The Sears Craftsman garage door opener which I installed myself when we
built our home 30 years ago was finally giving up the ghost and stopping
or reversing intermittently when asked to open or close.

I'd serviced it over the years including installing a new worm gear and
wheel when the original ones finally wore out, replacing the motor run
capacitor and fixing a cracked solder joint on one of the power
transformer pins.

I figured it was time... So I bought a new Craftsman opener and
installed it today.

The old opener was from an era before the use of a photoelectric safety
beam across the bottom of the door opening, but the new one I installed
naturally has them.

All seems to be working well, but one thing has me wondering. The door
was open, it was daytime and I walked into the garage to grab a
gardening tool I needed outside.

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on
and stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but
it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb,
will it?

Do others with Craftsman openers see the same effect? I'll await words
of wisdom from the group.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On 9/5/2015 5:17 PM, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
The Sears Craftsman garage door opener which I installed myself when we built
our home 30 years ago was finally giving up the ghost and stopping or reversing
intermittently when asked to open or close.

I'd serviced it over the years including installing a new worm gear and wheel
when the original ones finally wore out, replacing the motor run capacitor and
fixing a cracked solder joint on one of the power transformer pins.

I figured it was time... So I bought a new Craftsman opener and installed it
today.

The old opener was from an era before the use of a photoelectric safety beam
across the bottom of the door opening, but the new one I installed naturally
has them.

All seems to be working well, but one thing has me wondering. The door was
open, it was daytime and I walked into the garage to grab a gardening tool I
needed outside.

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on and
stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but it sure
seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb, will it?

Do others with Craftsman openers see the same effect? I'll await words of
wisdom from the group.

This is common behavior for many openers. I'm sure there is some
rationalization for it. I've learned to exploit it at night when
going out through the garage: leave the REAL garage light off and
let the initial light from opening the door guide me out; then, when
returning, cross the "beam" to turn the light back on so I can navigate
through the garage (which would have now been dark)

On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 8:17:42 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
The Sears Craftsman garage door opener which I installed myself when we
built our home 30 years ago was finally giving up the ghost and stopping
or reversing intermittently when asked to open or close.

I'd serviced it over the years including installing a new worm gear and
wheel when the original ones finally wore out, replacing the motor run
capacitor and fixing a cracked solder joint on one of the power
transformer pins.

I figured it was time... So I bought a new Craftsman opener and
installed it today.

The old opener was from an era before the use of a photoelectric safety
beam across the bottom of the door opening, but the new one I installed
naturally has them.

All seems to be working well, but one thing has me wondering. The door
was open, it was daytime and I walked into the garage to grab a
gardening tool I needed outside.

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on
and stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but
it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb,
will it?

Do others with Craftsman openers see the same effect? I'll await words
of wisdom from the group.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

I have a Craftsman that is ~15 years old and it has that feature.
I've seen other makes that do the same thing. It's a great feature,
lights up the garage at night if you've had the door open and
come in from outside.

trader_4 wrote:
On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 8:17:42 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
The Sears Craftsman garage door opener which I installed myself when we
built our home 30 years ago was finally giving up the ghost and stopping
or reversing intermittently when asked to open or close.

I'd serviced it over the years including installing a new worm gear and
wheel when the original ones finally wore out, replacing the motor run
capacitor and fixing a cracked solder joint on one of the power
transformer pins.

I figured it was time... So I bought a new Craftsman opener and
installed it today.

The old opener was from an era before the use of a photoelectric safety
beam across the bottom of the door opening, but the new one I installed
naturally has them.

All seems to be working well, but one thing has me wondering. The door
was open, it was daytime and I walked into the garage to grab a
gardening tool I needed outside.

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on
and stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but
it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb,
will it?

Do others with Craftsman openers see the same effect? I'll await words
of wisdom from the group.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

I have a Craftsman that is ~15 years old and it has that feature.
I've seen other makes that do the same thing. It's a great feature,
lights up the garage at night if you've had the door open and
come in from outside.

Thanks for the speedy replies. I had a feeling that effect was an
"undocumented feature" and not something wrong with the new opener.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Jeff Wisnia writes:

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on
and stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the
door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but
it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb,
will it?

Do others with Craftsman openers see the same effect? I'll await words
of wisdom from the group.

Yep.

Went though same steps, old opener, then new opener with photocells
and daytime light. Not a big deal for me and a little extra light
helps sometimes.

--
Dan Espen

[anip]

Oh, and if the fixture uses standard Edison base medium threads,
replace the incandescents with LEDs.

You'll appreciate the much longer lifespan and fewer "oull
out the rickety ladder" deal..

--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

On 9/5/2015 7:18 PM, danny burstein wrote:
[anip]

Oh, and if the fixture uses standard Edison base medium threads,
replace the incandescents with LEDs.

+1

You'll appreciate the much longer lifespan and fewer "oull
out the rickety ladder" deal..

It also minimizes the chance of the plastic "shade" getting
burned/discolored when someone installs a too bulb having too
large a dissipation.

On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 11:19:08 PM UTC-5, Don Y wrote:
On 9/5/2015 7:18 PM, danny burstein wrote:
[anip]

Oh, and if the fixture uses standard Edison base medium threads,
replace the incandescents with LEDs.

+1

You'll appreciate the much longer lifespan and fewer "oull
out the rickety ladder" deal..

It also minimizes the chance of the plastic "shade" getting
burned/discolored when someone installs a too bulb having too
large a dissipation.

Um, wuts a "too bulb". I have a 10 bulb, is that like 5 too bulbs? o_O

[8~{} Uncle Too Monster

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
trader_4 wrote:
On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 8:17:42 PM UTC-4, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
The Sears Craftsman garage door opener which I installed myself when we
built our home 30 years ago was finally giving up the ghost and stopping
or reversing intermittently when asked to open or close.

I'd serviced it over the years including installing a new worm gear and
wheel when the original ones finally wore out, replacing the motor run
capacitor and fixing a cracked solder joint on one of the power
transformer pins.

I figured it was time... So I bought a new Craftsman opener and
installed it today.

The old opener was from an era before the use of a photoelectric safety
beam across the bottom of the door opening, but the new one I installed
naturally has them.

All seems to be working well, but one thing has me wondering. The door
was open, it was daytime and I walked into the garage to grab a
gardening tool I needed outside.

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on
and stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the
door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but
it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb,
will it?

Do others with Craftsman openers see the same effect? I'll await words
of wisdom from the group.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

I have a Craftsman that is ~15 years old and it has that feature.
I've seen other makes that do the same thing. It's a great feature,
lights up the garage at night if you've had the door open and
come in from outside.

Thanks for the speedy replies. I had a feeling that effect was an
"undocumented feature" and not something wrong with the new opener.

Jeff

Our opener(Genie Power Max 1500) I installed has IR sensor shaped like
dome sticking out at the bottom of the unit. Whenever car is coming in
or people, dog, cat come in to garage lights turn on and after set delay
time, it goes off. This is one of safety feature I think. Your door is
using the safety sensor,our door uses separate IR sensor.

Don Y wrote:
On 9/5/2015 7:18 PM, danny burstein wrote:
[anip]

Oh, and if the fixture uses standard Edison base medium threads,
replace the incandescents with LEDs.

+1

You'll appreciate the much longer lifespan and fewer "oull
out the rickety ladder" deal..

It also minimizes the chance of the plastic "shade" getting
burned/discolored when someone installs a too bulb having too
large a dissipation.


Must be my age, but though I've used compact florescents for many years
in lots of places in our home it just never dawned on me to put one in
the garage door opener.

I just took the bulb out of the junked opener and screwed it into the
new opener. Speaking of screwing in a light bulb...Click below:

http://wkrp.org/jeff/lightbulb.html


Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

danny burstein wrote:
[anip]

Oh, and if the fixture uses standard Edison base medium threads,
replace the incandescents with LEDs.

You'll appreciate the much longer lifespan and fewer "oull
out the rickety ladder" deal..

Ditto, 2 ea. Daylight LED bulbs which consumes 9W ea.

On 9/6/2015 7:28 AM, Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Don Y wrote:
On 9/5/2015 7:18 PM, danny burstein wrote:
[anip]

Oh, and if the fixture uses standard Edison base medium threads,
replace the incandescents with LEDs.

+1

You'll appreciate the much longer lifespan and fewer "oull
out the rickety ladder" deal..

It also minimizes the chance of the plastic "shade" getting
burned/discolored when someone installs a too bulb having too
large a dissipation.

Must be my age, but though I've used compact florescents for many years in lots
of places in our home it just never dawned on me to put one in the garage door
opener.

I'm not sure a CFL will like being turned on and off as often as
the lamp would experience WHEN THE DOOR DETECTS A JAM (which usually
blinks the lamp at ~1Hz). It may prematurely age the inverter in
the lamp.

I had a problem with the load represented by the 60W (?) incandescent
causing arcing in the base (cheap "fixture"). After replacing the base,
I opted to install LED lamps hoping that the 4-5 fold reduction in
power would make this less of a problem (of course, there's no
guarantee that the initial *surge* in the LED isn't just as bad!)

I just took the bulb out of the junked opener and screwed it into the new
opener. Speaking of screwing in a light bulb...Click below:

http://wkrp.org/jeff/lightbulb.html

Jeff Wisnia
Sun, 06 Sep 2015
00:17:38 GMT in alt.home.repair, wrote:

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it,
but it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light
bulb, will it?

It's a normal feature on many openers. Some do allow you to disable it
if you decide you don't like it. You might look for a dip switch to
toggle and/or a jumper to move on the back/side of the unit itself.



--
Optimist: Someone who doesn't know all the facts yet.

On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 5:17:42 PM UTC-7, Jeff Wisnia wrote:

The old opener was from an era before the use of a photoelectric safety
beam across the bottom of the door opening, but the new one I installed
naturally has them.

All seems to be working well, but one thing has me wondering. The door
was open, it was daytime and I walked into the garage to grab a
gardening tool I needed outside.

When my leg crossed the photoelectric beam the Opener's light came on
and stayed on for the same time it would have if I'd just opened the door.

Is this a normal action for Craftsman openers? I can live with it, but
it sure seems uneccessary and won't help the life of the light bulb,
will it?


It's normal for the lightbulb to come on that way with all openers
made by Chamberlain (Sears, Chamberlain, and Liftmaster), and it
doesn't hurt the lifespan anywhere as much as motor vibration does.
I haven't bought any rough service (vibration resistant) bulbs in
a long time, but Sears brand rough service incandescent bulbs
used to be some of the cheapest good ones. If you live where the
winters aren't too cold, like below 0 Fahrenheit, you can use
ordinary CFLs instead.

It's a lot better to have a newer opener because burglars could
easily defeat the coding of the old remotes, either by copying it
when a remote was used or by using a gadget to transmit all
1,000 - 50,000 different codes. OTOH if your garage door has
clear windows near the top, the new openers are still vulnerable
to somebody poking a long stiff wire with a hook at the end
between the top of the door and the threshold and looking through
the window to guide wire to just behind the emergency release and
pulling it forward. I think the only brand without that weakness
was Stanley because the release had to be pulled straight down.
the release