our garage has a "genie excellerator" opener on it. we've had it on
there for like 4 yrs now, approx, since it was new. problems with it are
'numerous' (and related to each other?):

1. this opener has ALWAYS (since it was brand new) opened, or closed
our rollup door "at whatever speed it FEELS like that day" regardless of
settings. at various times it 'crawls upward dead slow' end to end,
sometimes it "rockets upward like a bullet from a gun barrel", from one
end to the other (of its travel), and other times it "operates mostly at
medium speed, except when it first starts to move and when it nears the
end of its' travel, where it slows down considerably" (which is how, I
think, it's *supposed* to operate). does this mean the 'motherboard' in
there is defective?

and also, for whatever bearing this might have:

2. the door is standard residential, steel four panel, 16 feet across,
and, when the opener 'red pull knob-rope' is used to DISengage the door
from the lead screw, and I close the door manually, the door will "fall
entirely CLOSED of its own weight", from a dead stopped position,
starting when it's up about 16 inches up from fully closed. does that
mean the single torsion spring is wearing out, -or- improperly adjusted?

the 'most major' problem is this, however:

3. sometimes (about 10 percent of the time, at entirely random times)
it'll close fully, then, when the bottom of the door (and its fat
gasket) hit the slab, the main lead screw extrusion will "flex way too
far upwardly" (accompanied by the door trying to close TOO far) and then
the door will 'immediately self-open' back -up-, as if it hadn't 'seen'
the close-stop reed contact (or some dang thing).

I have the opener set to close at 'near minimal' force, but NOT 'full
minimal'. when this bizarre 'ARCHUP/door bounceup' stuff happens, I
don't hear the (normal) tiny 'relay click' I ordinarily hear in the
control head about a half-second after the door has closed fully. is
this 'auto bounce back UP by itself' another indicator the 'main board'
in the thing is either defective or 'going defective over time'? or what
-could- cause this bizarre behavior other than that?

4. another possible indicator: this opener seems to not want to close
when I adjust it to close at the 'minimal close force' setting. it'll
just close halfway, or not even halfway, then 'auto-bounce' right back
up. I've tried intercepting the door, with my hands when it's closing,
to SEE if our kitty could be safe IF this thing closes on her, and the
weight this opener allows, even at the 'lite' close setting, is what I'd
consider to be "VERY heavy indeed", like the weight of a HUGE car
battery, at LEAST, before it'd open back up*...aren't these 'close
force' things supposed to FAR more sensitive than that?

all rollers are clear, free-spinning, well oiled, and 'looked after'.
same applies to all door hinges. the tracks are also unbent, hung
correctly, and entirely unobstructed. door itself is also unbent, and
correctly horizontal in its tracks. this is an inland environment, not
'salt air' or anything like that. all electrical connections are clean
and free of corrosion. no 'jury-rigged' or 'shabby' electrical
connections anywhere.

thanks in advance for 'tips' and ideas on these baffling events, guys,

toolie

- -
replies by e-mail, if any, please remove the weird stuff from my address
before you click send. thanks :-)
- -

*I tried to measure this 'door close force' =exactly= by spanning the
slab where the door closes, about halfway up, with a stout board
supported by two A-frame ladders (one 6-footer inside the garage, one
8-footer outdoors), with a good quality bathroom scale located
mid-plank. when the door closes on it, the needle jumps around
dramatically, though, so it's impossible to read accurately (when the
door closes on the scale then bounces back up) *but* it 'seems like'
(best I can judge) around 70 lbs of close force is involved here (and
this with the opener set at 'as light as I set it and still have the
door close fully') - does that seem right?