Garage door stops 75% closed when cold

[ukrkoz]

Hi all
I have standard 2 car garage door with 1hp Chamberlain belt drive opener. Opener is from 2006, when house was built.
There's no issues until cold. Lower than 32 F.
Then, door, going down, can stop at about 75% closed, rarely - at 50%. Press Close button one more time, and it will close completely. So now I have to sit outside in the car and wait, watching the door close.
I already increased downward force setting.
Door guides are not damaged. Springs were replaced around 2 years ago.
It all works just fine, when it's above 32F. The colder it gets, the higher door stops.
Any suggestions? AI didn't really enlighten me with something, I don't already know or did. Lubricate, adjust downward force. Done and done.

 

[Stuart in MN]

It just stops, it doesn't go back up? Usually if there's an obstruction or if something is causing excessive force, the opener is supposed to go back up. If it just stops that sounds like for some reason the electronics in the opener *thinks* it's reached bottom. Maybe there's a poor connection on a circuit board that fails as the temperature drops and things contract, or there's a component that fails.

Mine will occasionally stop and go back up if there's blowing snow or a stray leaf or something that passes in front of the sensors, but I'm guessing that's not your problem.

 

[ukrkoz]

It just stops. Press remote or wall button again, and it goes all the way down. Definitely not an obstacle response, I know THAT.
Goes up with no issues.
Indeed, come to think, it does look like it "thinks" it reached the bottom.

 

[larry4406]

Weatherstrips become stiff when cold, drag increases, unit trips out thinking its closed?

 

[ukrkoz]

Well, it has to be a heck of stiff weatherstrip, aye? No, it's soft an pliable, maybe has a few cracks here and there.
It's not "obstacle" response, obstacle will cause door to go back up.

 

[cretedog]

Mine was stopping at 25-50% closed when really cold- lower than 15 below zero. Didn’t want to change settings. Lubed track rollers and hinges and it got better. Lubed face of stop and weatherstrip with clear dry slide lube and problem went away.

 

[ukrkoz]

Mine was stopping at 25-50% closed when really cold- lower than 15 below zero. Didn’t want to change settings. Lubed track rollers and hinges and it got better. Lubed face of stop and weatherstrip with clear dry slide lube and problem went away.

Ah, that makes sense.
1. where did you lube rollers? As there's no bearings
2. what's "face of stop"?
3. Something like this?

Crown Channel Slide Lube, 10.5 oz. | Aerosol Lubricants | Service Supplies | General Supplies | Crown Equipment

Crown Channel Slide Lube, 10.5 oz.

shop.crown.com

 

[carlaisle]

Encountered this before with a different brand. Something on the control board disliked moderately cold temperatures. At subzero outside temps it worked fine. At 40ish plus temps it worked fine. Mid teens to thirties it refused to cooperate. Control board was backordered, so replaced the entire opener with the exact same model and the problem went away. The existing sensors, track, rollers, and rack, were all reused, so it was definitely something in the opener.

 

[Wrench97]

Ah, that makes sense.
1. where did you lube rollers? As there's no bearings
2. what's "face of stop"?
3. Something like this?

Crown Channel Slide Lube, 10.5 oz. | Aerosol Lubricants | Service Supplies | General Supplies | Crown Equipment

Crown Channel Slide Lube, 10.5 oz.

shop.crown.com

 

[larry4406]

Well, it has to be a heck of stiff weatherstrip, aye? No, it's soft an pliable, maybe has a few cracks here and there.
It's not "obstacle" response, obstacle will cause door to go back up.

Mine was stopping at 25-50% closed when really cold- lower than 15 below zero. Didn’t want to change settings. Lubed track rollers and hinges and it got better. Lubed face of stop and weatherstrip with clear dry slide lube and problem went away.

Back in the day when our painters would paint the garage doors, the paint (when dry) would stick to the weatherstrips with the slightest amount of sunlight increasing the drag on the door.

Surprising the amount of drag those weatherstrips can cause on a door. Many times I could not manually open the door due to the paint stick.

 

[ukrkoz]

All right, gents. I'll lube it first, see what happens. We are looking at 2 days - Monday and Tuesday - freezing temps, after that, it all moves into 40s.
I'll report back.
Opener is what, 19 yo? 20? Tired likely too.

 

[BurtEggley]

if you suspect that the control unit is at fault, use a hair dryer to warm only it and see if the behavior changes. We used to use heat and freeze spray on electronic units to find defective components. If you think it is the track and door mechanism, disconnect the door with the release and see if the behavior changes. If it does not, inspect whatever controls the stop on your unit. To be candid, a lot has changed in door openers since 2006. All sort of things can interfere these days including LED lights, cameras etc.. Some one may have something that is affected by cold and it is drifting frequency wise, screwing with your unit making it think you hit the stop button. My neighbor added a camera on the corner of their garage nearest mine and it started screwing with my opener and closer working. It was a unit about the age of yours. We added an antenna to the opener and that made the issue mostly go away, then the guy on the other side added another camera to his collection, and we were back to square one. I replaced the opener with a new one that uses different frequencies and logic, and I can now open the door from a block away as I come home, whereas with the camera problem I had to be right up against the garage. Also the security has changed a lot too.

 

[flippin]

How cold? As an Asian I can confirm things shrink in colder temps. Was the door measured in the summer?

 

[ukrkoz]

I lubed everything and, at least, it sounds much quieter.
Forecast is 27 tomorrow, I'll see what happens.
BTW, it all started a year ago. Flawless before.

 

[Bierisch]

I lubed everything and, at least, it sounds much quieter.
Forecast is 27 tomorrow, I'll see what happens.
BTW, it all started a year ago. Flawless before.

I honestly would just replace it if it keeps acting up, new belt drive 1-1/4HPe Lift-Master units can be had for around $500(their top of the line belt drive model) and are easy enough to install yourself.

 

[ukrkoz]

Yeah, I might as well just do that. It's option.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Blowing on the head unit with a hair dryer next time it malfunctions is a good idea. It may be a circuit board that's temperature sensitive, or possibly the grease on the drive mechanism inside the head unit is getting stiff.

If it's like the old Stanley opener I just replaced a couple weeks ago, the drive parts are all made of plastic so they aren't engineered to last forever, either. (I had to replace mine because the door had frozen down to the floor, and when I pushed the button to open it the drive mechanism shattered into pieces.)

 

[cretedog]

I would second Larry's comment on freshly painted garage doors. Just redid my older wood door last fall, and this winter the problem shows up. Good now with the slide lube and wearing in.

 

[ukrkoz]

27 this am, door worked fine.

 

[BillK]

Next time it acts up disconnect the opener and try closing the door by hand and see if there is any sticky spots. Probably wouldnt be a bad idea to try that anyway.

 

[Bierisch]

If it was a sticky spot the garage door opener would assume it is colliding with something and would reverse not dead stop like this, but still not a bad thing to check!

 

[BurtEggley]

27 this am, door worked fine.

could be as simple as someone has a noisy electric heater or blower that is confusing your unit. The older ones are prone to those sorts of things. The leaf blower next door used to render my 2006 - 2009 vintage unit completely inoperable if my neighbor was out using it. It may not be in your unit, it may be something someone is using when it is cold. In this example, you open it then the receiver gets the signal from whatever is interfering and thinks you hit stop.

 

[hobie18]

Temperature related issues can be from ground movement. Every six months I had to adjust a friend's springs. Just one or so bit and then put back six months later. One or both of your rails may be moving.

 

[firebirdparts]

You should definitely ignore the 100 or so responses you'll get about what's stopping the door. If it doesn't go back up, then it's purely an opener malfunction. The door doesn't have anything to do with it.

 

[Hooked]

I had a similar problem with one of my openers last winter and this winter. I had post about it on here. Mine was a LiftMaster MT5011.
I finally replaced the entire assemble with one of the direct/gear drive units which mounts on the wall and attaches directly to drive pipe/rod.
Love the new unit, smooth operators and extremely quiet. So quiet we check to ensure the door is moving when we hit the close button.