garage door opener

[Barry]

I have a Stanley opener that is acting up. Checked the beam sensor and they work on other door. This one will open a foot then stop, then it may go a foot again. You can hear what sound like a relay opening and closing coming from the main unit control board. The buttons that control the door are disconnected. The light doesn't come on like if the opener stops. Anybody have a guess what to check next. This morning it worked fine. Last night and now this afternoon stopped. Thanks Barry

[Art]

First thing is to pull the cord that disconnects the door from the opener and check the door to see if it is well balenced and non- binding. Might be the door and not the opener that needs repair.

[Bob in CT]

[Joseph Meehan]

I agree with Art. First make sure of proper balance (it should stay up or down without help when disconnected) and there should be no binding between down and up.

Next would be the clutch adjustment, see the opener manual.

The sensors should not be a problem. Only the top sensor comes into play when the door is going up. The beams will not stop it from going up.

[Doordoc]

If the door works by hand I would suspect one or more of the plastic parts are broken inside. Take the cover off & it should be obvious. Also sounds like your light bulbs are burnt out, since the clicking relay is probably the one that controls the light. The lights flash whenever the unit goes into overload. The overload cam (on the bottom of the drive shaft) trips a micro-switch whenever the door hits anything or when there is too much load being put on the operator. Parts are very difficult to find & you will be better off replacing the unit.

Doordoc

[Barry]

The door opener is acting up. The door will only go a foot or so and stop then the next time gos the other way. Tested the beam sensor on another opener and they worked fine. You came hear what seems to be a relay going off and on, coming from the control board. Notice that some times when you hear the sound, the light on the beam sensor go off. Disconnected the wiring from the button to check for a short. This is a Stanley opened. It may work fine a few times before actng up again. Any ideas what to look at next. Thanks

[m Ransley]

Release the drive and ck door balance to see if equal force is needed to open and close the door. A good place to start

[do_not_spam_me]

If it works with the trolley disconnected, then see that the door opens and closes easily and is balanced properly (should slowly fall if 1/3 open, should slowly rise if 2/3 open). If it is, then suspect motor capacitor (cylindrical, not on circuit board) and the 2 motor relays (clockwise and counterclockwise), but never rule out cracked solder joints because of all the vibration from the motor, and cracks can be nearly invisible except under 10x magnification and strong light. Those relays are known to build up carbon on their contacts, but don't file or sand them. They're standard parts, like Clare or Omron, and are available from electronics supplies and maybe even the Radio Shack Industrial catalog

Stanleys weren't cheaply built like Liftmaster or Chamberlain units and rarely break mechanically, except for 1980s models made with brittle polyester parts (rarely had optical beams, force adjustment was through a single large knob on the bottom, and the only chips on the board were 3 generics, each 14-16 pins).