dumb garage door opener questions

[pancho400cid]

One thing I do not know much about is garage door openers.... so guess what's acting up.

I have a serpentine belt type "Chamberlain LiftMaster Elite" and it opens the 16' (or maybe it's 18') door of my standard 2-car garage.

The control unit says something like "blocked or out of alignment" and the door will only go down if you hold the button the whole time. I never use the remote openers. Just the main control unit and the keypad unit outside the GD.

Lastly the sensing "eyes" - one has a green light and the other has an amber light. I cleaned the lens of one with the amber light and played with the alignment but could not get a green light. I'm thinking it's bad.

Are the sensors "universal" or are they make/model specific? Where can they be had locally. I can get them on-line if required.

Thanks!

 

[pattenp]

Check Lowe's or Home Depot.

 

[99LeCouch]

IIRC Chamberlain photo sensors are pretty much universal. Buy new ones, install, and see if it goes away. Or see if there's a chafed/crimped wire somewhere.

 

[MikeF]

Home depot should have em.

 

[upndown]

Check the wiring first! If your in doubt, you can try reversing the sensors. If the amber one lights up when reversed, you know you have a bad sensor. Just remember on any chamberlain product, you must maintain polarity. Just mark the wires with tape.

And yes, sensors are brand specific.

 

[zendriver]

If you have one green light, the sensors are aligned, at least on my LM unit

Unfortunately, LM sensors are not just "on"/"off", (like they should be) but also rely on signal strength. You can still get errors even the green light is not triggered off ( by a blocked signal).

If you can remove the sensors you should be able to test by taping the sensors directly together.

 

[upndown]

In the first post he stated he could not get a green light!

 

[dave89iroc]

In the first post he stated he could not get a green light!

no, he said one eye has a green light, other has an amber light

 

[upndown]

I cleaned the lens of one with the amber light and played with the alignment but could not get a green light.

Thanks!

That's not how I read it.

 

[Dustball]

That's not how I read it.

He could not change the amber light to a green light. The other side has a green light.

The amber light is going to always be amber- it's the sending side. If the receiving side is green, it's correctly aimed.

http://chamberlain.custhelp.com/app...2LzEvdGltZS8xNDYyNzIxMDgzL3NpZC8ydFRmci1QbQ==

The amber LED on the sending sensor will glow regardless of alignment or obstruction. If the green LED on the receiving sensor is off, dim, or flickering (and the invisible light beam path is not obstructed), alignment is required.

 

[Firebird 1]

Hey Pancho, this roadking from tac, I didn't know you were on this forum. One green light is all there should be. I have been through a number of door openers and never had the sensors go bad, but there is always a first. I think if they are lit they are ok. This may sound obvious but make sure there is nothing like spider webs, leaves, or something that might "drift" in the way when the door starts to move. I had a the same opener that the programming unit just crapped out on, it would only work with wall controller. I replaced the thing with a Ryobi.

 

[pancho400cid]

Hey Guys -

Thanks for all the input. To clarify, both sensors have a light. The one on the left (as viewed from the driveway) has a green light. The one on the right has an amber light. The amber light won't go green when I mess with the alignment or after cleaning the lens.

Based on posts above - that is as it should be. Apparently these really are "dumb" questions.

It should not be a wiring issue as the thing was working for about 18 months since a big remodel.

Hey Roadking! Thanks for the info.

Guys - this situation is getting desperate. If it gets any worse I'm going to have to dig up the instructions and "RTFM"

 

[cbogg]

Try pulling the emergency release and see if the door goes up and down smoothly, see if it's binding. Other than that maybe control board? If both sensors are out up then it shouldn't be thinking something is there.

 

[pancho400cid]

Hey all.

I dug around and was surprised to find we had the manual. I thought the contractor tossed it. I see the sensor with the amber light is the transmitter and it is supposed to be that color as said above.

I've had the hand release pulled and the door goes up and down without issues. I thoroughly cleaned everything again and checked the wires between the sensors and lift unit. I did not see any damage but sort of worked the wires all long feeling for damage or shorts at staples, etc. I did a little "percussive maintenance" on everything. For whatever reason, it's working at the moment. Not calling it fixed yet a there may be a bad solder board connection or something weird.

 

[doorsdoneright]

Sears, Chamberlain and Liftmaster openers (all manufactured by Chamberlain) have used the same exact eyes for the past 20 years or so. If you did buy eyes for any of these openers they would work fine, across these brands. The eye with the yellow LED is the sending eye and the one with the green LED is the receiving eye. The green light will turn off or flicker if it is not receiving a solid signal from the sending eye or if it is not receiving power from the opener head.

When I diagnose issues with the eyes, I have a certain order I follow for maximum efficiency/effectiveness:

1. Check for obstructions - I'm sure you've already done this, but obstructions are the most obvious and easy fix for eyes. Obstructions can be anything from garbage cans to gardening tools or brooms to cobwebs or leaves.

2. Check alignment - Generally, if the eyes look like they are pretty much pointed at one another, you should be good. Loosen the wing nuts, adjust the eyes, and tighten the wing nuts. Exact alignment is not required, unless the eyes are going bad. If aligning the eyes is doable, but the window for alignment is very, very tight, you probably need new eyes.

3. Check wiring at the opener head - This is a common spot where you find problems with the electric eyes. Make sure all of the wires are properly seated in the contact point. Where there are 2 wires going into the same receptacle, it is important that the wires are twisted together. It's really common to see one wire not making contact if both wires are simply inserted in without being twisted together. To fix that, strip the wires, exposing about an inch of wire, twist them together, then cut the end off until the exposed wires are about 7/16" long. Insert into the receptacle and you should have a solid, reliable connection.

4. Check the wiring At this point, if the problem was not solved, I would splice a new wire in to see if the problem is in the current wiring. You can run a new wire (no need to staple it up at this point, just run it directly) splicing it near the receiving eye, and plugging it in with the wires going to the receiving eye. Polarity is important, so make sure you don't mix up the wires. If the yellow light is on, so should be the green light

5. Replace the eyes If it's still not fixed, you can buy new eyes online and splice them in to the existing wiring. You should replace the pair, since the problem might actually be in the sending eye and not the receiving eye (i.e. it might not be sending the beam)

Hopefully that helps.

 

[Kevin54]

My parents had the same problem with their opener but it only did it at a certain time of the day, and during a few weeks. The sun would hit one eye and cause the door to not go all of the way down. I told dad about putting a toilet paper tube over the eyes, and he taped one tube to each eye and it stopped the door from malfunctioning.

So for the OP....could there be a possibility that the sun is causing it when you are entering or leaving the garage? Just another suggestion to the pile.

 

[pancho400cid]

doorsdoneright - really appreciate the excellent info/advice. The doors have not acted up since I posted but will definitely refer to your post if it happens.

could there be a possibility that the sun is causing it

Kevin54 - I was wondering about that very thing. If it acts up again I'll duct tape a cut out piece of shoe box errrrr mean craft a sun shade over the receiver eye LOL.