Garage Doors

[mmandley]

Hey guys im hopping all you other men, contractors and just generally more experienced then me can help me out.

I have a Chamberlin whisper belt drive garage door opener. Its a 3/4 hp. I have had it about 1.5 years and it was professionally installed by a door company who made my custom garage door on my home.

3 days ago the door all the sudden decided it didn't want to close properly any longer. It will start then stop right away. Lights flash 3 times and it wont budge till you click the remote again. It will then go 1.5 way and act like it senses something in the door sensors on the floor and go right back up again. I have to keep going threw this over and over until it finally closes.

So my logical thinking was it needs lube as the tracks seem dry. I went and bought some automatic garage door grease. I applied it to the tracks, and the steel square tube the belt drive rides around. I didn't put anything on the belt as i don't think they lubed it when they installed the system.

Now the door will close again but still hangs up and reopens. If i hold the button in the garage down it will finally make it.

I even used the grab handle and walked the door open and closed several times and didn't seem like it was hanging up on anything.

Anything im missing? I have double and triple checked the door sensors and nothing is even near them.

[Txskyski]

I have the same problem but with a different brand of garage door opener. One of my wires is loose internally on the sensors. Does yours have a green light that is lit when there is nothing in the way of the sensors? I wiggle the wires and the green light will come on and it will work fine. Hope that helps.

[mmandley]

Good idea. I will check those wires. I will check the ones in the wall remote as well. Now that i think of it i think he hit those wires with an extension cord last Sunday and the problem started Monday i think..hummm...

[wolfeman131]

mike

check the sensors. i bet that is it. loose wires and/or alignment.

sometimes my kids knock the sensors with their scooters and when they get out of alignment, it acts like you are describing.

[mmandley]

Sweet thanks Wolfman and Txskyski. I checked the wires and a couple were loose. Then the door would go down a little more often but still not realy the way i wanted it.

I then measured and rechecked the sensors by the floor and that did the trick.

Thanks. Claudia thanks you too as she has forgotten where the front door to the house is as she always uses the garage to get in the house. She was afraid she might actually have to walk outside.

[zabooda]

I had a broken spring last week and of course the door didn't go up. Disconnect the door from the opener and check that it goes up freely. Mine was obvious when I looked up and I saw a gap between a spring as big as Mike Tyson's smile.

[sandm]

for future reference, the number of blinks of the light will tell you the error code it's seeing. there's a list of them online. just search..

[cab13367]

Yup, those sensors have to be pointed at each other!

[Razzman]

Here's a few tips for everyone on garage doors, my dad owned his own overhead door biz for 25 years so i know a bit ;)


Don't grease/lube the tracks. All it does it add resistence and attract dirt.
Do lube the screw drive if equipped.
Do spray the coiled springs above the door if so equipped with a lube for that purpose. Biggest reason doors make noise or have issues. Spray across spring(s) lengthwise.
Keep sensors tight and aligned.
Keep all door screws snugged up.

[mmandley]

Here's a few tips for everyone on garage doors, my dad owned his own overhead door biz for 25 years so i know a bit ;)


Don't grease/lube the tracks. All it does it add resistence and attract dirt.


So now im adding to my door problem? I already did this. The slide for the center where the pull cord is? That was metal on plastic and had a big pile of dust were it was rubbing so i greased it as well.

Should i go back and clean the tracks out and clean off the wheels? I used auto garage door grease.

[Razzman]

So now im adding to my door problem? I already did this. The slide for the center where the pull cord is? That was metal on plastic and had a big pile of dust were it was rubbing so i greased it as well.

Should i go back and clean the tracks out and clean off the wheels? I used auto garage door grease.

I would clean it out best you can. My neighbor greases the crap out of his tracks and i warned him not to but he did it anyway. Just happens to be the same guy that's had to have the door company out three times for blowing the side cables off the rollers!