help with garage door opener needed

[rfuerst911sc]

We bought a house that has a Craftsman garage door opener and recently it has been finicky to close. The photo eyes are clean and seem to be aligned ( green/yellow lights ). The problem is it does not always want to close. Sometimes you have to press the remote or garage button once and all is good. Other times you may have to press two to three times. This morning I had to get out of my vehicle and stand in front of the door and press the button many times. Each time it would start it's closure and then after a foot or two of movement it would go back up. All door rollers seem in good shape and lubricated. Chain has onle a little slack and also well lubricated. The slide rail is greased well. The overhead spring is in good shape and all fasteners are tight. I'm ready to rip it out and replace but mechanically it seems to be fine. Any ideas on the issue or its resolution ? Just a note there is never an issue with the door going up, it is smooth and seamless.

[Joe Bob]

IME there is a sensitivity adjustment that can be fiddled with. Do you have the stupid book? Most are available one in PDF format.

[stomachmonkey]

I'm not aware of anything in the safety parts of a garage door system that will prevent it from opening so the fact that it opens without issue is likely irrelevant.

I've had the same exact problem with one of my doors over the last week.

I believe what has happened is the wire coming out of one of the sensors is borked.

The problem started for me on our last recycling day. I noticed one of the bins was pushed against the sensor and crushing the wire that comes out of it.

When the door first stopped closing reliably I checked sensor alignment, greased the rails and checked for other obstructions/binding in the system all to no avail.

Remembering the wire being crushed I started fiddling with it and it seems to be the only consistent thing that gets the door to close.

[gizmofixer]

most units have 4 adjustments.
UP limit
DOWN limit
UP force
DOWN force
sounds like you need to find the little adjustment pots and tweak em a bit.

[yel911]

My garage door was giving me crap, which I thought was shadows effecting my sensors to trigger. I was over a friends house and noticed his sensors to be 10-12" from the ground, mine were 3-4". I moved them up and the issues went away. I have no clue...

[Scott R]

I posted a thread about year ago on this same problem. I ended up replacing one sensor which fixed a lot of my issues, but then I found another. My sensors were just screwed into the drywall without anchors and were lose and "bobbing" around as the door closed. Just from the vibration of the door coming down in fact.

So on a suggestion I mounted the sensors on wood blocks that I screwed to studs instead. It's been perfect since then.

[rfuerst911sc]

I have played around with the up/down force settings with no difference. I currently have both set to max. My sensors are mounted aprox. 3-4 inches from the bottom and they are clipped to the rails. I wonder if vibration from the door opener is causing a temporary alignment issue and causing the door to reverse ? Keep the ideas coming and thanks.

[sammyg2]

LOL, someone is still using the sensors

j/k

[gizmofixer]

the reverse upon closing feature is a built-in safety requirement.
this is triggered by excessive force (from closing on an object)
or from the beam being interrupted.
because you have no issue with opening, its clear the problem is in this feature.
if force adjustment is not the issue and eyes are clean and aligned,
i would disconnect motor (the safety disconnect cord) and try the door manually.
if it operates correctly the only remaining cause is in the internal circuitry for the safety reverse function.

[iplagolf]

Has either of the sensors gotten wet? Even a little spray will do them in. Ask me how I know...

[Hugh R]

If direct sunlight is hitting the sensor it can't see the other one

[rfuerst911sc]

When I got home today I looked everything over again. I had previously cut the sensor wires in a failed attempt at correcting the problem. I redid those connections with some wire nuts and made sure the connections were good. I checked the sensors and they were tight no movement in them. I wiped the eyes just to be safe and I changed the " down " tension to be much less. I ran the opener twice and it worked perfect. We'll see if this is temporary or long term. Thanks for the help guys.

[rfuerst911sc]

Left for work this morning, hit the garage door opener button and she closed in one smooth motion. Hopefully it stays that way. Thanks again guys.

[A930Rocket]

Does the door open and close smoothly/easily w/o the opener?

[rnln]

If it fail again and if you want new opener, get the wall mount lift master. You will love it.

[yel911]

If direct sunlight is hitting the sensor it can't see the other one

This is what my problem was....

rfuerst911sc, glad you got it sorted.

[rfuerst911sc]

The wife used the door opener after I left for work and it worked fine. We both came home at different times and again it worked fine. So it appears the gremlin is gone.