Craftsman Garage Door Opener

[wallacval]

I just saw an earlier post that outlines the same problem that I am having. My garage door doesn't want to go down. It will start to close, go down a few inches and then go right back up again. Once it does this the lights will blink as if the sensors are obstructed yet they are not. I have been careful to clean the sensors of any dirt, cobwebs,etc. and I have made sure that there is nothing obstructing the sensors as well. I have had this problem occaisionally in the past couple of months but it seems to resolve itself on its own for no apparent reason as if it has a mind of it's own. I believe that the garage door is approx. 9-10 yrs old and I have an aluminum door.

One note to mention: About four months ago I closed the garage door and the garage door buckled in the center due to an improper support on the door that snapped. At the time, a technician came out and fixed the door and adjusted all of the up-down balances and oiled the door.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!! :-)

Thanks!

[Doug Miller]

Make sure the sensors are aligned with each other, and that the wires to each are securely connected.

[trader4]

Also disconnect the door from the opener and verify that it moves freely, with minimal force. It should stay put, or just about so, at mid-span, when let go.

[hallerb]

plus it must move easily everywhere, your door probably has a bind....

[trader4]

While we're at it, I have this same problem right now with my Craftsman on one bay. I haven't had time to look at it yet. I did verify that nothing was blocking the lights. But, I don't think that is the problem, as it does move down a foot or so before reversing. If the lights were blocked, it would not even start to go down.

Well, here's the interesting part. I installed this unit just over a year ago. When I was all done putting it in and was doing the final testing, there was a huge bang, right while I was standing there. One of the extension type springs had broken. Had nothing to do with the opener, I hadn't even touched it. It was just it's time to go. It didnt have a safety cable either, so I was very lucky.

Now, the interesting part. To replace the spring, I put a bath scale under the door and weighed it. Went to HD and got what were supposed to be the correct springs for that weight, in fact they were rated for just above the actual weight of the door, because I rounded up. They were not even close. I had to get either the next size heavier or maybe even 2 sizes, don't remember now. One thing I noticed was that the new springs are all much smaller in diameter than the old ones. When I was done, the door was perfectly balanced.

Now, a year later, when the door was reversing, I had to disconnect it to close it. I was quite surprised to find that the door now comes down with considerable weight. Both springs are still connected and as they were. So, it looks to me like these new springs have lost some of their tension. Are these new ones some crap that is inferior?

Next question is if I can adjust or need new ones. I plan to work on that and see if it fixes the opener problem.

[Eric in North TX]

I'll reply to both trad and the op.

First, trad; is it a wood door? I remember at my parents home we had an

8' and a 9' manual open doors, when the weather turned wet, the doors seemed to double in weight. They were well painted, but they sucked up moisture like a sponge.

Second op; There is an adjustment for downward force that may need a partial turn. The procedure in the book says; place a 2X4 on edge under the door and adjust it so it reverses when it hits. I'll add to that; so it just barely reverses when it hits.

[Rich256]

Had a similar problem. After checking that the door moved easily by hand I check the alignment of the sensors again. From what I could determine they were just slightly off (or rather in). The movement of the door was just enough to set them off. Did a bit of adjustment and no more problems. Check the wire connections too. THey might be breaking when the door moves.