Genie garage door opener problem

[Jim Grunewald]

I'm having a problem with my Genie screw drive garage door opener. The photocell receiver is blinking 4 times, then pauses. The book said to call Genie so I did. They said my photo cell thingies need replacing. They sent me a new pair of them and tried them with similar result. I then decided that the problem must be with the wiring as I used a regular staple gun on the photo cell wires until I read that I had to use the cushioned stapled they provided - I replaced the regular staples with the cushioned ones when I installed it, but I figured that there must be some delayed action thing going on. Anyway, I replaced the wires with 18 ga. bell wire, used the cushioned staples and I still have the same flashing sequence on the photocell receiver.

Does anyone have a clue as to what might be the problem or alternately,is there a way to override the photocell thingies? I don't have any small children or animals I have to worry about and I'd just as soon not fool with them if I don't have to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

[Muff]

Might be that the photo cells are a bit out of alignment with each other. Does it flash when the door is open or when closed or do they flash all the time? I had an ant crawl across one of the cells one time and the door stopped in its tracks!! Another problem are the new hurricane braces on the inside of the door. If the cells are not properly mounted the lower brace could break the cell beam just before the door is full closed.

Don't you love it when companies say call and their customer service provide no service!!!! Muff

[CLSSM00X7]

The photocell is just a make and break switch. Just wie by it. Eliminate the cell and tie the wires coming in and out together and it should be fine.

candice

Send me a digital pic and I will tell you what is what

[Doordoc]

Jim

Since you already changed the photo-cells & the wire the problem could be in the main logic board although it is possible the new photo-cells are defective also. The openers w/ photo-cells made under UL-325 rules require the photo-cells to be connected & working for the the door to be closed properly. They can not be bypassed by connecting the wires together. It is more than a make or break switch. One photo-cell is a transmitter & one is a receiver & the board can tell electronically whether they are working properly or not. It was UL's way of making sure the photo-cells would be repaired when they quit operating.

Doordoc

[Jim Grunewald]

Thanks all for the replies. I was afraid that something more serious was the problem. I'm sure my photocells are aimed correctly as this started happening several weeks after I installed it. The flashing started happening while the door was open - and had been open for some time.

I'll be calling Lowes and Ginie to see what my options are. Of course, if anybody has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Again thanks for taking the time to reply.

Jim

[Frank K.]

Recheck all of your wiring and connections. I had the same problem and found that one of the wires at the control board terminals was not wrapped around the screw tightly and was touching an adjacent screw.

Frank

[Jim Grunewald]

Thanks, Frank. I'll check it out.

Jim

[Jim Grunewald]

I want to thank all those who gave me suggestions about my problem (see below). I found the problem. Aparently, one of the photocells became misaligned and when I straightened it, everything started working again. I hadn't thought that could be the problem since I didn't remember ever touching either one of them the day it stopped working. I think the next thing I do will be to tape them together so they have to be aligned and put them up with the motor and away from any other possible disturbances. I hate those things!

Again, thanks and hopefully my experience will be valuable to somebody else.

Jim