IMHO, with all the fiddling you've had to do, I think I'd just replace the
door opener for a different brand. Over Head Door made mine, and I like it
a lot, never have a problem, etc., the 23 years we've been here other than
having to replace belts twice, once due a broken spring that allowed the
door to cock in the tracks.

Of course, it's also possible the probem has nothing to do with the opener
but instead is a problem with the door, tracks, springs, etc. etc..

When you check the "balance" on a door, it should be done at about the
half-travel point, which is usually a little over half way opened. It
should stay there on its own or begin to move very slowly (at first - don't
let it fall or go all the way up on its own!). You said you did it at 16",
which makes the test moot.
There, the springs should be about half way extended between the full
open and full closed positions. Springs should not sag when the door is
fully opened. Springs have to be the SAME springs on each side.

If you decide to try to slug your way through it, pick a time when it's
working right and get it fully adjusted. Check the instructions or if you
don't have them, get them from their website. It's not very hard to do,
even without instructions but they make identifying the parts easier.

THEN when it screws up, start checking other things. Temperature change can
cause a lot of problems in some areas and IMO is most likely what's going on
in your situation. Run the door up and down by hand, being very careful to
not drop it, and check its full travel both directions several times.
Something should expose itself.
Loose or worn hinges and/or rollers or tracks can be a culprit too, since
they allow the sections of the door to move around w/r to each other. Check
all the hardware and tighten if needed. The wheels have to be freely moving
and not filled with dirt or with flat spots or seriously worn edges.
Weather stripping moves easily with temp changes and can jam a door's
movement. Lots of possibilities to look for.

Lifting a door with the bottom handle does NOT duplicate the same action as
the door opener. To do that, you really have to finagle a way to put the
force on the arm to door connection and lift it. An added pulley might be
necessary; don't go trying to lift the door from a ladder! Keep safety in
mind at all times and take no chances.

HTH
Pop`




dave wrote:
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?