My garage door opener is a half horse craftsman (Chamberlan) that is about a year and a half old. All of a sudden today after opening the garage door the opener would not operate to close. The symptoms are the same as if there was an object blocking the sensors. The motor will move the trolley a couple of inches and then back up. I know the sensors are in alignment but one problem I noticed is that the lights are not on as if there is no power to the sensors. I just re-routed all of my wires two days ago after re=installing the opener and I know my connections are good. I am thinking something inside of the opener itself has burned out or is not functioning properly. It did work earlier in the day and all of a sudden, nothing. I would look in my manual for simple trouble shooting but I can't figure out what I did with it. Does any one have an idea on what might be wrong? Thanks for your patience.

 

Without the manual it is difficult. I would check to see if there is power to the sensors. You could also check for any shorts in your new wiring job. When you move stuff around like that Murphy likes to mess with you.

You may get lucky and someone may have a manual.

Have you tried the Sears websites for info?

 

Check out your sensors by putting one right in front of the other. I had a stanley door opener do the same thing and the problem was the sensors just got weak and would not let the door close anymore. Since I live in the country and don't have any kids around I just left them together.
IF YOU HAVE KIDS AROUND FIX THEM!!

 

Thanks guys. As far as wiring goes its pretty basic. The wires are hard wired into the sensors and are color coded to the garage door opener. I don't know if they are all like this, being my first time dealing with one. I made sure the wires were free of tangles and kinks when I routed them. I would just think that if only one went bad the other would still light up. Even when they are out of alignment they both light up. I think one flashes or changes color until aligned. When aligned one lights up green and the other orange. And they are always on. I don't think there is any power going to them from the opener itself. I tried putting a tester on the leads and I didn't get anything. Although I cannot confirm that the way I was doing this was correct. There are two leads that the sensors connect to one is black, and one white. I just tried using the tester on each with the other as a ground. Although now that I think about it the white must be ground or a neutral. Because there is one more contact that is red in which the button for the opener goes to. The white contact is in the center and this is the only one that the button and the sensors share. I am still on the hunt for that manual. I have found everything else that I am missing except that. I don't have to worry about kids, just dogs. It might as well be the same thing because I have had them run under the door when it was shutting. I got to drive into town today to get some new mower blades anyways. They have a sears outlet center where they send everything for repairs and they have all kinds of parts there. I would think they could help me if any. At the store they will probably just try to sell me a new opener. If thats the case I'm buyin' a Genie.

 

Hi,
I just had a similer problem where I had to change the push button pad. The original was powered through the 110 system while the replacement was powered througha 9v battery.
The symptoms your are reffering occurred while the battery was low. I don't if this could be yours case but its worth a try.

 

I tried replacing the battery in our number pad outside and that didn't change anything. One thing that I noticed is that the opener only responds to the remotes by a flashing light. Using the actual button that wires to the opener actually causes animation. If I hold the button I can move the trolley as far as I want. Once I let go of the button, it retracts. Like I figured the guys at Sears treated me like I just got off of the damn boat. I explained to them clearly what the problem was and they tried to give me some crap about the pressure adjustment. Then they tried to enlighten me with how stapling them to the wall could damage the wires and cause them to short. I continued to tell them that I used little plastic loop fasteners, not staples. I swear, in the last couple of years I have noticed that their customer service is going to crap. I wound up buying a couple of new sensors for $33.00 but I am not installing them until I am positive that they are the problem. I did try contacting them on the opener lead and I got the green led on one of the sensors to work. The orange one did not come on. Instead when I touched it to the terminal and it activated the motor. They did say that a board inside could fry out but they insisted that the sensors are bad. Well I know one of them lights up so I am starting to doubt the sensor theory.

 

Well, I pulled one of the new sensors out and carefully contacted them to the terminals so I didn't disturb the wires in case I needed to return them. Both lit up and only one of mine did so it looks like I did have a bad sensor after all. Ill get them all hooked up and see what happens.

 

I use to sell the craftsman garage door openers, all come with a 90 days parts and labor, 1 year parts and 5 year motor warranty. This problem sounds like your sensors. sometimes they just go kapoot and even if they look like they work or light up they migh be broken. Best thing to do sense you cannot bypass them is to either go back to sears " satisfaction Gauranteed" and complain to a manager. They will get you a new set believe me, or you can have sears come out your house for $96. As far as the battery option goes, those are cheap and you could try that. But more times than not the sensors are junk. but remember if you want a new motor it has a 5 year warranty so take it down and get a new one from the manufactuar, call sears and find out how to get one. never had to deal with a motor failure.

A thougth, if you hate the sensors and dont want to hasle with aligning them all the time, mount them on the wall pointint at eachother really close. works great. Just remember, sears will give you anything if you complain to the right person, i worked there for almost 2 years and saw alot of stuff get exchanged becasue of a customer who complained. 1-800-4-my-home is there number for any technical info and how to order the manual. jsut get the 139.53xxx # for them and they can mail you a manual for i think $10 or sometimes a nice associate will charge one to the store or give you one from there collection. good luck

On second thought, most of the people at sears are idoits. They are usually people with no common sense and say somethings that make no sense once you think about it. the board s have been know to go out as do the gears but that is most likely not the issue since your motor still works. if you have anymore ? about the gdo just ask and i will tell. and could you tell me what type ( ie belt, chain, screw) thank you

 

I figured out that I had a wire go bad somewhere down the line. I figure from contorting it and bending it straight again one too many times. I just cut both sensors short and here is a picture of my fix. Nice and easy to align.

 

They may be to far apart, what would happen if a spider makes a nest in there?

 

better plan than i had in mind, looks sgood

 

If you want a fast fix for spider or dust build up between sensor, you can open both of the sensor, in the first you sould only have a LED on the second you have a control board and a infrared receiver : Put the LED and the receiver in a 1" long straw. It the way i fix mine. Good luck

 

I also have Chamberlain openers and have had similar problems. Both recent failures was the connection of the wire to the sensor. They got dirty (in a garage?) and just did not make good contact. Some electrical cleaner and reseating the plug-ins that are similar to a telephone jack - and problem solved.
Like Derick, this took a while to chase down with volt meter. The big clue was that the led light on the sensors were not on.

Russ

 

Try a little silicone dielectric grease on the connections, it will keep them from oxidizing.

 

Don't forget periodic and regular cleaning of all the moving parts of the opener. The rail, wheels, pivots, chain/screw, etc all need routine maintanance. A squirt with a heavy duty degreaser and a flush with the water hose nozzle on a hot summer day will do the trick. Wait 2 or 3 days before oiling and regreasing to make sure all the water is gone. Dirt is a major contributor to added current draw, decreased efficiency, a shorter lifespan, and tripping the obstruction sensor in some openers.
If you live in a dry climate, my recomendation would be to clean 2 times a year. Other, less dusty climates is probably ok to wait a year between cleanings.
You would be suprised how many people neglect their garage door. Then when it fails they get a whole new system or pay someone to come fix it. All it really needed was a little TLC.