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#1
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BAFFLING garage door opener problems... long
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? |
#2
Posted to alt.home.repair
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BAFFLING garage door opener problems... long
On Apr 28, 11:34 am, 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? When disconnected, the door should be close to balanced. Meaning it should either stay in place throughout it's range or only require a little force to keep it from going down or to move it up. From your description, it sounds like the door is not balanced and that could be part of the problem, depending on how far out it is. I would addresss that first. Besides a down force limit, does the opener have a down distance limit? If that is set too far, the door will try to continue to go down, resulting in some of the behavior you see. |
#3
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BAFFLING garage door opener problems... long
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#4
Posted to alt.home.repair
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BAFFLING garage door opener problems... long
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? |
#5
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BAFFLING garage door opener problems... long
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