JKM

got 2 doors with electric openers on my garage, one of them takes to acting like a powerstroke on occasion, if you press the button it will open partially , then stop. sometimes it opens a foot, sometimes half way open, no real rhyme nor reason to why it stops where it does. If you push the button two more times ( once and it will go all the way back down, push it twice and it will start down then go up farther) it will go up a little farther , or all the way. sometimes I have to do it a couple times to get it all the way open. The door goes down perfectly every time and never makes any funny noises, it just stops...

I have tried putting light pressure up and down on the door with my hands as it goes up, and it stops immediately when I do either of those things...

I am door opener stupid, never had one before, and I have never known one that didn't just work... sort of like magic boxes to me.

any suggestions?

I will try to get some pics of it later.



On edit, I forgot to mention it seems to be somewhat effected by temperature.... if it is cold out and I run the heater in the garage to take the edge off so I can work on my truck, or if the outside temperature changes rapidly, those seem to be the only time it acts up...

Dr.Dizzle

What brand and model is this opener?

Just a guess at this point, but the close limit switch may require adjustment. If not, see if the door is binding when raised and lowered manually. This may be the issue and the easiest to verify. Now would also be a good time to lubricate the doors and opener components as well.

Lary Ellis (Top)

I just fixed mine last week mine was installed in 76 and required 3 things to fix it, yours may only need the first one below.

1. Tighten the springs, they provide most the lift mine were stretched so bad they were laying on the door when it was up so they were not doing anything once it lifted a foot or two.

Mine was mounted with aircraft cable running back to the frame all I had to do was shorten it about 6 inches.

2. The last guy that owned this place had the bright idea to smear grease in the tracks thinking this would help. All that did was get thick when it got cold and it then had to drag the wheels through a half inch of caked up crud. Some brake cleaner and some paper towels quickly remedied that. Spray the track with some silicone if you like and even use a little spray on white lithium grease into the ball bearings on the wheels if you want.

3. I replaced the roller wheels. Mine were leaning at a 30 degree angle because they were flat wore our being drug through years of dirt and thick grease. They were literally working twice as hard as they needed to. I got them at Lowes... remove four nuts per bracket and the old one slides out the new one in.

My money is on your springs unless some whack job filled your tracks with grease as well

Dr.Dizzle

Just to clarify given that the door does not fully open. The limit switch likely needs to be moved toward the motor unit.

chaikwa

Our doors are voice activated. Michael tells me to get out and open them.

JKM

I guess I could tell me to go open them myself.... I am sure if I told katie to go open them I would have to dodge flying kitchen utencils.

I went out and messed with it for a bit tonight until my back and chest started aching, didnt really get much figured out, but I shot a video, I could hardly get the thing to open at all, left it alone for a minute, pushed the button and it opened all the way perfectly. the places where it stops are totally random, could go up 6" and stop, could go up 6' and stop, or anywhere inbetween....

I tried putting down pressure on it when it was opening and 250lbs of crippled me couldnt stop it....

I tried dis-engaging it, and I can roll the door up and down very easily with one hand... no issues there, the doors are only a couple years old as well.

couple vids, and a pic of my diesel garage:

( click on the first two, they are vids, and I am WAYYYYY too stupid to figure out how to embed them....)










on edit... **** I am embed stupid too....

JKM

Found a chamberlain lift master manual online , it really sounds like the UP force adjustment might just need turned up some... ill try to tomorrow, gonna take it easy for the rest of the night tonight now.

SIXSLUG

There is a rebuild kit for the sprocket assembly for these. I just replaced mine in November.

If you mess with the springs....BE CAREFUL!! They are wound tight and can whip out of control pretty easily. You need to bar them when you loosen the bolt or they will uncoil wildly.

Needless to say, having an overhead door guy come out and diagnose/fix it will probably only set you back a hundred bucks....

Safety Third!!

Shouldn't you be resting anyway.....

SIXSLUG

PS the rebuild kit is needed when the sprocket assembly gets oblonged and wears out the shaft as viewed from the top of the unit where the chain connects, pretty common with the liftmaster opener. You will know its going south if the chain sags when closed.....

NJTman

You will find that if you follow the "adjustment" procedure in your manual that you should be able to fix the issue with little effort. You will require a 2x4 to lay on the ground under the door to see if the settings are correct when you adjust the upwards and downwards pressure. There should also be a setting to set the maximum upwards travel as well. On the Chamberlains I've replaced or repaired, you utilize a flat blade screwdriver to accomplish this, as the screw heads use a slot.

When you make adjustments, do them minimally, say moving the position an 1/8" max at a time, and re-check. You will eventually find the sweet spot where the door will come down, and go up and reverse itself upon impact with resistance, such as the 2x4 shown in the instruction manual. In theory, the door is only supposed to come down with enough force to impact a small child's body and reverse itself without doing harm.

You can try calling chamberlain direct, but 1 year after purchase their phone warranty help is no longer available. I've spent many days trying to get through to them through their automated system, as their response time is horrific. I have a woman who lives near the beach here in NJ, and every year or so, I'm replacing her units again. Seems as though the circuit boards don't last in a salt air environment, and they go bad. The end result is no function at all, so that's not your problem.


Good luck, and glad to see you're feeling ok enough to do this after your wreck.....

BarryG

Mine was doing that and one of the two springs had broken. I couldn't tell it was broken as there was a plastic sleeve with a danger notice on it around the spring covering where it was broken so I couldn't see it. However when I tried to open it manually it was obvious something was wrong as it was heavy as heck and didn't seem to have much spring lift. So then I looked at the springs very closely and actually moved the plastic sleeve and there it was plain as day.

Jim Lane

That garage is just way too clean for the door to work properly.

BarryG

I have to agree with you Jim. JKM's garage is way to clean and squared away. I could only wish to have that much space. As my truck wont even fit in my garage either the truck is too long or the garage is too short. Of course if I had the space it would just be filled up with more shelving and other stuff.

Diesel Dave2

When I replaced my door this summer...I decide to go with a jackshaft opener..They are more pricey,but boy do they work good...I installed a sissior hoist in my garage and I needed more ceiling clearance..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUGOOA7EvZc

JKM

I'm gonna take another swing at this door opener tomorrow, my messing around with it the other night did a good number on my back and side ( note to self... The pain killers just keep you from feeling it, but it still hurts!) so I took it a little easier today.

And what's this about my garage being too clean?! I only moved in just over a month ago, give it time. The mess will come :-)