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Default Craftsman Garage Door Opener 1/2 HP


wrote:
My Garage Door will not shut properly. It will only go up when using
remotes or wall-mounted button.
To make the door go down, I must hold down the wall-mounted button the
entire time the door is closing, until it is completely shut.
I increased the down speed.


No. you didn't, unless you increased the AC voltage. The only
adjustments are for upper limit, lower limit, opening force, and
closing force.

I reset the remotes.


If the remote system was at fault, the door woudn't close when the wall
button was held down continuously, which bypasses the safety mechanisms
(force sensor, optical beam sensor).

If the opener will close normally with the door disconnected from it,
then the problem is with the door mechanism. Otherwise it's probably
with the optical safety sensor.

Assuming the opener works fine without the door, check its balance. It
should slowly fall when held open 1/3 of the way, slowly rise when held
open 2/3 of the way. Adjust cables or springs, but only with the
spring under minimum tension (door fully open). Be sure to unplug the
power to the opener when working on the door so it doesn't start
unexpectedly, which can be deadly (very easy for a hand or hair to get
stuck). Friction in the door mechanism can be from misalignment of
rails or springs (one side pulling more than the other) or lack of
lubrication (pivot points should be lubed with spray grease, any
rollers for a rail-mouted door oiled at their shafts but nowhere else).

Check the optical safety mechanism. The lenses may simply be dirty,
but if its indicator light dims for even a fraction of a second while
the door is closing, then it may not be aimed quite right, or the
connections at the opener may be loose (opener vibrates badly) and need
to be tightened there. The wiring can also break, usually at the
opener or right where it passes into the modules (insulation remains
intact).

Craftsman/Liftmaster/Chamberlain openers also had a problem related to
the wall button and the optical sensor circuitry sharing the same
wires, and the solution was to replace the wall button with a lighted
console, which was usually given out free because this was a safety
slaw that allowed the door to keep closing even when the optical beam
was blocked. This happened to my Craftsman opener in the first 2 weeks
of ownership, and I had to speak with several people at Chamberlain
before finding one who admitted to and understood the problem.

Craftsman does not have a helpline anymore.


But the manufacturer, Chamberlain Industries (
www.chamberlain.com),
does: 1-800-528-5880. You don't have to tell them it's a Sears
opener, just whether it's belt or chain drive and the approximate year
of manufacture.