Garage Door Problem

[JBC]

Okay gents,

I have a brand new two car garage with Liftmaster door openers. The left bay Liftmaster works great. The right bat Liftmaster has been adjusted three times but it still has the same problem it had from day one.

When the left bay garage door gets about 6 inches from the bottom (full closed) it jerks up and down and then settles to the bottom. On one of the adjustments, the second one, the problem seemed to go away on the first open and close sequence. When I tried it agian the jerking started at 6 inches from the bottom (or closed) but this time the door went back up to fully open like someone tripped off the "obstruction" sensor.

Since the last adjustment today, it just jerks at 6 inches and then closes.

I do not like this jerking motion. It just jerky! Sorry, had to say it.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas. Ever seen this before? The builder came by today and witnessed it himself and agrees that this is "JERKY". The garage door vendor is "good people" and they will fix it but it seems to be taking a long time to identify the fix. My builder thinks they might have over torqued the spring above the door and that they need to back off a few turns on the torque.

JBC

 

[pattenp]

First thing to do is to disconnect both doors from the door openners and open both manually comparing how they travel up and down to see if there is any difference in the one that your are having a problem with, such as sticking or weight difference due to spring adjustments being different. If there is no difference in that area then you need to move on to the openner adjustments.

I have the Liftmaster and the openning issues I've had have been the adjustment of the limits.

 

[larryv]

I have two of the Liftmaster 3800's and had them installed by a Liftmaster tech and mine do the same thing. I was wondering also if the doors should come down smoother. nova65ss is familiar with these openers, i am sure he will answer our questions.

 

[pattenp]

I have the Lift Master 3800 that's on a 18' X 8' steel insulated door and it goes up and down without any jerking. When the door gets within 1' of the floor it slows down and closes very smoothly. The jerkyness you are discribing does not sound right.

 

[sstruckguy]

Remember guys, all the opener does, is push or pull the door. If something strange happens in between these functions, it is most likely part 2 of a garage door mechanics: excessive/insufficient spring tension.

If you release the door from the opener, and it does not raise with the same amount of effort, you have found the problem

I have found that the first 6 inches or so, are the most important. (no pun intended)

 

[larry_g]

I have a door that will hit the center support of the spring axle. Are you missing the spring holder or just squeezing by?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[tdkkart]

I have a brand new two car garage with Liftmaster door openers. The left bay Liftmaster works great. The right bat Liftmaster has been adjusted three times but it still has the same problem it had from day one.

I have 4 LiftMaster 3800's, 3 of them are smooth as silk, one jerks just like the OP's. I have done a bunch of dinking around with it, redid the adjustment routines, checked the smoothness of the door travel etc. Everything appears to be working exactly the same as the door next to it, except that this one jerks.
I'm really temped to swap the openers.

 

[larry_g]

I have 4 LiftMaster 3800's, 3 of them are smooth as silk, one jerks just like the OP's. I have done a bunch of dinking around with it, redid the adjustment routines, checked the smoothness of the door travel etc. Everything appears to be working exactly the same as the door next to it, except that this one jerks.
I'm really temped to swap the openers.

I was going to suggest the swapping. At least you know then if the problem is with the door or opener.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[JBC]

okay gents,

The contractor and the garage door specialist (vendor) wanted to check the door operation during the morning and night compared to the middle of the day. They suspected that maybe the extreme temperature in Virginia (100 degrees F) might be causing a problem. I told them, no way, the specifications must cover 100 degree days and I cannot see a 20 degree swing temperature (night to day) causing this type of change in operation. Anyway, we did and just as I expected, no change. I removed the motor (not physically) by pulling the lanyard and checked the travel on both doors. They felt fine. No binding. So, I insisted that the contractor for the door come to the house and adjust the tensioner. He did, good crew by the way, and I have operated the door (open and closed) over the course of two day about 10 to 15 times without any issues. It is smooth. So, pattenp, sstruckguy and others are correct. It was the tension on the spring.

JBC

 

[sstruckguy]

Congrats!! So many installers and builders seem clueless when it comes to garage door issues.

I have a quick story that took 4 years to fix.(personal experiance)

I built my house a little over 4 years ago. From day one, I have had a problem with my attached garage,(16 x 7) garage door operation. Creaking, leaking, and overall poor operation. 3 weeks ago, we had a little micro-burst blast through our subdivision and left a reminder, in the form of a damaged garage door. The door was down, but it left a good 12 inch bend, in the center of the door, with an inch plus of water in the garage. After all the insurance company b.s, they sent a check for all the damage(s).

The first action was to choose someone else, that didn't install my original door.(overhead door) I chose a local installer (atlas door). They installed it 2 days ago. I couldn't be happier. No creaking, no leaking, and perfect operation.

My local installer (atlas door) had pointed out a half dozen things wrong with the original install.

Moral of the story: Don't always trust the 'experts". Obviously, they can be wrong