Craftsman Garage Door Opener
 

I just saw an earlier post that outlines the same problem that I am
having. My garage door doesn't want to go down. It will start to
close, go down a few inches and then go right back up again. Once it
does this the lights will blink as if the sensors are obstructed yet
they are not. I have been careful to clean the sensors of any dirt,
cobwebs,etc. and I have made sure that there is nothing obstructing the
sensors as well. I have had this problem occaisionally in the past
couple of months but it seems to resolve itself on its own for no
apparent reason as if it has a mind of it's own. I believe that the
garage door is approx. 9-10 yrs old and I have an aluminum door.

One note to mention: About four months ago I closed the garage door
and the garage door buckled in the center due to an improper support on
the door that snapped. At the time, a technician came out and fixed
the door and adjusted all of the up-down balances and oiled the door.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!! :-)

Thanks!

Craftsman Garage Door Opener
 

In article . com, wrote:
I just saw an earlier post that outlines the same problem that I am
having. My garage door doesn't want to go down. It will start to
close, go down a few inches and then go right back up again. Once it
does this the lights will blink as if the sensors are obstructed yet
they are not. I have been careful to clean the sensors of any dirt,
cobwebs,etc. and I have made sure that there is nothing obstructing the
sensors as well.

Make sure the sensors are aligned with each other, and that the wires to each
are securely connected.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Craftsman Garage Door Opener
 

Also disconnect the door from the opener and verify that it moves
freely, with minimal force. It should stay put, or just about so, at
mid-span, when let go.

Craftsman Garage Door Opener
 

wrote:
Also disconnect the door from the opener and verify that it moves
freely, with minimal force. It should stay put, or just about so, at
mid-span, when let go.

plus it must move easily everywhere, your door probably has a bind....

Craftsman Garage Door Opener
 

wrote:
wrote:
Also disconnect the door from the opener and verify that it moves
freely, with minimal force. It should stay put, or just about so, at
mid-span, when let go.

plus it must move easily everywhere, your door probably has a bind....



While we're at it, I have this same problem right now with my Craftsman
on one bay. I haven't had time to look at it yet. I did verify that
nothing was blocking the lights. But, I don't think that is the
problem, as it does move down a foot or so before reversing. If the
lights were blocked, it would not even start to go down.

Well, here's the interesting part. I installed this unit just over a
year ago. When I was all done putting it in and was doing the final
testing, there was a huge bang, right while I was standing there. One
of the extension type springs had broken. Had nothing to do with the
opener, I hadn't even touched it. It was just it's time to go. It
didnt have a safety cable either, so I was very lucky.

Now, the interesting part. To replace the spring, I put a bath scale
under the door and weighed it. Went to HD and got what were supposed
to be the correct springs for that weight, in fact they were rated for
just above the actual weight of the door, because I rounded up. They
were not even close. I had to get either the next size heavier or
maybe even 2 sizes, don't remember now. One thing I noticed was that
the new springs are all much smaller in diameter than the old ones.
When I was done, the door was perfectly balanced.

Now, a year later, when the door was reversing, I had to disconnect it
to close it. I was quite surprised to find that the door now comes
down with considerable weight. Both springs are still connected and
as they were. So, it looks to me like these new springs have lost
some of their tension. Are these new ones some crap that is inferior?

Next question is if I can adjust or need new ones. I plan to work
on that and see if it fixes the opener problem.

Craftsman Garage Door Opener
 

I'll reply to both trad and the op.

First, trad; is it a wood door? I remember at my parents home we had an
8' and a 9' manual open doors, when the weather turned wet, the doors
seemed to double in weight. They were well painted, but they sucked up
moisture like a sponge.

Second op; There is an adjustment for downward force that may need a
partial turn.
The procedure in the book says; place a 2X4 on edge under the door and
adjust it so it reverses when it hits. I'll add to that; so it just
barely reverses when it hits.

Craftsman Garage Door Opener