Another Craftsman Garage Opener Start/Stop Problem with Partial Solution

[despondent]

I had the problem where after 10 years of working fine, my Craftsman opener opened a foot or so, then closed a foot or so. After reading through past postings, I did the following:

1) Disconnected the door and retried. Same result, up, then down.

2) Tightened chain slightly, same result.

3) Both up force and down force were on low. Changing down force to middle of high range and up force to max makes door work normally.

Can cold weather cause this problem, or what part should I look at to find the cause of the problem?

Thanks!

[John]

Start with lubrication - chain, rollers on the door, bar where drive slides, etc. Anything that moves.

If that doesn't improve it, there may be a bind somewhere or the spring that counterbalances the door may need retentioning. Disconnect the opener by pulling the emergency release rope then see if the door opens and closes easily by hand. Look for binds etc.

If it takes too much effort to open, then it's likely an adjustment on the spring (which can be dangerous to do if you don't know how).

The cold weather does cause things to stiffen up so could account for part of the problem but I assume it's been cold some other time during the past

10 years?

John

[Rich]

[jim]

i have a sears garage door opener and the cold weather always gave us this problem....... i got the screw drive and i had to take the track down with the screw and use some auto brake cleaner to get all the old grease off the screw...it worked fine after that.. the old grease acted like putty with it collecting all the dust and dirt in the garage over the years.... i then applied a light coat of garage door lubricant, looked like white lithium grease to me...you might have to take all the old grease off and see if this helps... mine would only do this in the morning or night, and never when the sun would warm up the door..

[despondent]

Thanks for the link! The unit is ten years old, and I don't think the gear assembly has ever been lubed (i.e. don't know if previous owner did).

Do you have a lubricant recommendation? Will WD-40 do it or should I get something better?

[Doordoc]

You should not leave the up force on max, if the door gets caught on the way up the opener may cause severe damage to the door. Obviously it's not the door springs if the opener ran the same w/ the door disconnected.

The chain may be too tight; w/ the opener carriage (door arm attaches to it) at the half way point & the door disconnected there should be a

1/2" sag in the chain.

If the chain is at the correct tension the second most likely problem is the drive shaft bearing on the motor head is probably worn out. Remove the chain from the sprocket on the motor head & see if the shaft will move back & forth. The shaft should be fairly rigid. This part wears out quite frequently (many times from the chain being too tight) & is sold as an assembly that includes the bushing, bushing plate, drive shaft w/ chain sprocket, and the plastic worm gear. There is threes screws that hold the bushing plate to the motor head. Remove the screws & the whole assembly will then pull out through the top.

Doordoc

[despondent]

Thanks for the advice! Your site has lots of great info on it and I'm sure I'll be referencing it frequently.

[jim]

WD 40 is not a good lubricant, its a solvent, that means it cuts grease.. it might work better for awhile as it loosens the old grease, but what you should do is remove the old grease and then lubricate with white lithium grease........

[despondent]

Thanks to everyone who helped out with my problem... I took off the chain and applied a white lithium grease spray to both chain and gear, and now both up force and down force are on low and the door is working normally.

Thanks!