Need some garage door advice

[corkybstewart]

The last time I called the garage door company they charged me $200 so I don't want to mess with them. My door won't stay closed. It will go all the way down sometimes, sometimes it will stop a couple of inches above the floor, and then go back up. There's nothing between the sensors, the sensors are clean, it just won't close. If I stop it on it's way back up and then hold the button, it will close and stay closed. Does anybody have any ideas about how to fix this?

 

[Bobb25]

Most garage door opener motor mechanisms have adjustment screws on the drive box. The three that I have had over the years were all slightly different. You might find instructions on-line. I think one of the ones in my garage has little pictorials next to the screws indicating what they do. There are usually up and down force adjustments, as well as up and down travel adjustments. But the bad news is, if you have a high ceiling, you have to get up to the motor with a screwdriver and a flashlight. ...Considering the forum we are on, wait until you are off the ladder to have your beers.
Bob

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Sounds like safety trigger is going off. There might be tension as the door is rolling. Check the track is secure and straight. I had a problem where the bracket where the actual roller is attached to the door was becoming loose. It would create tension as it made its way down and trigger it to go back up. If that doesn't work lube up the roller with some WD40. There's also a tension spring that figures out if it has reached the ground. Sometimes those need to be adjusted. I'm guessing your roller is loose and just needs to be tightened. There are replacement parts at HD or Lowes but usually you just have to tighten stuff up. The help people at those stores can be knowledgeable.

 

[corkybstewart]

Thanks, I'll give the lube a shot before I do anything else.

 

[agrazela]

I have to adjust the sensitivity knobs seasonally with temperature.

Also sometimes I get a wispy cobweb or two in the bottom corner of the door that messes with the beam.

 

[blk84]

I had similar problems a couple months ago. One of my rollers broke (the bearings broke apart) and I guess it was causing too much tension so it would stop about a foot from the ground. Picked up a replacement roller at Home Depot and it works fine now.


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[flars]

Disconnect the door from the track and move it up and down manually. Feel for smooth rolling, binding, or racking.

 

[Beernik]

My first guesses are either the safety mechanism or lube. You want a lube that won't capture dust in it. Lithium lube is the best. Spray the rollers, hinges, and coil spring.

My garage stopped closing because it needed lube. Apparently you should do it yearly. Last winter I did it for the first time in 11 years.

There are youtube videos.

Could also be a bolt fell out on the supports. Stand inside and watch it open and close and if it moves around, it could be that.

 

[passedpawn]

Lube the bearings and the track. It will solve your problem.

 

[rlmiller10]

If all the above fails get the ladder out and check the drive. Mine was doing the same thing and it turned out to be the bearing between the drive motor and the drive gear that pulls the chain. The bearing being gone allowed the plastic drive gear that drives the limit switches to jump. This gave very erratic behavior because the limit switches no longer stayed in adjustment.

I looked at just replacing the bearing but everything was worn enough I put up an entire new drive unit. I think it was about $180. Champion brand and Craftman are made by the same company so I was able to get the 3/4 hp Champion at Lowes or Homedepot and change just the drive unit without changing tracks, chains or anything else.

 

[corkybstewart]

Lube the bearings and the track. It will solve your problem.

Didn't help, in fact it made it worse for a while, now it's back to closing all the way to the ground and opening back up.

 

[passedpawn]

Didn't help, in fact it made it worse for a while, now it's back to closing all the way to the ground and opening back up.

Woops. Happened to mine recently and lubing fixed it.

There's an adjustment to set where it stops. Did you find that adjustment? There are some simple copper contacts inside the opener that are connected to the adjusment screw. Maybe those contacts need cleaning.

 

[rlmiller10]

Didn't help, in fact it made it worse for a while, now it's back to closing all the way to the ground and opening back up.

That sure sounds like what I saw with the bearing going out. If you can get to where you can watch the drive gear as you run it up and down you can tell. The grove gear should only go around. If it shifts side to side as it goes from going up to going down the bearing is gone.


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[Homercidal]

Didn't help, in fact it made it worse for a while, now it's back to closing all the way to the ground and opening back up.

If it's consistent in doing this, then maybe all you need to do now is to tweak the close limit position.

 

[corkybstewart]

If it's consistent in doing this, then maybe all you need to do now is to tweak the close limit position.

There's no consistency at all. Sometimes it goes all the way to the ground, sometimes a couple of inches above, sometimes a foot above. I'm gonna take the cover off and see if the bearing is shot.

 

[grathan]

Don't forget to try the adjustment screws like 3 other people mentioned, you can always put them back if it doesn't work.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GebkW96Sd_c[/ame]

 

[Doed]

To me it sounds like the logic board inside the opener. I had an opener that did weird stuff like this.

You can either replace the board or spend a little more $$ and replace the whole opener.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Here is something else that I learned. Look at how your sensors are configured. Make sure that the receiving unit (the one whose light turns off when the beam is broken) does not have sunlight hitting the eye. Sunlight can cause them to burn out faster.

If it decides to open back up, dial back on the sensitivity for the safety. If it starts opening immediately after closing that is usually the case. Your motor should also be flashing a light at you. The number of flashes is kind of a morse code that will tell you what caused it to behave funnily.

 

[geouy0523]

Little late to this but I've seen this occur for two different reasons: 1) one the wires connecting the sensors to the opening were loose or 2) the chain/cable on the drive was loose and needed adjustment.

 

[corkybstewart]

It's not in a bind, adjusting the screws made it worse, the bearing looks good. Gave up, called the garage door place to come out tomorrow. Thanks for the help everybody

 

[petey_c]

corky, good luck. Let us know what the fix was. Pete

 

[northcal]

Make sure that the receiving unit (the one whose light turns off when the beam is broken) does not have sunlight hitting the eye. Sunlight can cause them to burn out faster.

^this is my problem. If the sun is shining on either sensor eye at a certain angle it causes random closing problems. I have to stand outside the garage and "shadow" over whichever eye is getting sun and that works fine.

 

[corkybstewart]

It was a bad sending sensor. Should cost under $100 once they send the bill. But the door opens and shuts now so the wife is very happy.

 

[rlmiller10]

It was a bad sending sensor. Should cost under $100 once they send the bill. But the door opens and shuts now so the wife is very happy.

That is a win. Wife happy is always good.


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