the door a few times and observe the mechanism to see how it operates(just don't touch anything as there is power present). Once you see how it is supposed to work, Disconnect the opener from electrical power and closely inspect that center contact where it meets the brown wire contact as well as the brown wire where it connects back to the control board. You are looking for loose wires, chaffed insulation and shorts to structures, bent contacts that don't touch right, debris or grease in the contacts or anything that would prevent these contacts from completing a circuit and stopping the door at the bottom of it's travel. You have the benefit of having a properly working model just a few feet away to compare things to and even exchange parts with to prove what the problem is. And of course you can order the parts direct from sears on the website I just listed. Good luck and any questions, just ask.