garage door doesn't open after power wash

[MerlinsBeard]

I have had issues with the garage door not opening because the garage door opener outlet which is not a GFCI outlet was wired into the same circuit as another outlet in the basement that is a GFCI outlet (it's sort of close to the sump pump, but not the sump pump outlet). What happens is that when it rains *really* heavily or more likely I power wash the siding on one particular spot of the house, that moisture somehow causes this one particular GFCI outlet to be constantly tripped inside the basement.

When I was troubleshooting, I started with resetting the CB which didn't fix anything. Luckily, I noticed that flipping circuit breakers caused the green lights on the outlets to go out, which is when I realized there may be a connection.

I noticed one GFCI outlet that was out. Due to the wetness, when I tried to reset the GFCI outlet, it tripped immediately again. I decided that since I recently power washed the house, that may have somehow caused the issue. It took about 2-3 days to dry out before the GFCI outlet would reset and go green. After that GFCI outlet reset worked, bingo garage door worked again.

I've never bothered to fix it since I know the cause and it happens rarely, but it took me several hours to track that down. It would be nice to know how to go about fixing it. Any ideas?

 

[850xpeps]

The outlets are inside the house? Think you need to find out why moisture is getting inside first of all.

A dedicated circuit for the opener is code.

 

[Bert_]

A dedicated circuit for the opener is code.

Not true at all.

 

[MerlinsBeard]

The outlets are inside the house? Think you need to find out why moisture is getting inside first of all.

A dedicated circuit for the opener is code.

Yes, the garage outlet is in the ceiling of the garage. The 2nd outlet is inside a cinder block basement with plastic barrier below ground level. There is an electric panel for the meter on the outside of the house, and some kind of clay blob used to bridge the conduit from the outside into the basement wall, so it's possible that the material or seal has degraded.

Is there a material I can use to try to replace that seal? I'm not sure what to buy. It looks like a hard blob of dirty playdoh.

Still not sure why a basement outlet and garage outlets are wired into same circuit. Maybe the installer did some shortcut.

 

[850xpeps]

Yes, the garage outlet is in the ceiling of the garage. The 2nd outlet is inside a cinder block basement with plastic barrier below ground level. There is an electric panel for the meter on the outside of the house, and some kind of clay blob used to bridge the conduit from the outside into the basement wall, so it's possible that the material or seal has degraded.



Is there a material I can use to try to replace that seal? I'm not sure what to buy. It looks like a hard blob of dirty playdoh.



Still not sure why a basement outlet and garage outlets are wired into same circuit. Maybe the installer did some shortcut.

There must be moisture entering your brick somehow? The exterior panel I would assume is just a meter socket. It should feed an interior panel. Then from there to your house. Is that correct?

Not true at all.

Sorry you are right. I misunderstood it. It’s every opener has to have its own plug. From the way I read it.

 

[MerlinsBeard]

There must be moisture entering your brick somehow? The exterior panel I would assume is just a meter socket. It should feed an interior panel. Then from there to your house. Is that correct?

Yes, there is a meter with a conduit to interior panel in the basement. The basement is unfinished but has insulation nailed to the cinderblock walls covering the hole, so I haven't decided to rip it down to seriously investigate how moisture is getting in.

May try replacing the outside seal material and see if it solves it if I can figure out what to use.

 

[yatg]

clay blob is most likely duct seal

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gardner-Bender-16-oz-Duct-Seal/4595233

 

[nadogail]

As a temporary measure, you could try an extension cord from a known good receptacle to the garage door opener. If your opener works when fed from the temporary power source, you need to dry out the wiring that normally feeds the opener.

If the opener can not be made to work from your temporary power supply, you may have a problem with the opener. I have found that the technical support telephone number of my preferred opener manufacturer to be a valuable source of assistance. They have many times come to my rescue with warranty parts and trouble shooting assistance.

Good Luck, sometimes you just need to ask the right question in the right way to find the answer you need.