My sectional garage door when closed will go up only 12-18 inches. This is with the both remote and wired control switch. I disconnected the door from the opener and the door opens and closes freely. It also closes using the opener. With the door still disconnected from the opener, the opener chain would travel the full distance both up and down. With the door connected to the opener chain, the door would travel only 12-18 inches reguardless of where the door is positioned on the track.
Most likely, the spring tensions have become uneven; one side is pulling harder than the other, and the door is trying to "tilt" in the tracks at it goes up. With the opener disconnected, try manually opening the door by grabbing something near the left or right edge of the door. Will it open that way? Now try it again, but lift it from the other side. Will it open that way? If so: Try having someone open the door while someone else stands near the door. When the door jams or whatever it's doing, grab the door while someone pulls the opener disconnect, and see if it's actually jammed, or just way too heavy. Somewhere around its midpoint of the opening, the door should feel pretty light, or maybe even go up the rest of the way on its own. If the door is still real heavy at that spot, then the springs or something has caused a tension loss on one or both sides. The springs have to pull evenly from each side for a cleanly operating door.
You have looked at the springs to be sure one or more aren't broken, right?
Careful: If you don't know what you're doing, this can be dangerous work. The springs are under a LOT of tension when the door is down. And if a door falls closed on its own, it can wreck the door and/or tracks/mountings.
Check all the bolts on the hinges between the sections to make sure they are tight. Check to make sure the edge guides are not loose. Are all the bolts holding the door opener to the ceiling and to the door tight. For my garage door these are the biggest reasons for the opener kicking out. Basically, it is a binding issue.
Has your tensi>My sectional garage door when closed will go up only 12-18 inches. This
Gary Dyrkacz snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net Radio Control Aircraft/Paintball Physics/Paintball for 40+
When you operate the door by hand (open & close) you say it moves freely. Does it move with very little effort? The opener is not even as strong as a person.
Does the door balance at 3 to 4' open w/o the opener attached?
I suggest you get a copy of the opener manual. Different openers have different adjustment procedures for ther opener. If yours is a LiftMaster it will have two screws by which you can increase & decrease the open & close force limits.
If the door does not balance at 3 to 4' open (that is it creeps closed) you need more spring tension.
If it balances you might need more up force.
Just went through this with my door; needed more spring tension due to increased winter weight of door.
If there is a "dry spot" on the garage door opener's drive screw, it can cause enough resistance to make the opening door stop. (When the garage door is closing, the weight of the door helps it get past the dry spot without hesitation.)
To lubricate the screw, open the garage door and watch to see how far it gets on the screw before stopping. That's where your dry spot is. In your case it will be very close to the door end of the screw. You're best off using a gloppy lubricant rather than WD-40 or 3-in-1 oil, or the dry spot will soon return, although you could try one of those first just to see if lubrication on the screw is indeed the problem. Use as little lubricant as necessary! Any extra will get squeezed out by the action of the opening and closing, and will drip on your car a little bit at a time for weeks.
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