garage door opener

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electricalperson

electricalperson

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massachusetts
today i got a service call about someones garage door opener not working. he claims the door stops when it first starts up and moves about 2 inches when he presses the button again before it stops. he said the garage door company changed all the rollers and lubed up everything. i replaced the button, a switch, and the receptacle and checked all connections. i didnt really find anything wrong but i hope he doesnt call back since it was our companies 3rd time there. any one experience something like this?
 
the garage door opener was installed about 10+ years ago by a company that installs garage doors. we dont install them just wire a receptacle and run the low voltage control wires on the rough. if its an existing building the garage door company runs all the low voltage control wires
 
the garage door company said the circuit board is ok but the guy didnt really look too hard or test anything he just opened and did a quick visual check. how do you troubleshoot the photoelectric eyes?
 
the eyes were perfectly lined up. i even tested it by sticking my foot through the path of both eyes and the door reveresed. i checked all the wiring and connections and everything was normal. i replaced the receptacle that was backstabbed. the garage door company is saying its our problem when im almost certain its a mechanical issue
 
Two things come to my mind, and both are within the scope of the garage door company. One is the motor, and the other is the chain (or screw) that converts the motor's rotation to movement of the door.

My question is what stops the motor? Or more to the point, after the motor stops, what must be done to get it moving again? For example, if the motor is drawing too much current, it might trip the breaker. But you would have told us that you needed to reset the breaker each time. Another example is that the motor's internal overloads might trip. But I think that would require pushing a reset button somewhere on the controller, and you didn't mention having to do that. So what does stop the motor?
 
i don't know what on earth would make the overhead door co. think its your fault. the lift force may need to be adjusted or the operator has gone bad. if you get called back, check voltage at the recep w/ the motor operating.
 
One way to prove it is not your wiring. Bring in a portable generator (or run an extension cord over to the neighbor's house.

The garage door opener company is saying that there is a .000001% possiblity the problem is with the house wiring and until that is ruled out we are not responsible. So, why don't you stop being "a nice guy" and just say no more service calls until the opener has been replaced.
 
I would not expect the garage door company to replace the equipment for free, after it has been in service for ten years. Nor would I (as an owner) pay to have either that company or an electrical contractor troubleshoot a system that old. The cheapest solution for the owner is to buy new motor and control equipment (they can keep the door itself, along with the track and rollers).
 
This so reminds me of a job I did about a month ago. Day #1 I upgraded the service from 60 to 100 amp. Day #2 I redid the overhead out to a detached garage and rewired the GDO and a recept.

Told the little old lady that was 92, it was her birthday that day in fact, that I was done and everything was good to go. She asked me "does the garage door work?" and I said you bet it does! I pushed the button on the back porch and sure enough the door went up about 12" and then back down. I made about 6 trips back and forth to the garage and it was real cold that particular day. Checked everything, someone had wired the eyes in the attic of the garage about 2' from each other so I figured I had bumped them out of alignment when I was up there. Checked everything.

I finally asked the little lady if they were working before and she told me that 'Don' the garage door guy had spent about 3 hours there a few months ago and he couldn't get it to work either. Well, Don happens to be a good friend of mine, he sends me buisness, and I told her that if Don couldn't get it to work I wouldn't be able to either since all he does is garage doors.

She just assumed with me upgrading the service that the garage door would start working right again. I laughed half the way home that night with how this sweet little old lady had me running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to figure out what I had done in 5 degree weather.

Just to clarify: The door worked fine as long as you held you finger on the button until it was all the way up.

Jeff
 
electricalperson said:
today i got a service call about someones garage door opener not working. he claims the door stops when it first starts up and moves about 2 inches when he presses the button again before it stops. he said the garage door company changed all the rollers and lubed up everything. i replaced the button, a switch, and the receptacle and checked all connections. i didnt really find anything wrong but i hope he doesnt call back since it was our companies 3rd time there. any one experience something like this?
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It stops at 2" because that's when he releases his finger, the latch isn't holding. Time for a new head.
 
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