Garage Door opener - new problem to me!

Jul 07, 2006 4 Replies

Recently the door would occasionally reverse when closing. Yesterday I couldn't make it close by pulling on it (figured the tension might be wrong). Disconnect and it would almost fall shut so no friction problem. Been awhile so I cleaned the IR sender/sensor. Closed. Aha! fixed it...nope. Did the same this morning. Tested the indicator light - yep, it is seeing the sendor. Cleaned again, door still won't close. Was just heading for the house when I noticed this little bitty sprig of cheatgrass with a flimsy head on it leaning in the door. Picked it and door fixed! That explained why it was intermittent - depended on how the breeze was blowing. It may have degraded the signal by about 50% which was apparently enough.



Harry K



Ha! (Added to my apparently endless list of "problems caused by vegetation too close to structure").

Michael Thomas Paragon Home Inspection LLC, Chicago IL mdtATparagoninspectsDOTcom

Yeah, it doesn't take much sometimes. I've had the reversal problem on occasion and confirmed one time that it was caused by a spider. My guess is that the movement of the door caused vibrations which were transmitted to the sensor and sometimes they prompted it to move in a direction which blocked the beam. So now I suck up all the little critters that prefer those corners along with their webs a few times a year with the shop-vac.

Hi, Stray light from sun does wonders some times too.

Oh yeah, BTDT have the T-shirt. That was one of the trouble shooting things I checked while working on it.

Harry K

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