Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Garage door opener problem

From: Jim Franklin <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:40:39 -0400

On Sep 14, 2014, at 9:31 PM, Dave Cavanaugh wrote:

> As soon as you push the button to close it, it reverses and the light
flashes.  Opening is normal.  If you hold the wall mounted (hardwired) button
down it will close and stay down, but it will no longer close with the
clicker.

Have you replaced the batteries in the clicker?
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

---

From: "Pat Horne" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 20:53:57 -0500

Dave,

Since you have two of these you can do some comparisons.

Disconnect the openers from the doors, then open and close the doors by
hand, comparing how much force is needed at different positions.

With the doors disconnected, run the openers up and down with the remotes to
see if they both close correctly.

This will isolate the problem to either the door or the opener. 

Door rollers get worn, dirty and bent, so you may need to replace one or
more of them.

Give it a bit more diagnosis and then let us know what you find out.

Peace,
Pat

-----Original Message-----
From: Shop-talk [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Dave
Cavanaugh
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2014 8:31 PM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: [Shop-talk] Garage door opener problem

I have a pair of Chamberlain PD200 openers in the garage.  They are about 15
years old and until just recently have been flawless. Lately the one on my
wife's side (naturally) has gotten flaky.  As soon as you push the button to
close it, it reverses and the light flashes.  Opening is normal.  If you
hold the wall mounted (hardwired) button down it will close and stay down,
but it will no longer close with the clicker.  When the problem first
started the door would partially close before reversing, but now it doesn't
even move.

I adjusted the photocells, lubricated everything, and adjusted the
sensitivity pots and turned the open and close distance pots through a few
turns.  For a few cycles it worked ok and then reverted to it's bad
behavior.  I called the local residential/commercial GDO business, who also
installed the opener in my shop a few years ago. I wasn't here, but
according to my wife he lubricated everything with "something heavier than
WD40", "adjusted" it and left.  It worked for a week.  I looked yesterday
and he had turned the sensitivity pots all the way up to 11.  
So, $100 down the toilet.

The one on my side works flawlessly....so far.

This is a standard, chain drive, 1/2 HP rolling code unit, nothing fancy.

I can buy a new one at Home Depot or Amazon for $125 or so.  Before I do,
anything else to check?

thanks

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]

---

From: Brian Kemp <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 19:04:22 -0700

Try the easy thing first and pull the release so you can open and close 
the door manually.  It should be easy if the springs are correct.  Hold 
the door open about half way then see if the door stays there.  It 
should.  If not, something is probably off with the springs.  This test 
should verify the door, springs, tracks, and hardware are all good.

While the door is disconnected, try the remote button to open and close 
the door.  There will be no load, so the carrier should slide easily on 
the track.  This will verify that the opener isn't dead.

I'm assuming you have nothing in the garage near the path between the 
sensors near the ground.  If you do, move it.

Based on the description of having to hold the wired button, I'd guess 
the problem might be an intermittent connection with the photo cell 
safety circuit.  When you continue to hold the button, it is overriding 
the safety features and forcing the door closed.  My photocells have a 
light on one side that lets me know all is good. Look at the light when 
all is clear and then step in the path and verify it changes.  Next, 
have a helper watch the light while you jiggle the wires at various 
places and see if the light changes - it shouldn't.  Also verify that 
the terminals holding the wires are secure and not corroded at the 
sensors and opener.  This should eliminate the safety reverse function 
from being the problem.

This should help eliminate issues with one opener.  The next step might 
be to sway parts between the two openers and see if you can find the 
problem.

Brian

On 9/14/2014 6:31 PM, Dave Cavanaugh wrote:
> I have a pair of Chamberlain PD200 openers in the garage.  They are 
> about 15 years old and until just recently have been flawless. Lately 
> the one on my wife's side (naturally) has gotten flaky.  As soon as 
> you push the button to close it, it reverses and the light flashes.  
> Opening is normal.  If you hold the wall mounted (hardwired) button 
> clicker.  When the problem first started the door would partially 
> close before reversing, but now it doesn't even move.
>
> sensitivity pots and turned the open and close distance pots through a 
> few turns.  For a few cycles it worked ok and then reverted to it's 
> bad behavior.  I called the local residential/commercial GDO business, 
> who also installed the opener in my shop a few years ago. I wasn't 
> here, but according to my wife he lubricated everything with 
> "something heavier than WD40", "adjusted" it and left.  It worked for 
> a week.  I looked yesterday and he had turned the sensitivity pots all 
> the way up to 11.  So, $100 down the toilet.
>
> I can buy a new one at Home Depot or Amazon for $125 or so. Before I 
> do, anything else to check?
>
> thanks
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation  $12.96
> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
> Unsubscribe/Manage: 
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: David Scheidt <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:20:18 -0500

On Sun, Sep 14, 2014 at 8:31 PM, Dave Cavanaugh <[email-masked]> wrote:
> and he had turned the sensitivity pots all the way up to 11.  So, $100 down
> the toilet.

Pull the cord to release the door.  Make sure it works right, your
problem could easily be a broken spring, a jammed roller, a bent track
or the like.  (Yes, I've see a broken door cause "one opener doesn't
work, the other does", more than once.)  Assuming the door is fine,
train your remote to open your wife's opener, and see if that makes a
difference.  If it does, change the battery in hers, train it to your
door, and call it day.  If it doesn't, go buy a new one.  I'm pretty
sure chamberlain are using the same mounting setup they have for many
years, so that it's a breeze to replace just the head.

If your door is broken, call another company to fix it.  And check the
other side, it may be failing the same way.

-- 
David Scheidt
[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: Dave Cavanaugh <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 19:36:01 -0700

Thanks for all the quick replies.

I disconnected the traveler from the door so there was no load on the 
opener and it still does exactly the same thing.  I re-checked the photo 
cells and they are good.  If I block the beam, the light in the receiver 
goes out.  Everything seems tight and well adjusted.

I think something has crapped out in the electronic guts of this thing.

[email-masked]

---

From: "Pat Horne" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:39:03 -0500

You can swap the board between openers to see if that is the problem. If it
is, the replacement board shouldn't cost over half the price of a new
opener.

Peace,
Pat

-----Original Message-----
From: Shop-talk [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Dave
Cavanaugh
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2014 9:36 PM
To: shop-talk
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Garage door opener problem

I disconnected the traveler from the door so there was no load on the opener
and it still does exactly the same thing.  I re-checked the photo cells and
they are good.  If I block the beam, the light in the receiver goes out.
Everything seems tight and well adjusted.

On 9/14/2014 7:20 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
>> down it will close and stay down, but it will no longer close with 
>> the clicker.  When the problem first started the door would partially 
>> sensitivity pots and turned the open and close distance pots through 
>> a few turns.  For a few cycles it worked ok and then reverted to it's 
>> bad behavior.  I called the local residential/commercial GDO 
>> business, who also installed the opener in my shop a few years ago. I 
>> wasn't here, but according to my wife he lubricated everything with 
>> a week.  I looked yesterday and he had turned the sensitivity pots 
>> all the way up to 11.  So, $100 down the toilet.
>

[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: Dave Cavanaugh <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 20:35:08 -0700

I decided to just get a new logic board.  After a little poking around 
on the Chamberlain and other sites I found the replacement. You can get 
them on Amazon, of course....

[email-masked]

---

From: Jack Brooks <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:23:37 -0700

David,

I had a Craftsman and the board had a blown circuit board track.  I jumped
that one and it's been fine for over a year.  Take a good look at the board
before you buy a new one.

Jack

-----Original Message-----
From: Shop-talk [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Dave
Cavanaugh
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2014 8:35 PM
To: 'shop-talk'
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Garage door opener problem

[email-masked]

---

From: "John T. Blair" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 08:22:56 -0400

At 09:53 PM 9/14/2014, Pat Horne wrote:

 >Door rollers get worn, dirty and bent, so you may need to replace 
one or more of them.

Dave,

Have you oiled the rollers.  I know I have to oil my rollers every 2 
or 3 years.  If not the garage doors get
harder to open.

John

John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  [email-masked]
Va. Beach, Va                  Phone:  (757) 495-8229

           48 TR1800    48 #4 Midget    65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1106)
      75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887)    77 Spitfire    71 Saab Sonett III
                        65 Rambler Classic

Morgan:    www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin:  www.bricklin.org

If you can read this             - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English - Thank a Vet!!

 From Dennis Prager - The American Trilogy:
      e pluribus Unum, "from many, one."
      In God We Trust
      Liberty - the  power  of  choosing,  thinking,  and  acting  for
                   oneself; freedom  from  control  or  restriction
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]

---

From: Steven Trovato <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 10:18:00 -0400

All the advice about lubricating rollers and checking for binding is 
all good and worthwhile to do.  However, with my Chamberlain openers, 
when the light blinks and it refuses to close, it means the safety 
beam system is detecting an obstruction.  It could be a beam 
alignment issue, it could be dirt or something on the lens.  It could 
be a fault in the circuit board.  In my experience, though, it is 
never related to the door binding.  On my openers the door may 
reverse because of binding, but this does not  cause the light to 
blink.  The fact that the  problem went away for a week when the 
service guy came leads me to believe that it is not a fault in the 
board.  It is more likely to be a beam alignment or cleaning issue.

-Steve Trovato
[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: Jeff Scarbrough <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 10:31:25 -0400

I second the beam issue.  I've had occasions before where the beam was
barely aligned, but the action of the door starting must have shook it
or flexed it off.  I'd watch the lights on the beam receiver as the
door is operated and see what happens, or I'd go ahead and clean and
re-align the beam, making sure it's centered.

Jeff Scarbrough
Corrosion Acres, Ga.

On Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Steven Trovato <[email-masked]> wrote:
> All the advice about lubricating rollers and checking for binding is all
> good and worthwhile to do.  However, with my Chamberlain openers, when the
> light blinks and it refuses to close, it means the safety beam system is
> detecting an obstruction.  It could be a beam alignment issue, it could be
> dirt or something on the lens.  It could be a fault in the circuit board.
> In my experience, though, it is never related to the door binding.  On my
> openers the door may reverse because of binding, but this does not  cause
> the light to blink.  The fact that the  problem went away for a week when
> the service guy came leads me to believe that it is not a fault in the
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: "gordies garage" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 10:45:58 -0400 s=q20140121; t=1410792340; bh=UK3n50qgiL/DQj4O8Axze4kzjElw6T8In2uzw702d+o=; h=Received:Received:Message-ID:Reply-To:From:To:Subject:Date: MIME-Version:Content-Type; b=CA4wG0+3IWG199tLZFVggAsqSknpctlPdfBRhKJ1sMa615oDMABFLUrsmLlfxySJ/ yUr7Fe1yLQluNDiq2JpzIdxLXHDsqhy6k6Y6cXVgzA3zCJmHN4FxhEsdp1vcJNnYly gA3heGYRcVeRZYOnMDihJg1DKI1mOPE80/afdYm4aOJEMrTudvG3J8oz9woIE+G9La jX1RzUFs0ANxllRhOqW4qUUKzvg1K4ik4vt3Gv8PCAL4Sm+Se8h27P6Ir5yqAbYiHW 7eVtRWejJm7WYhxdoARogOlBSk1nP7BZUZGqfUyvAXM8DIz0Gyv3GT4LRB+Fc4gEB+ s7kSR5jh6LQ7g==

Good point about the 'beam'.  My door is south facing and the sun at just 
the right angle will prevent the door from closing.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Jeff Scarbrough" <[email-masked]>
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 10:31 AM
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Garage door opener problem

> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: Paul Parkanzky <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 16:51:09 +0200

At our current house, the sensors would act up when the sun was shining on one
of them at just the right angle.  I ended up having to make a shade out of a
piece of disposable cutting board to make it reliable.

-Paul

> On Sep 15, 2014, at 4:31 PM, Jeff Scarbrough <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>> _______________________________

[email-masked]