Rein wrote:
I have a garage door that is about 6 years old. Attached to a genie
opener and it's been working pretty good (2car). Last couple of months
it has been as if it is binding/sticking somewhere 1/3 of the way
down. Sometimes the opener thinks something is blocking it and
reverses the door to open it again. I press the remote again and it
then closes but I do see it has a problem about 1/3 of the way down
(like something is blocking, then releases it at a certain point). I
disconnected the opener from the door and manually moved the door up
and down to see where it is sticking/rubbing/binding/?? For the life
of me I can't seem to find WHERE it is sticking on or rubbing on. All
the hinges seem fine, I lubes them to make sure. so far no luck. It's
driving me crazy, It seems like it such a small little thing that is
blocking it but I can't find where. Any tips to check ?

If you don't detect binding when you move the door by hand, then it's probably
not binding. It's more likely that your opener is having a problem. Just make
sure that you move the door by hand in the same direction that it's 'binding'
when you use the opener.

Does the binding occur when the door opens or closes or both? If at closing,
there's probably a small obstacle that's falling in front of the electric eye at
the base of the door, perhaps a leaf that's dangling from a spider web. If at
opening and closing, it's probably an adjustment of the sensitivity screw on the
opener. If at opening only, I'd check for a possible obstruction (e.g. screw,
bolt) that's sticking into the path of the wheels or a door panel as it bends or
straightens.

In any case, I'd take this opportunity to do some general preventive maintenance
on the doors -- lube the wheels (with oil), check the springs and tension cables
(because they can be obstructed too).

Randy