I’ve got a 2 or 3 year old Genie garage door opener that hates the cold. It works fine all summer, but with the cooler weather, as soon as it hits 40 or so, it acts up. Its a 1/2 hp chain drive that I bought a couple years ago.
What happens is it will open fine, but when you go to close it when its around 40 or below, it goes down partway, then acts like it hits an obstruction, and opens back up. The door seems to still move freely, so I don’t think its the door itself, but I may be wrong. If I fight with the controls, I can eventually go down, stop the reverse, go down, stop the reverse, go down until it closes all the way.
I don’t want to increase the down pressure and risk breaking something, but I could if I have to. Any ideas to try?
Replies
suspect humidity/condensation.... it's screwing with the circut board...
does the dryer vent into the garage...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I might think that you could increase the closing (auto stop) power just a bit to see if cold lubricant on the chain drive is telling it that your cat is being crushed.
Some folks grease the interior channel of the track (not necessary) and that thickened glob might be just enough to override the closing force.
Other than that, beats me-dumb carpenter/not garage door officianado. Until this 13 yr. garage, had to get out and push.
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My guess is that it's not well balanced, and the up force from the springs is causing the reversal. The force of the springs will vary a fair amount with temperature.
Release the door from the opener chain/belt and see how easily it goes up and down by hand, and where it tends to balance.
Also, check that the photocells are properly aligned.
Well I was going to say:
Balance / spring tension, or roller lube, or down-force adjustment.
You said:
>>The door seems to still move freely, so I don't think its the door itself, but I may be wrong.<<
This seems to clear out the balance / spring tension and roller lube possibilities.
Leaving the down-force adjustment as the probable culprit.
Where is your down-force adjustment set now?
My opener has a sort of scale around the adjustment screw and is very near the "lightest" setting. If your's is set at minimum or very close to the minimum, I would not hesitate to increase the down-force adjustment. Make small adjustments and try it.
Might lube the rollers with some machine oil and check operation before adjusting anything - pay close attention to "bumps" or "snags" during the door travel - they could be your problem.
If you increase the down-force -- perform the "paper towel" test after adjustment. Stick a full roll of paper towels, laying on it's side, perpendicular to door face into the door closing area - close the door onto the roll - door should reverse - if it does, it's OK. Inner tube of the roll will crush - that is OK.
Jim
you also may need to apply a little lubricant to the openers main beam. I've ran into this on a service run once. The beam was very dry where the traveler runs and friction was reversing the opener. Lubed beam and problem solved.
says the OP...
I've got a 2 or 3 year old Genie garage door opener that hates the cold. It works fine all summer, but with the cooler weather, as soon as it hits 40 or so, it acts up.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
So you are thinking track contraction or what?
If condensation was a problem with the circuit board, I wouldn't think he would get it to work at all once it was in the "act-up" mode, but he says he can get it to work eventually. Unplug, open 'er up and spray the board with an electronics dryer? Wouldn't hurt, might work!
I did a search of the archives on this, but I got the pipes thread......;^)
JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
condensation inside of the the drive unit... dryer was vented into the garage... moisture was forming up on the walls and eveywhere else and took a guess that condensation was affecting the unit..
stuck a hair dryer into the unit and warmed it up for some time... it started to work pretty well... removed the hair dryer and a few hours later it stared up with the odd behavior again...
2nd time I came across this the washer and dryer was in the garage.. same thing...
the 1st one rerouted the dryer vent to the out doors...
2nd one installed a dryer vent to the outdoors...
incase of medicince was to get some non conductive circut board sealer from a real electronics store and make the board water resistant...
so far it's 4 for 4...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Never seen that one, but sounds reasonable.
Probably because of local climate - humid all year!
JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
It does it anytime of the day, or night, so I'm pretty sure that it isn't a sensor issue. I can watch the lights on the sensors and see that they never blink like when there is an obstruction.Nothing moisture producing in the garage, dryer vents out the other side of the house.What kind of spray lube do I need to use? I know that the last opener I put in (screw type) said to use a special lube on that, but it was a grease I think.
Mine quit working because of a barely visible spider web that the sensors kept catching.
Spiders came in when it got cold.
Work for the greatest vital intensity - the greatest solidity and aesthetic reality. Finally, eliminate everything non-essential. Reduce to the absolute essence. ~ F.C. Trucksess
warm up the interior of yur unit with a hair dryer really well...
costs nothing but a little bit of time and if that's the problem....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Yep, but if thats the solution, my DW isn't gonna want to climb on top of the car to do that every time to close the door.
duct tape it in place and remote switch it..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
But the DY still won't like that when she has to climb up there to dry her hair.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
duct work...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
A bonfire would be more fun.
napalm..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Nuke
What does he know about GDOs??
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Hopefully, more than me.
How often do you use a spray lube on the rollers and such?
I was surprised when reading ( yes, I'm one of those strange guys who actually read the instructions) that you are supposed to tend to this duty monthly!
I suppose for most people the answer is never, while a few of us do it once a year or so.
That - dry wheels turning hard - or a mis-aligned track can add load to the resistence sensors. I would try checking lube and alignment before adjusting the down pressure.
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Where is the sun when this happens? My garage door acts up in the winter when the sun is low and the receiving unit of the safety sensor gets direct sunlight. Last year, I moved the receiving sensor back and the problem disappeared.
Yep, I was going to suggest the same possibility. When the thing acts up, stand in the way of the sun hitting the photocell and see how it works. If it's found to be a problem a sun shield can probably be devised using a piece of scrap plastic.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I probably adjust my opener 2-3 times a year.
Why....? just have to to get it to work.
Pete
Haven't touched mine in probably 10 years -- even to lubricate. The springs were replaced (converted to torsion), but didn't touch the opener.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
My door is the 16', 26 yr old unit when the house was built.
It's heavy enough to obviously cause occasional adjustment problems.
My old opener didn't have a problem. Maybe the new one is too sensitive.Pete
Our door is 33 years old. Heavy 16' Masonite unit. The opener is about the same age.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Garage doors and openers do tend to work harder as the temperature drops. Gnerally this can be corrected with a slight increase in the down force adjustment.
If you are concerned about too much pressure you can test the reversing pressure by hand after it is adjusted
I think if the problem was related to the photo cell sensors than you would have an indication of that by the light on the unit flashing (like it does when you cross the beam during normal down operation.
What type of door is it? If it is wood, humidity can affect the door itself, warping and growing.
Another possibility, bad solder joint. Warm weather, wire expands and makes contact. Cold weather, wire contracts, contact is gone.
I have trouble when it snows. Snowflakes will actually break the beam and cause the door to go back up.
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
You can lead a moderator to a computer, but you can't make him think. cussin2
The solution to that is to move the sensors up to the ceiling, above the door, so that no snow can reach them.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
its a good thing the kids are taller now.
<!----><!----><!---->
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
You can lead a moderator to a computer, but you can't make him think. cussin2
Given all the varying and confusing advice, I'd just call Overhead Door and be done with it. It's not getting any warmer now.