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Garage door opener troubleshooting.,.


racer212

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Cheap Craftsman 1/2hp opener. Very basic but always worked fine. Earlier this week the wife complained that the opener wouldn’t work with the touch of one button - but rather had to hold the button down, both inside and remote. Opener not flashing which indicates it’s not the safety beams. I set the manual release and ran the door up and down by hand several times - very smooth with no binding. Opener operates no problem with the door disconnected. Reconnect the door and now the opener won’t operate more than a couple feet before stopping and running back to full open. I climb up on a ladder and look at track and the shuttle, all seems fine. 

 

I climbed up on top to watch the drive sprocket run - seems very jerky and uneven. Cleaned, lubed, and adjusted the entire chain and greased the track just to be sure. No change. Now motor will not go up and down regardless if the door is connected or not.

 

I’m about ready to chuck the whole opener and install a new one - but anything to check beforehand?

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Take the cover off the motor housing and check the nylon gears that drive the motor shaft.  I just replaced mine as a lot of the teeth were worn out.  You can buy a kit from Sears Direct but I just replaced the whole thing as it was 30 years old and you had to take the old one out to repair it anyway. 

 

Edited by Brodie
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I have two of the same chain-driven Sears/Craftsman 1/2HP openers (2  double doors, steel--yeah, they're heavy) that are original to the house (1992). I have similar issues with both (multiple button presses sometimes required, periodic short travel, etc.). I don't use remotes; so, activation is via interior (wall) buttons only. The problems seem to be exacerbated by extreme temperatures (for here that means below 45F and above  85F). At 26 years, I'm sure the openers' age plays a role. I replaced the nylon gears in both about ten years ago when it was apparent teeth were worn/slipping. My next move, when one of them finally gives up the ghost, is to probably replace both units.

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Ended up replacing with the latest version of the same old Craftsman. Same track/shuttle and everything so the motor went right in. Apparently they made changes to the controls because the old wall switch and remotes wouldn’t work. Had to swap everything - no big deal. New model also has the option to operate on your phone through WiFi. Not sure I’ll use that but I set it up too.

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On 7/30/2018 at 1:51 PM, racer212 said:

Apparently they made changes to the controls because the old wall switch and remotes wouldn’t work.

 

Sears used to only sell Chamberlain/Liftmaster, so I assume it still is that way.  The latest ones use an encrypted serial connection between the controller and switch, so someone couldn't just cut a wire and touch it together to open the door.  In most garages that doesn't matter since the crook would already be in it, but with gates and some unusual garage configurations it does matter.  So they just made all of the opener systems protected that way.

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