Garage Door - Help!

[CaptainYooh]

My garage door is acting out. When we press the button it goes half-way and then up again. It goes down fully only when we press and hold the button. I think this should be a quick sensitivity adjustment somewhere on the motor but I don't know how. Please help!

[Canehdianman]

What make/model?
Is the light flashing? How many time is it flashing?

[CaptainYooh]

Chamberlain LiftMaster Professional Formiula 1, double door. When it stops.the light flashes 3 times. (It doesn't always stop though, only sometimes).

[surferguy]

anything blocking the light sensor near the bottom of the door opening?

[CaptainYooh]

Not really. It should be the down-force needing adjustment, I think. The opener is about 10-yrs old. The hinges and gears are not as smooth as they were, so it needs more force (or more WD40). I guess, I am going to get the ladder out and see what's up there...

[killer_carlson]

I had my entire door mechanism changed out this year for about $600, including some parts on the door itself. The thing that got me though was that the annual maintenance for the door guys to come out and give it a tuneup is under $150.00. i've never had it tuned up, let alone annually, but if it's been a while since a garage door guy has looked at it, it might be worth the money to get a tuneup.

[cral12]

I'm a poor handyman so I can only offer up suggestion on a business you could call upon, if it gets to that point. Fellow CPers let me know about this company and I was happy with their service - Fast Doors.

[Slava]

Mine was doing this and along with WD40 I gave the downforce knob a slight turn to increase it. It really is easy and that should take care of it. If you WD40 the wheels a lot that also helps.

[CaptainYooh]

That's what I'm going to do.

[calgarygeologist]

My garage door opener was doing some similar things earlier this year. It was an older garage door opener as well. One morning this fall the gear shaft snapped and the door came crashing down as it was opening. I had to buy a new gear set for the opener which was pretty easy to install and cost about $80.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Chamberlain LiftMaster Professional Formiula 1, double door. When it stops.the light flashes 3 times. (It doesn't always stop though, only sometimes).

http://chamberlain.custhelp.com/app/...button-mean%3F

[monkeyman]

Check the bottom of the door for ice? mine did something similar. it was the ice built up on the bottom rubber triggering the sensor.

[rain_e]

When mine did this I cleaned the sensors and realigned. Everything worked fine after that.

[calgarywinning]

^ That. There is a re-calibration alignment that you do and it will fix it all up! My friend came over and showed me on my brand new garage door that was doing what you described. 0$

[Wormius]

Yeah. It is either the sensors or, I believe on some like mine there is a sensor that determines if the motor is working too hard and stops (i.e. Something is preventing it from going down).

Like others mentioned, ice blocking the sensors, or something bumped them and they are not aligned anymore. There should be lights on the sides of them that turn on when the beam and receivers are both aligned.

[browna]

Most likely sensors. If they aren't aligned, door will stop and you'll have to hold down the button. If it's happening infrequently, could be they they aren't screwed in tight enough to brackets, and the shaking/rattling of the door knocks them out of alignment, and sometimes not.

Or they need to be cleaned/replaced. Condensation or something inside them is loose etc. But sensors cannot be bypassed unless you come up with a low tech solution such as taping them togerther.

[CaptainYooh]

I think I've resolved the issue. It could have been a ripped piece of plastic off the open de-icing salt bag standing in the corner next to the sensor. It was not directly blocking the sensor, but I am guessing the air moved it periodically causing the sensor to react. After I moved the bag, the door has been working fine so far, fingers crossed. Will see if this was all it was to it.

[calgarywinning]

You will still need a recalibration. My door performed intermittently until re cal.. then re-cal no problems

[transplant99]

Interesting as this happened to us just yesterday. Came home and the door wouldn't close by control so I had to manually do so. And as suggested it was the sensors out of alignment. I thought that maybe one of the kids or I had bumped one of them shovelling snow or something the last 10 days or so. However when I looked at things they seemed perfectly square to where they should be and the lights on the sides indicated they were working...kind of.

Anyhow, long story short, in my case I think what happened was the frost heave on one corner of the garage pad was just enough more than the opposite side to cause issues. A very very slight adjustment seems to have resolved the problem but its something to keep an eye on moving forward for sure. Particularly when the thaw hits again this spring.

[Ironhorse]

Our garage door won't go up more than a foot or two today. Kids heard some metallic noises earlier in the garage. Could the springs be busted? Can anyone recommend a good repair guy? I don't think it has been serviced much in the past.