Garage Opener going bad?

[kerwinq]

My garage door will sometimes only open about 2 feet then stop, it will close then open about the same next time the remote or wall button is used. At times it opens like it should and no issues. When I manually open it there is no dragging and is not hard to open. It seems to always close as it should.

The opener is about 15 years old so am wondering if that could be the issue and needs to be replaced

 

[kaymccampbell]

You might want to try cleaning the door sensors. Also, over time the drive force tension parts start to wear a bit. So you might try dialing up the up force. And lube the drive track and the little shuttle that cruises along it.

 

[nadogail]

I buy the lowest price Garage Door Opener with the lifetime warranty. I make extensive use of the Tech Support line.

 

[iamrfixit]

What kind of opener? Chamberlain built openers have a plastic drive gear that is known to fail over time. When that happens the door gets out of position with the limit switches and the door can do all kinds of random things. It can slip back into correct position and seem to work right for a few cycles. Eventually it will totally fail and the door stops moving at all.

They build openers for many different brands like craftsman, do it best, liftmaster, master mechanic and a few others. It's inexpensive and fairly easy to replace the gear.

 

[Greenlawnracing]

I had the same thing with my Craftsman, from what I could tell an $80 board MIGHT fix it.

tossed it and bought a new one for $250. Cussed because the only thing that was in stock was a Chamberlain- who makes Craftsman. Lasted just under four years. Disappointing

 

[vertguy]

I just had the same thing happen to one of my 2 Chamberlain's (which are also 15 years old) and was able to fix it by maxing out the up torque adjustment. Although it seemed to be working ok, I decided to proactively do an upgrade with a pair of new Genie belt drives after seeing a great deal at Costco.

 

[seagiant]

Hi,
I have a Chamberlain Access Master M100, that blew the drive gear assembly after 15 years.

Found out my door was "heavy" and had gone out of balance with the wear on the torsion springs.

Increased torsion 3/4 turn and balanced the door, replaced gear assembly and all is good!

SHOULD of checked balance of door sooner...

Probably why the gear assembly went out!!!

 

[nolimits76]

Just curious if any of you have seen similar intermittent failure DUE TO COLD WEATHER? I experienced this several years back at a rental house. The owner was willing to fix but it was maddening because each time someone was sent it would work okay. Only had the issue during winter months and it wasn’t constant. However, I believe it was related to cold weather because it never happened during summer or warmer temps.

We recently moved and the other day I came home and clicked it multiple times before it opened. Temps recently dropped. The house is older and I’m guessing the door opener is 10+ years old. It may be nothing as it happened once but when it did I instantly recalled the previous frustrations.

 

[kerwinq]

The opener is a Sears brand 1/2 hp screw drive, opening a single garage door. After reading the posts I am leaning toward getting a belt drive. I see some are wifi and can be used with your phone, does anyone that has one find this helpful?

 

[GeoBruin]

I just had the same thing happen to one of my 2 Chamberlain's (which are also 15 years old) and was able to fix it by maxing out the up torque adjustment. Although it seemed to be working ok, I decided to proactively do an upgrade with a pair of new Genie belt drives after seeing a great deal at Costco.

This should be your first step. Over time things expand and contract and sag etc. such that it's harder than it used to be for the drive mechanism to open the door, and the torque setting (which should be set as low as is necessary to open the door) can no longer get it done.

It's tempting to just crank up the torque setting and be done but really, you should pull the cord to disengage the drive, then manually roll the door throughout its range to see if you can spot any binding. If you do, adjust/grease appropriately and then give it a try.

 

[nadogail]

What kind of opener? Chamberlain built openers have a plastic drive gear that is known to fail over time. When that happens the door gets out of position with the limit switches and the door can do all kinds of random things. It can slip back into correct position and seem to work right for a few cycles. Eventually it will totally fail and the door stops moving at all.

They build openers for many different brands like craftsman, do it best, liftmaster, master mechanic and a few others. It's inexpensive and fairly easy to replace the gear.

I buy Geni openers from Home Depot (with the Lifetime Guarantee), with my 10% Veterans Discount, and have Home Depot install them, the last install I paid for cost $50.

 

[leadfoot415]

My garage door will sometimes only open about 2 feet then stop, it will close then open about the same next time the remote or wall button is used. At times it opens like it should and no issues. When I manually open it there is no dragging and is not hard to open. It seems to always close as it should.

The opener is about 15 years old so am wondering if that could be the issue and needs to be replaced

My 15 or 20 year old chamberlain opener started doing this, I cranked up the force limits on the opener, and eventually it totally sheared the drive sprocket off the opener. Found a repair kit for about $20, and some time spent getting the limit switches lined back up and chain un twisted, it works like new.

 

[Hot shot]

I’ve heard the liftmaster openers have cameras on them and something where the Amazon driver can open the door and leave package inside garage

 

[pioneer1]

Did you figure it out?

mine was the main board.

 

[nadogail]

We recently replaced the runner that rides on the screw drive with a new one, they do wear out you know.

 

[couch67]

Went through similar issue a few years back with my genie screw drive. Had to inch up the lift force setting more and more for it to open. More investigation showed it was my 20+ year old garage door - thought it was opening up fine on its own, but on closer investigation, some of the steel rollers had worn out enough that some of the roller shafts were rubbing on the lip of the door track, right where the track bends from veritcal to horizontal. Bought a new set of nylon rollers, the door is much quieter and opens up great! And was able to dial back the lift force setting too.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

You might want to try cleaning the door sensors. Also, over time the drive force tension parts start to wear a bit. So you might try dialing up the up force. And lube the drive track and the little shuttle that cruises along it.

I had issues with a Sears opener that I eventually traced back to the sensors. In cold weather the electronic eye did not work correctly. Bought new sensors and once installed and aligned the problem resolved.