RESOLVED - Liftmaster 889LMW wall control panels: totally erratic motion control for light

[GSinILL]

I got 2 of those for my LM 8500 jackshaft openers.
I seem to be lucky because everything works, not randomly opening doors etc., with the exception of the motion control which acts totally erratic.
Sometimes the lights come on instantly when I walk out into the garage, sometimes I have to move to a certain spot, and most of the time the lights do not come on at all.
Also, the buttons for the light are not very responsive, almost feels like you have to push and wiggle them a little before they act.

If it was just one, I would assume one is bad but both behave the same way.
Not the same batch because I already replaced one assuming it might have been a bad batch...

Any idea, or is my only option to call their support?

Side question: I don't need any of the fancy features, 2 buttons would do: one to open the door and the other to turn the light on, are there any simple wall controls that are compatible with the 8500?

Thanks
GS

 

[wssix99]

The lights operate remotely, so the first thing to check is that you don't have any obstructions between the main jackshaft unit and the light.

I have sporratic problems like this with one of my three units. The difference is that it's line of sight to the light control board is blocked by a large column and beam whereas the other units have a clear line of sight.

 

[Viper98912]

I've found that they sometimes interfere with each other; one control wall board is sending the signal to turn on, while the other one is sending the signal to turn off. That's mostly the problem I had with them. So I cleared them both and then individually programmed one of them.

 

[GSinILL]

The lights operate remotely, so the first thing to check is that you don't have any obstructions between the main jackshaft unit and the light.

I have sporratic problems like this with one of my three units. The difference is that it's line of sight to the light control board is blocked by a large column and beam whereas the other units have a clear line of sight.

Thanks, no obstructions. The openers are about 10 ft. from the lights with direct line of sight.

 

[GSinILL]

I've found that they sometimes interfere with each other; one control wall board is sending the signal to turn on, while the other one is sending the signal to turn off. That's mostly the problem I had with them. So I cleared them both and then individually programmed one of them.

Thanks! Not sure I follow. The 2 panels are individually wired to the 2 corresponding openers, 1-to-1.
I assume the signal from the panel to turn on the light goes through the wire to the opener which then triggers the light remotely.

 

[wssix99]

Does this happen with all of your openers? How many openers do you have? How many lights?

 

[GSinILL]

Well, here's the full story of my frustration:

I have 2 garages, one 2 car and one 1 car garage.
The 2 jackshafts with 2 remote lights are in the 2 car, the 1 car has a newish chain driven Chamberlain (integrated light) that came with a Chamberlain wall control that is exactly the same as the 880LMW from LM.
Since I am perfectly fine with the Chamberlain one (light comes on as soon as I step into the garage) and since I found a chart that says that the 880LMW is compatible with the LM 8500, I bought one and thought I'll give the 880 a try with the 8500.

No luck.
The 880LMW powers up, the display comes on and asks for date/time.
It does accept date/time but then it does not work at all. Light button never works, door opens randomly and stops, display goes blank and then prompts to push some activate button as per manual, then it freezes with that message in the display.
Tested that with the 880LMW and the Chamberlain one, they behave exactly the same: they work perfectly with the chain driven Chamberlain and **** out with the 8500.

 

[wssix99]

Do things work with the wall controls that came in the box?

 

[ScaldedDog]

Didn't Liftmaster replace the 888 with the 889, due to the random opening issue? I'd start by having LM send you the current HW, then troubleshoot, if necessary.

Mark

 

[Skooterj]

When I installed my two 8500, I could not get the light on the second door I set up to work. So I called Liftmaster to troubleshoot the problem. They told me the two control panels needed to be a minimum of 18 inches apart, otherwise the could interfere with each other. I had already mounted them and cut the wires. I asked them where that was in the instructions, and they told me it wasn't. Pulling new wires would have been a pain, so I just hooked the second light up to the first controller and turned on the motion sensor. Not ideal, but it works.

 

[GSinILL]

Do things work with the wall controls that came in the box?

At least one of them came with the opener, the 2nd one I bought separately because the opener was used and did not come with a wall control.

 

[GSinILL]

When I installed my two 8500, I could not get the light on the second door I set up to work. So I called Liftmaster to troubleshoot the problem. They told me the two control panels needed to be a minimum of 18 inches apart, otherwise the could interfere with each other. I had already mounted them and cut the wires. I asked them where that was in the instructions, and they told me it wasn't. Pulling new wires would have been a pain, so I just hooked the second light up to the first controller and turned on the motion sensor. Not ideal, but it works.

Mine are an inch apart, will disconnect one and see what it does. Thanks!

 

[GSinILL]

When I installed my two 8500, I could not get the light on the second door I set up to work. So I called Liftmaster to troubleshoot the problem. They told me the two control panels needed to be a minimum of 18 inches apart, otherwise the could interfere with each other. I had already mounted them and cut the wires. I asked them where that was in the instructions, and they told me it wasn't. Pulling new wires would have been a pain, so I just hooked the second light up to the first controller and turned on the motion sensor. Not ideal, but it works.

Well, looks disconnecting one did the trick
If I now walk into the garage through the door with the panel right next to it, the one corresponding light comes on almost instantly, similar to how the Chamberlain panel operates.
The range is still not what I was hoping, i.e. if I enter through the side door on the opposite wall, the sensor does not trigger. Even if I walk in the middle of the garage the light does not come on.
Not ideal but I can live with that. The biggest annoyance was walking from the house with your hands full into the dark garage and no light, that seems to be fixed now.

Ps. Correction: I just figured out that my wall panels are both 889LMW models, not the 888LMW as I initially posted. Will update the title of my post.

Thanks all for your replies and thanks Skooterj for the solution!

 

[Moss]

I had all kinds of issues with mine for years until I realized it was the florescent bulbs causing interference. I changed them to led bulbs and it's worked perfectly ever since

 

[GSinILL]

I had all kinds of issues with mine for years until I realized it was the florescent bulbs causing interference. I changed them to led bulbs and it's worked perfectly ever since

Had LED bulbs in both lights from the get go.

 

[johngammel]

I have 3 8500W and 880LMW systems not Wifi connected (no myQ) that were local dealer installed three years ago. Last Saturday when I was gone a door just opened. Alarm company called and as requested a neighbor closed it with the outside keypad. Awhile later the same door opened again and another neighbor closed it. Hurried home and disconnected the 880LMW. After almost a week still no false operations that I can confirm although I think it might have closed on it's own once.

Finally heard back from Liftmaster and they had me push the yellow button on the 8500W for 6 seconds and then reconnect the 880LMW. That went OK except that the LED ceiling light is "stuck on" even though the light settings match the 880 that's 1 inch away.

Seems to me that the likely culprit is the 880. Web search shows that an earlier model of this controller had similar problems and eventually they offered free replacements to owners with problems.

Thoughts? Ideas?