LM8500 Wall Controller Failure.

[harnett]

Had the same failure with one of the two LM8500 I have. One day it just starts opening and closing on it's own with about a 5 min cycle. Kept doing it til I killed power. I'm thankful I was home. I have to say though, I contacted Chamberlain customer service. They sent me two new wall units at no cost with no fuss. They couldn't have been nicer. My units were manufactered in 2013. Date is on the back of the unit. According to them there was a design upgrade done in 2015 to fix this problem. They said the 2015 and newer ones are more robust.

 

[wssix99]

They said the 2015 and newer ones are more robust.

Post #178 confirms there was a physical change to the units at this time. We'll see how they hold up...

 

[wssix99]

Pisses me off liftmaster doesn't stand behind their product.

They seem to, so far.

I'm not sure why they didn't send HoosierMark new ones for free like they have done for the rest of us.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

I'm doing some design work for a new garage and was tossing the jackshaft mounted door operator vs: chain drive, when I stumbled onto this. I read the whole thing, and am very disappointed. Now what?

One thing that I found curious is that all of these units OPEN the door when they fail. While that is bad, what could be worse is if they CLOSE the door on failure. What if a child is under the door when it unexpectedly closes? Hopefully the door obstruction beam and sensor are built more reliably than the wall controller.

Also interesting, that the receivers/controllers always worked fine when they were mounted on the operator, and subject to the higher temps in the upper parts of a garage, and the vibration from the operator, than down on the wall and in a more hospitable environment.



.

 

[48548]

They wouldn't send me one either.... less than 5 years old.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[wssix99]

I read the whole thing, and am very disappointed. Now what?

The manufacturer says that as long as one gets a unit manufactured after 2015, we should be fine. So far, I don't believe we've seen anyone with a post-2014 unit have the issue. If we get through one more year, we can probably start feeling more optimistic.

They wouldn't send me one either.... less than 5 years old.

I got some push-back at first but was insistent and got all three of mine replaced. If one gets the Heisman from the low level rep, asking to escalate to a call center supervisor should help.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

Just installed a Zooz Z-wave power switch on each of my 3 liftmaster controlled doors. I had mentioned these earlier in th thread but I just plugged them in and tested them. It is essentially $32 of "insurance" on each opener. I have them set to power off overnight, so now there is no chance it opens while we are sleeping. And it's easy to turn them off and on from my cell phone.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07578W7KY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[gnpenning]

The manufacturer says that as long as one gets a unit manufactured after 2015, we should be fine. So far, I don't believe we've seen anyone with a post-2014 unit have the issue. If we get through one more year, we can probably start feeling more optimistic.



Replaced one last week for a customer with a manufacturer date of 11/2016.

 

[infinkc]

My 888lm panel just went bad on mine, kept beeping and would not operate. They warrantied it, but had to buy another as I didn’t want to wait for the replacement to arrive. Well least I have a spare now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Gerald O]

Just had both of mine fail this week. Liftmaster claimed that the controller only has a one-year warranty because they are an "accessory", and were refusing to replace them even though they are within the 5-year 8500 warranty.

After a lot of arguing on the phone they agreed to replace them "as a courtesy". So be prepared for a fight.

 

[48548]

Just had both of mine fail this week. Liftmaster claimed that the controller only has a one-year warranty because they are an "accessory", and were refusing to replace them even though they are within the 5-year 8500 warranty.

After a lot of arguing on the phone they agreed to replace them "as a courtesy". So be prepared for a fight.

They still never replaced mine... liftmaster *****.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[gnpenning]

Just had both of mine fail this week. Liftmaster claimed that the controller only has a one-year warranty because they are an "accessory", and were refusing to replace them even though they are within the 5-year 8500 warranty.

After a lot of arguing on the phone they agreed to replace them "as a courtesy". So be prepared for a fight.

It's a integral part of the system. It's needed to program remotes, keyless entries, etc.

I can tell you that different cs reps will make all the difference in the world. If the person you are talking to is stonewalling you get off the phone and call back later. Whatever you do don't lose your cool and go off on them. It will go in the notes. We run into this even on the dealer end.

I don't know why they are trying to pretend they don't have wide spread issues with this model and the 3800??
This has been the MO since the 3800 started having problems. They just brought those issues and created new ones with the 8500.... It's a great opener when it works. Must be a boss's kid in design. The issues should be easy fixes.

 

[48548]

I called again, got one on its way... now i have two spares...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[gnpenning]

I called again, got one on its way... now i have two spares...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Glad it worked out for you.

 

[48548]

Glad it worked out for you.

I bought 2 and one for a spare... the bad part they are hard to find... my bad one and current spare.. they are based out of Tucson which is where i grew up... kinda cool...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[48548]

One i am using that i bought...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Vintage Veloce]

If you post of a failure, please be clear about what went bad. I think most of us are more concerned about failures where the door opens on it's own. If the unit just stops working, that is a problem, but it isn't as concerning to many of us as it failing and opening the garage door.

 

[Gerald O]

When the wall control unit fails it typically fails in a short-circuit condition. It's just like shorting the two wires together.
The door goes up because it happened to be down when the wall unit failed. This is the most common simply because the door is usually closed. If the door happens to be already up when the unit fails then it will go down instead.
This is why you can use a simple momentary pushbutton switch (doorbell switch) in place of the wall controller to both open and close the door.

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

This is why you can use a simple momentary pushbutton switch (doorbell switch) in place of the wall controller to both open and close the door.

Sounds like once we're up and programmed - we should disconnect the unit and start using the doorbell. Not that I think that is acceptable for such an expensive opener, but would it work?

 

[48548]

That would work, but not the remotes as the controller is the receiver as well.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[SloppyGarageJobs]

I wasn't going to post, but the hilarity of the situation gives me no other choice.

Model 8500 Red. Purchase 2/2016. Installed 10/2016.

9/2017 - Portable opener completely died. Car was parked in Texas sun during work hours so I figured it was the heat. Purchased replacement and it is still working.


4/2018 - Garage door opening on it's own. Disconnected wall control, removed battery from portable fob, and only using homelink.


5/2018 - Locking mechanism failed to retract, causing the garage door to slam into the rod every time you attempt to open it. The internal gear housing is starting to split at the seams.


The 23 year old builder grade "****" opener was still working fine when I replaced it with this unit.

 

[jumblies]

I found this by googling 888LM failure. I'm on my 2nd replacement from a 4 year old set paired to a 8500 opener. This problem is very common.

For people experiencing failure, what voltage are you seeing on the wires to the wall controller? I just checked and am seeing 33 volts which exceeds the specs in the manuals for both the 888LM and 8500 opener.

 

[dvo]

One of mine just started beeping. Not opening the door on it own yet but I suspect it will start soon. Mine was made in 12/15, after the so call they are "fine" date bs. Need two more for the house, so I'm going back to traditional openers.

 

[rite_accord]

...For people experiencing failure, what voltage are you seeing on the wires to the wall controller? I just checked and am seeing 33 volts which exceeds the specs in the manuals for both the 888LM and 8500 opener.

I too measured 33V between the red and white wires without a control panel attached (I was in the process of replacing my 4-year old 888LM as well). It may be lower with a control panel attached, although I didn't measure the voltage with the control panel connected.

I was also wondering if anyone has been successful in resurrecting a failed 888LM? I know that at least one poster attempted to by changing the two large (1 Farad) capacitors, but that didn't seem to fix it. Has anyone tried replacing all of the electrolytic capacitors on the 888LM board (I think I counted 7, including the two large capacitors)?

Finally, has anyone paired an 829LM Door Monitor with their set up, to at least provide an indication inside the house that the door has been opened by a failed 888LM? Did it work?

 

[rite_accord]

I too measured 33V between the red and white wires without a control panel attached (I was in the process of replacing my 4-year old 888LM as well). It may be lower with a control panel attached, although I didn't measure the voltage with the control panel connected....

I went back and measured the voltage between the red and white terminals with a working 888LM control panel connected. Measured at the opener, the voltage under those conditions measured about 5.5V, with a little bit (<0.1V) of variation. This interface may well be a current mode interface rather than a voltage-based interface.

 

[jumblies]

I went back and measured the voltage between the red and white terminals with a working 888LM control panel connected. Measured at the opener, the voltage under those conditions measured about 5.5V, with a little bit (<0.1V) of variation. This interface may well be a current mode interface rather than a voltage-based interface.

Thanks for that reply. I tried replacing the caps on one, but it made no difference. I think there are a couple of problems with this design. I am led to believe that it is an MCU failure but I'm not sure. I haven't even looked to see if it has UART hookup.

I can also corroborate your findings that under the load the voltage is lower. I rigged an LM317 regulator to try to supply a consistent 20V and the output under load from regulator was lower than expected so the voltage needs to be measured under resistive load. I still am going to use the LM317 on my unit and see if prevents premature failure.

This is a perfectly designed to fail system. The fact that the remotes pair with the 888LM rather than the wall unit means that without a wall unit, it's almost useless. You can actuate the door by shorting red and white, so that's minimally helpful, but you loose all remote functionality.

 

[Richie Rich]

Great, I just ordered two 8500s for my garage and I find this.

Failure to function would be annoying enough but spontaneously opening on failure.... Countless ways that could be bad.

Due to lifts/high lift tracks I kinda need to go with a jackshaft opener, it is inexcusable that a higher price point product has a systematic failure like this that it sounds like the manufacturer will barely acknowledge, much less find a solution for.

 

[rite_accord]

Thanks for that reply. I tried replacing the caps on one, but it made no difference. I think there are a couple of problems with this design. I am led to believe that it is an MCU failure but I'm not sure. I haven't even looked to see if it has UART hookup.

I can also corroborate your findings that under the load the voltage is lower. I rigged an LM317 regulator to try to supply a consistent 20V and the output under load from regulator was lower than expected so the voltage needs to be measured under resistive load. I still am going to use the LM317 on my unit and see if prevents premature failure.

This is a perfectly designed to fail system. The fact that the remotes pair with the 888LM rather than the wall unit means that without a wall unit, it's almost useless. You can actuate the door by shorting red and white, so that's minimally helpful, but you loose all remote functionality.

Some follow-up questions:

1) You said that you replaced the capacitors - was that all 7, or just the 2 big 1F capacitors?

2) Using an LM317, I gather that it's only 20V output without a control panel connected; does a control panel still work on the load side of the LM317?

I'm wondering if transients from the opener's operation (motor starting/stopping and/or the lock solenoid actuating) are causing the eventual failure of the control panel, and am wondering if transient protection (such as a 6V TVS or heavy duty Zener diode) across the control panel leads might protect it and allow it to live longer. Food for thought.

 

[2point2]

I'm in the middle of installing two 8500's and I have no shame or issue with writing a review based on what i'm reading here. GJ represents the real-world.

I can't believe I got to the end of this thread without a) a reliable replacement option b) something formal from LiftMaster saying what the issue is and what they did to fix it.

Write a Review - Note that the 8500 unit has a 4 star rating!:
https://www.liftmaster.com/for-homes/accessories/myq-accessories/model-888lm
https://www.liftmaster.com/for-home...battery-backup-garage-door-openers/model-8500

Customer service:
https://support.chamberlaingroup.com/s/contact-us

I would encourage people to use Email. Type "Email" in the field for phone number. It's easier to hide from accountability over phone calls.

 

[wssix99]

I can't believe I got to the end of this thread without a) a reliable replacement option b) something formal from LiftMaster saying what the issue is and what they did to fix it.

This is disturbing, but they do seem to have a consistent party line (off the record) that the problem has been solved in their post 2014 units.

 

[wssix99]

I tried replacing the caps on one, but it made no difference.

What part and model of capacitor did you use. The specs on the originals are very tight and the original units were high performing. A cheap or incorrect replacement will work just like the bad original capacitor.

 

[2point2]

This is disturbing, but they do seem to have a consistent party line (off the record) that the problem has been solved in their post 2014 units.

I'm hoping to get something from them via email that I can post.

 

[gnpenning]

This is disturbing, but they do seem to have a consistent party line (off the record) that the problem has been solved in their post 2014 units.

See post 208 and 221

 

[jumblies]

I replaced mine with an ebay refurb. The only thing I noticed is that the new one has different looking Hy-Cap capacitors. That doesn't mean diddly since the casing changes.

I did power my defective one with a DC power supply. A few observations:
It powers on at 6-9V and appears to start its cycle. I have not taken it to the garage to try to pair it with the wall unit.

There is a lot of heat NEAR the capacitors near the L10 Inductor. I don't think it's coming from Zener D1. It gets pretty hot on the other side of the board at D4, so that's my next step in testing. When I bump the DC current up to 12V it gets pretty darn hot and I think I can see some shorting by the inductor, but that could be from the other side of the board.

As for the ratings of the product, I don't know if this is a failure of the 8500 or 888LM but lowering their ratings on both wouldn't be unreasonable in my opinion. They are sold as a system and the system lacks robustness and longevity. I suspect that it is the 888LM since it was really buggy with disconnections and really wacky with the overhead light units.

As for a replacement, this is possible but in my house the WAF(wife acceptance factor) is low. I have built a wifi connected relay that can do most of what the 888LM does in concert with other home automation subsystems, but it's a one off (well two right now). If I have another failure, I'll probably abandon the 888LM altogether.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Mine has worked perfectly for a few years, I’m lucky.

 

[Skeetobite]

Wow, I have replaced 14 of these units - at my own expense. You can imagine the discussion I just had with Chamberlain. I have 6 garage doors on the house and have replaced all of them, some of them twice. Another one failed yesterday and sent me into a rage. I am not a big shot, but I do have some expensive stuff in these garages. It is a shock every time I go in a garage and find the door wide open.

Chamberlain is sending me 6 recently manufactured 888LM to replace the 6 I currently have installed at no charge.

According to the person I just spoke to, if you bought the 8500 opener, the wall controller is considered a part in the 8500 kit and is covered by the 5 year warranty. If you bought the 888LM as a stand alone or add on product so you can use MyQ, then it has a one year warranty. If you are out of warranty on your 8500, then the replacement wall controller has a one year warranty.

The support person indicated that they had a serious issue with controllers manufactured in 2013/2014. Obviously there are still a lot of these units in the supply chain. She said that this has been corrected and is sending me the updated controller. We'll see if she was just trying to get me off the phone or if this has really been resolved.

 

[2point2]

Here's the response I received.

we take all matters related to our garage door openers seriously. Per the article you read, it was 2017 and the owner stated he has the 888LM for 3 years. Around the time period 2013/2014 there were a few wall controls that did have a manufacturing defect. As we received information from customers we have since replaced the defective wall controls. Also, power surges, bad storms and/or abuse of products can cause any wall control to malfunction. In addition, it is not always random opening, it start beeping and the LEDs flashing quickly. Please disconnect your wall control and look on the back and provide the manufacturing date of the wall control. You also stated that you have 2 8500’s, are the wall controls side by side? If so, they should be placed at least six inches apart so as not to cause interference issues. I will also share your concerns with our Product Quality Dept.

 

[bjcouche]

I highly recommend AGAINST powering your control panel from a lab power supply or other source. Also do not add any circuitry between the opener and control panel like a linear voltage regulator. Those two wires are NOT just power, they are power AND a 2 way communications network. The control panel is expecting a specific source impedance and voltage from the opener. The control panel uses the available power for it's operation, but it also shorts out it's own power supply to provide digital communications back to the opener, signaling the opener to perform certain functions like open your door. It also monitors the power supply for communication data from the opener. Placing any circuitry between the opener and control panel will block this communication.
I have a 3800 and a 3900. After one control panel failure of "phantom opening" I removed both wall units and installed doorbell style push buttons. I briefly looked at reverse engineering the communications protocol, but soon lost interest.
For people with 8500 openers or others openers where the vehicle remote receiver is built into the control panel and are experiencing repeated failures, I might suggest a workaround.
Liftmaster and others sell a "receiver" that is designed to add remote functionality to commercial garage and gate openers that do not have remote functions. These receivers simply have a relay that acts just like a momentary push button. Thus, throw your control panel in the trash, install a doorbell for manual operation, then the receiver to add vehicle remote functionality.
I've been using the 850LM on one of my commercial openers for 4 years now.

https://www.northshorecommercialdoor.com/li85ungaandg.html

Brian

 

[2point2]

Brian, that's an excellent alternative for those who are ok with basic control - probably most people.

 

[poweranger]

I had the same issue my 888LM pad failed and opened my shop door. When got up on ladder to open panel and check the light code I noticed a humming noise coming from the unit. I remember hearing the noise start a few weeks prior to the pad fail and thought it was just a ballast going bad in a light fixture.

Liftmaster is sending me a new 888LM pad and says that should fix the humming noise. I have my doubts though. Anyone else notice the noise from the motor unit?