I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny

" wrote:

I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny


You can buy replacement transmitters & receivers at Home Depot.
Older electronics were repairable, but the newer units use proprietary
ICs, with rolling security codes.

I repaired a lot of the older, tone modulated analog systems 25 to 30
years ago. Dried out electrolytics and shorted rectifiers were the
biggest failures, followed by the units drifting out of tune.

The receivers I repaired used a dual gate MOSFET in the front end,
and lighting popped a lot of them. When they died, you couldn't operate
them for more than an inch or two separation.

If her battery went dead, it might need reprogrammed so the units are
in sync, like remote car door locks.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:16:54 -0400, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

" wrote:

I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny


You can buy replacement transmitters & receivers at Home Depot.
Older electronics were repairable, but the newer units use proprietary
ICs, with rolling security codes.

With the crap sold at home depot, you'll be lucky if the remote
outlasts a single battery change. Better buy them in lots of 20.

AZ Nomad wrote:

On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:16:54 -0400, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

" wrote:

I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny

You can buy replacement transmitters & receivers at Home Depot.
Older electronics were repairable, but the newer units use proprietary
ICs, with rolling security codes.

With the crap sold at home depot, you'll be lucky if the remote
outlasts a single battery change. Better buy them in lots of 20.


If you say so. I've been buying from them for 20 years and have
never had any problems, other than something being out of stock. Around
here, they beat the hell out of Lowe's, and the older chains, many who
are long gone. Scotty's hardware stores, for example were full of
rejects, factory seconds, and returns. The employees knew it was crap,
and just didn't give a damn. The new remotes & receivers were 'Stanley'
the last time I checked. What other brand are you going to recommend,
Radio Shack? There aren't many brands available as there was 25 years
ago.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:54:25 -0700 (PDT),
" wrote:

I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny

If I'm not mistaken the remotes by design stop working if the photo
cells are mis-aligned or dirty.

On Jun 27, 11:54*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:54:25 -0700 (PDT),

" wrote:
I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny

If I'm not mistaken the remotes by design stop working if the photo
cells are mis-aligned or dirty.

The unit was a 1992 Craftsman brand opener. There are no dip switches.
The transmitters are "learned" into the receiver. There were two
remotes with this system. The photo cells were working, btw. One
remote she keeps in a drawer so it is rarely used. I made sure the
batteries were good and tried each transmitter. Neither remote
activated the onboard led on the receiver board. I then tried erasing
the codes and then reprogramming the receiver. It still wouldn't work.
With two transmitters doing this the problem is probably the receiver
however you can't really tell if the transmitters are putting out can
you? So how would you determine if both transmitters are good or if
the receiver were good? Without being able to duplicate the modulation
scheme, the best I could do if I could determine the operating
frequency would be to hit this thing with a burst of CW from a signal
generator. I know that this would not operate the door but would it
disturb the onboard led thereby indicating the presence of RF being
received? How about if I take the transmitters and put them in close
proximity to my counter and if the transmission duration is long
enough I should be able to read the carrier? Lenny.

wrote:

Snip, snip...

The unit was a 1992 Craftsman brand opener. There are no dip switches.
The transmitters are "learned" into the receiver. There were two
remotes with this system. The photo cells were working, btw. One
remote she keeps in a drawer so it is rarely used. I made sure the
batteries were good and tried each transmitter. Neither remote
activated the onboard led on the receiver board. I then tried erasing
the codes and then reprogramming the receiver. It still wouldn't work.
With two transmitters doing this the problem is probably the receiver
however you can't really tell if the transmitters are putting out can
you? So how would you determine if both transmitters are good or if
the receiver were good? Without being able to duplicate the modulation
scheme, the best I could do if I could determine the operating
frequency would be to hit this thing with a burst of CW from a signal
generator. I know that this would not operate the door but would it
disturb the onboard led thereby indicating the presence of RF being
received? How about if I take the transmitters and put them in close
proximity to my counter and if the transmission duration is long
enough I should be able to read the carrier? Lenny.

The OEM /might/ be Chamberlain LiftMaster. The Receiver board /may/
operate at 315MHz. Replacement receiver boards may run about $90USD.
A whole new DIY install is under $200USD. If you can get an exact
Sears Craftsman model/part number from the opener's label, more
detailed information could be forthcoming. Belt, chain, screw or
direct drive?

HTH

Pete
--
1PW @?6A62?FEH9E=6o2@=]4@ [r4o7t]

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:32:01 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

So how would you determine if both transmitters are good

Spectrum analizer would be one way. Or even a scope capable of the
frequencies the remote transmitter uses might be viable.

or if
the receiver were good?

Test the transmitters, if they are good, then the receiver has failed.

Without being able to duplicate the modulation
scheme, the best I could do if I could determine the operating
frequency would be to hit this thing with a burst of CW from a signal
generator. I know that this would not operate the door but would it
disturb the onboard led

Unlikely to do anything.

thereby indicating the presence of RF being
received? How about if I take the transmitters and put them in close
proximity to my counter and if the transmission duration is long
enough I should be able to read the carrier? Lenny.

Maybe, if your counter is sensitive enough. Long shot, IMHO.

Do the manual buttons work? If yes, get a new receiver and you should
be happy: you will have the advantage of new security techniques that
were not available in 1992.

wrote:

On Jun 27, 11:54 pm, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:54:25 -0700 (PDT),

" wrote:
I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny

If I'm not mistaken the remotes by design stop working if the photo
cells are mis-aligned or dirty.

The unit was a 1992 Craftsman brand opener. There are no dip switches.
The transmitters are "learned" into the receiver. There were two
remotes with this system. The photo cells were working, btw. One
remote she keeps in a drawer so it is rarely used. I made sure the
batteries were good and tried each transmitter. Neither remote
activated the onboard led on the receiver board. I then tried erasing
the codes and then reprogramming the receiver. It still wouldn't work.
With two transmitters doing this the problem is probably the receiver
however you can't really tell if the transmitters are putting out can
you? So how would you determine if both transmitters are good or if
the receiver were good? Without being able to duplicate the modulation
scheme, the best I could do if I could determine the operating
frequency would be to hit this thing with a burst of CW from a signal
generator. I know that this would not operate the door but would it
disturb the onboard led thereby indicating the presence of RF being
received? How about if I take the transmitters and put them in close
proximity to my counter and if the transmission duration is long
enough I should be able to read the carrier? Lenny.


It probaly is too short of a burst to read the actual frequency, but
it should show RF output. If you try it, used the fastest timbase
availible in your counter to improve your chances of reading.

I used a UHF mixer diode and a short piece of wire to the input on my
scope for a quick test, when I was repairing the equipment for a garage
door opener company. The Sears units made at that time used custom ICs
in the transmitters, so you might luck out and find a pwere supply
problem in the reciever. The success trate was very low in repairing
those systems. The standard repair was a new reciever, connected across
the push button controls, rather than buy another over priced control
board that couldn't be repaired.

The old '60s & '70s 'Linear' brand controls were very good, and easy
to repair. He had thousands of customers, and I did batches of them for
him, so he would have a spare in stock.

A Chamberlain Universal Radio Control Replacement Kit, with one remote
is $49.97. How much time do you want to spend on a dead 17 year old
unit with little chance of success?
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100431670&N=10000003+9 0401

---------

http://www.chamberlain-diy.com/doity...x?modelId=1477
is a prgrammable universal transmitter for garage door openers.

Clicker® Universal Remote Control

KLIK1U

If you need to replace a lost or broken remote control, or just want to
complement your existing garage access system, the new Clicker®
Universal Remote Control is the perfect single-source solution. It is
designed to work with a variety of brands of garage door openers to give
you convenient, secure access to your garage and home. With it, you can
operate two different garage door manufacturers and/or frequencies at
the same time, so it's like having two remote controls in one. A single
coin cell battery is included.

•Replaces lost garage door opener remote control, or adds an extra
remote for multi-car families
•Dual frequency/dual manufacturer design – operates 1 or 2 garage doors
even if they're different brands
•Attaches to your car visor
•Easy to program
•1-year limited warranty

Compatible with the following brands:
•Genie®
•Linear/Moore-o-Matic®
•Stanley®
•Overhead Door®
•Wayne-Dalton®
•Craftsman®
•Chamberlain®
•LiftMaster®
•300/310/315/372/390 MHz compatible


http://www.chamberlain-diy.com/doity...s/114A3485.pdf is the
manual.

http://www.chamberlain-diy.com/doityourself/CatalogResources/Docs/ProductModel/ClickerRemote.wmv
shows you how to program it.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100609179&N=10000003+9 0401
is priced $29.97.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
snipped

Clicker® Universal Remote Control

KLIK1U


I purchased one of these from Home Depot to replace a stolen Stanley
remote. It worked, but the quality was mediocre and the unit's range was
considerably less than the Stanley.

Sofa Slug wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
snipped

Clicker® Universal Remote Control

KLIK1U


I purchased one of these from Home Depot to replace a stolen Stanley
remote. It worked, but the quality was mediocre and the unit's range was
considerably less than the Stanley.


I was thinking it would be useful to test the recievers.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:32:01 -0700 (PDT),
put finger to keyboard and composed:

The unit was a 1992 Craftsman brand opener. There are no dip switches.
The transmitters are "learned" into the receiver. There were two
remotes with this system. The photo cells were working, btw. One
remote she keeps in a drawer so it is rarely used. I made sure the
batteries were good and tried each transmitter. Neither remote
activated the onboard led on the receiver board. I then tried erasing
the codes and then reprogramming the receiver. It still wouldn't work.
With two transmitters doing this the problem is probably the receiver
however you can't really tell if the transmitters are putting out can
you? So how would you determine if both transmitters are good or if
the receiver were good? Without being able to duplicate the modulation
scheme, the best I could do if I could determine the operating
frequency would be to hit this thing with a burst of CW from a signal
generator. I know that this would not operate the door but would it
disturb the onboard led thereby indicating the presence of RF being
received? How about if I take the transmitters and put them in close
proximity to my counter and if the transmission duration is long
enough I should be able to read the carrier? Lenny.

Could you try programming a learning remote with your suspect ones? It
wouldn't matter if the original was a code hopping type -- you would
only need to determine whether there was any response to transmission.

BTW, you may be able to get parts from Sears:

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/part...d?modelNumber=

User Manuals are available he

http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/owne...ge+door+opener


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

I just purchased some universal replacement SkyLink opener TX/RX products
that replace the manual GDO pushbutton, which you said was still working.
The package inludes a transmitter and a receiver/switch module.

The small RX module has it's own manual push switch, plus a coded receiver
that learns codes from up to 15 TX remotes (only SkyLink transmitters, I
assume).

The RX/switch module is simply spliced into the existing manual switch
leads. Power for the module is attained from the existing switch leads.
If the GDO is so old that there is inadequate voltage at the existing switch
leads, a 12VDC wall adapter is used to supply power to the SkyLink RX/switch
module.

The keychain-type TX device is a standard 1-button device that uses an A23
battery.

These kits were priced at $2.97 on the clearance table at that Shack store.
http://www.skylinkhome.com/us/produc...l_remotes.html

--
Cheers,
WB
..............


wrote in message
...
I was asked to look at an old lady's garage door opener. She says that
the opener works from the button inside the garage but the remote does
not. It just happened yesterday and it seems like we've had some
lightning come through the area over the pasr few days as well. Her
failure may be more than coincidental. I recall working on a couple of
openers several years ago during the Summer months that had damaged
photoelectrics after a storm. What I can't remember though is how to
positively determine that the photos are bad and not the radio system.
I don't know which brand opener we're dealing with if it matters. Can
anyone familiar with these systems please offer some insight into
this. Thanks very much. Lenny