Charles Schuler wrote:
Was that graphite grease? How much did you get on the motor/electrical
contacts? Seems a bit strange!

It was white lithium grease. Not conductive. I use it on bearings in
bicycles and lab equipment all the time, so I figured it would work
fine on the garage door pivots and the bearings in the motor.

When I sprayed it inside the motor housing, I tried to carefully aim it
only at the mechanical bearings, and NOT at the electrical contacts.

I agree that it's very strange, but the coincidence seems very
unlikely. Although the capacitor was evidently nearing the end of its
service life in any case (16k cycles).

Dan