Garage door opener trouble

[911TES]

Hello all.
I’m out of ideas trying to fix my intermittent garage door opener. One time out of every ten times, or so I only get the relay sounds; “click, click” and nothing else. Interestingly, if I slap the side of the drive unit it will work for another ten or twenty cycles. It is a 2003 Overhead Door “Phantom.” I have two single garage doors with the same openers so I swapped each of the three circuit board, but the problem continued to occur with each of the new boards. I’ve tried different force settings. I would say the door looks like it’s struggling just a bit to open, but the non-opening doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m trying to open the door or close the door. This has been going on for nearly one year. I’ve read that using LED bulbs for the lighting can disrupt the proper operation of the circuit so I tried different types of bulbs and no bulbs. Still the same.
Open to all ideas.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill

 

[The Cobbler]

bad connection somewhere ?

 

[911TES]

Thanks Cobbler.
Sure seems like it. I need to go back through the entire troubleshooting process being slow and deliberate.
Regards,
Bill

 

[Mick56]

Look at every solder joint with a magnifying glass

 

[Innovate1]

Any relays that aren't on the boards? Could be bad relay contacts. When it acts up instead of smacking the whole unit try just moving one or a few things at a time until it starts working. Wiggle a connector, tap lightly on a relay, etc. This will help narrow down the issue.

 

[kbs2244]

have you checked the springs?
doors gain weight with age

 

[vwpieces]

have you checked the springs?
doors gain weight with age

Definite maybe here...
When it clicks is there any movement at all?
Unhook the latch from the track and you should easily be able to lift the door with little effort.

Thin solid core wires may have broken inside the jacket.
Another thought is dirt, cobwebs inside the photo eyes, or broken wires going to those. Might try bypassing the eyes with a new piece of wire at the opener.

I had an issue with one door button, took me a while to figure out it was a broken wire in the jacket very close to the button.

 

[nadogail]

If the relay clicks check the circuit on the load side of the relay. The problem might be with what the controller controls not the control itself.

I have seen whole systems down because of corrosion on one connection.

 

[The Cobbler]

my buddy is a retired electronics repair gury, he often uses a plastic stir stick or similar , rubs that across the solder joints to try & locate bad connections

 

[cpttuna]

put in new batteries and use it about 10 inches from the unit

 

[911TES]

Thanks all. Wife dad different plans for me this long weekend. I’ll be back at it next weekend.
Symptoms are the same whether using the clicker or the wall switch.

 

[nadogail]

The drive motor may be your problem.

 

[911TES]

Hello all:
I was just looking back at my old post. I finally gave up on fixing my garage door opener’s intermittent problems. I try to fix every broken thing no matter what. Well, I called the repair and installation company and, of course, they say “doesn’t make sense to repair. The units are old, might as well replace both of the units you have.
$3,400 later I had two new openers.
The wiring on both units (where applicable) was in the wall and I asked the installers to use the existing wiring where they could, rather than stapling the wires along the wall.
They were nearly done when I checked on their progress. One of the two garage door openers used the internal wiring and the other one had new wiring to the floor level sensors. I asked “what the heck” and they said the existing wiring was bad and they ran new wiring. Of course, that was the door that had all the intermittent propblems.
My guess is the wiring was the problem in the first place. Lesson learned - check everything.

 

[jkuro]

What brand of door opener cost $3400.00?

 

[911TES]

kind of a ripoff, but its for two Overhead complete units (separate doors), new springs, synthetic rollers installed