Garage door openers suddenly will not function

[David B]

I have two Craftsman garage door openers that worked before we went on vacation. Now they only will work by using the wall switch. Neither car door opener works.

I have tried putting them into and out of "vacation mode" aka using the lock button on the wall switch. On each of the units I have a steady green light on the button that you push. (I think that means they are ready for service)

Does any one know how to get them working again? Because they both went out at the same time I can only assume that the house sitter mistakenly put them in a different mode

Thanks for your help

[Joseph Meehan]

Depending on the model opener you have, a power failure could have caused the units to loose the code. There may need to be some sort of reprogramming of the code. I take it you no longer have the manuals that came with the openers? (bad bad, always keep manuals) Sears keeps many of their manuals on line at their web site, that will give you specific instructions for reprogramming (if it is a model with that feature.)

[Tomcat14]

I had someone give me a panic call that their opener would not work just like yours. When I checked the socket where it received power it was dead. The wall switch had no power either. All the breakers were OK. I found out that the owner had a mop in the corner that fell into a separate switch that operated some outside lights and the opener circuit. Could you have another switch you tripped by accident?

[Dave - Freedonia]

Don't know if this is a new item to garage door openers or not but for the opener I just got installed (Genie), there is a switch on the wall unit that I can flip, when I go on vacay, and it will disable all remote controllers (wireless keypad, openers). The only way to open the door is to use the wall button or manually release the door. When I get back from vacay, I just move the switch back and the controllers work again - no need to reprogram them.

David B wrote:

[Doordoc]

David, You are correct that the steady light on the wall panel means the openers are "ready". When they are in "lock out mode" the green lights on the wall panels will flash constantly. To put in lock out out mode you have to hold the lock button a few seconds, the same to unlock. I would have to assume that the transmitters were erased from the opener memory. Highly unlikely it happened by itself. Maybe the sitter tried to program their own trans in & erased the codes. Each motor head has a "smart" button. It is located directly under the terminals that the wires from wall button connect to & near the receiver antenna. (may have to remove lens cover). The button (size of a dime) may be round or square & can be red, yellow, or green (other colors) depending on age. To erase the memory push & hold the smart button until the LED light beside it goes out. To program the transmitter push the smart button momentarily & while the LED light is lit (30 seconds) push the transmitter button momentarily. The LED will blink once & then the transmitter is coded. You will have to repeat steps for the other opener.

Doordoc

[TexasFireGuy]

When your transmitter's code is accepted and programmed the light on your opener (the actual light bulb) will flash on and then off (if it was off to start with) or off and then on. This lets you know that the transmitter is programmed. This is so you won't have to be on a ladder or step stool to view the LED by the smart button.

[Tomcat14]

Great post, doordoc. The rest of us were not reading, only guessing. If I had an opener such as that I would check the owner's manual, but the poster probably doesn't have one.