# craftsman garage door



## cerbercat (Sep 6, 2011)

My 1/2 hp craftsman garage door will not close when trying to use any of my three remotes. The hard line switch closes the door just fine. I have green lights on my sensors and they appear to be working fine. The remotes open the door just fine.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

I'm going to move this to DIY projects, should get a few more views there.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Hello cerbercat!

I'm assuming the batteries and everything is good. I would say the programming code got off, but you did say it will open the door. 

Are they programmable remotes? If so, I might try to reprogram just to see how it goes. Maybe just try one and see if it changes anything.

I know you said you have a green light on the sensors. But.... man that sure is what it sounds like. But... green is green, right?  If you walk in front of the beam, do you see the green light blink?


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## cerbercat (Sep 6, 2011)

I even disconnected the sensors and reconnected them just to make sure they were working. If it was the sensors the light would blink when I try to close it with the hard line control, like it did when I disconnected them. The really odd thing is my wifes remote will sometimes close the door from inside the garage, but not outside. I'm baffled.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

cerbercat said:


> I even disconnected the sensors and reconnected them just to make sure they were working. If it was the sensors the light would blink when I try to close it with the hard line control, like it did when I disconnected them. The really odd thing is my wifes remote will sometimes close the door from inside the garage, but not outside. I'm baffled.


Ok. :up: Then that makes me wonder if it is the codes. Have you tried reprogramming them?

Also, is there a possibility a neighbors opener may be affecting yours?

Again (stupid question... I know) do they have fresh batteries? If you have a meter, you can check the battery voltage to see if it's good. If not, might be worth it to change out one, re-program it, and see how it goes.

Did the antenna on the opener get messed up? does it look in good shape?


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

It sounds like something has changed very recently around your location, which is causing interference for the RF (radio frequency) 315Mhz (likely frequency) signal. It could be any number of things that you would never guess would interfere with the signal and/or the opener's [signal] receiver. Thus, a few questions to help you think about what the problem might be...

Have you, by chance, changed any lamps (light bulbs) in the garage or garage door opener (or anywhere nearby in the house or outside the house) to the new CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs? Have you added any type of equipment in or around the house - LED lights, fountain pump, clock radio, lanterns, battery charger, fluorescent fixtures, etc.? Do you have any neighbors that may be using a new home security system or Closed Circuit TV Camera System or baby monitoring system, or added/changed a satellite dish, irrigation system with remote control, or an unlocked Wi-Fi modem...or anything similar? Have you tried to re-program the remotes? What color is your operator's program button? Have you tried turning off all electrical (except the garage door operator) to isolate anything on the house's electrical system?

If you cannot come up with any changes that may be interfering with the signal you can always call Technical Support at 1-800-528-5236 and they can help you reprogram the door opener - not the remotes. Then you program the remotes. [But I somewhat doubt re-programming will solve your problem...]


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Koot said:


> It sounds like something has changed very recently, which is causing interference for the RF (radio frequency) signal. It could be any number of things that you would never guess would interfere with the signal and/or the opener's [signal] receiver. Thus, a few questions to help you think about what the problem might be...
> 
> Have you, by chance, changed any lamps (light bulbs) in the garage or garage door opener (or anywhere nearby in the house or outside the house) to the new CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs? Have you added any type of equipment in or around the house? Do you have any new neighbors that may be using an unlocked Wi-Fi? Have you tried to re-program the remotes?
> 
> If you cannot come up with any changes that may be interfering with the signal you can always call Technical Support at 1-800-528-5236 and they can help you reprogram the door opener - not the remotes. Then you program the remotes.


 About time you show up!!! Where you been, man??? 

Good advice here, Koot. I know I was having issues reprogrammed my remote, and problem solved. A lot depends on the age of the opener too, and what kind of technology was used. :up:


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

Drabdr said:


> About time you show up!!! Where you been, man???
> 
> Good advice here, Koot. I know I was having issues reprogrammed my remote, and problem solved. A lot depends on the age of the opener too, and what kind of technology was used. :up:


Thanks! 

You're right about the age and type of transmitters and receiver.

Almost certainly there's a problem with either the receiver [board] or there is something interfering with the signal being transmitted by the remotes. Believe it or not, it is very common for this type of problem to start out of the clear blue...because something has changed. It's a matter of usually finding out what changed and correcting it. As weird as it may sound I've even heard of one fella that added solar powered roof ventilators that caused his problem, and his garage door operator problem only occurred when those fans were operating ...something I still question (in my mind) because there is no RF and only minor EMI potential associated with those solar powered roof ventilator fan units.

Hopefully we can play detective and get things to make sense and sorted out.

PS - Glad our heat broke in the Dallas area. It's feeling good nowadays... :up:


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## cerbercat (Sep 6, 2011)

Thanks for the tips. Oddly enough I've been having some trouble with one of my tvs dish signals that started around the same time. Would a short wave radio do something like this? I have a neighbor two doors down that has an antenna that can be seen from space. I pick up his signal on my sterios sub woofer and baby monitor. Drives me nuts.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

cerbercat said:


> Thanks for the tips. Oddly enough I've been having some trouble with one of my tvs dish signals that started around the same time. Would a short wave radio do something like this? I have a neighbor two doors down that has an antenna that can be seen from space. I pick up his signal on my stereo's sub woofer and baby monitor. Drives me nuts.


Very well could be. By process of elimination one would think they are related.

Are there any times during the day that the openers do work?


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

cerbercat said:


> Thanks for the tips. Oddly enough I've been having some trouble with one of my tvs dish signals that started around the same time. Would a short wave radio do something like this? I have a neighbor two doors down that has an antenna that can be seen from space. I pick up his signal on my sterios sub woofer and baby monitor. Drives me nuts.


Any number of things could interfere with the frequency of your receiver in your garage door opener. What you're looking for is something that is 'On' or generating interference either all the time...or whenever your garage door remotes fail to work properly. Therefore it is important to answer the questions asked of you.

Are there any times during the day that the openers do work?
Have you, by chance, changed any lamps (light bulbs) in the garage or garage door opener (or anywhere nearby in the house or outside the house) to the new CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs? 
Have you added any type of equipment in or around the house - LED lights, fountain pump, clock radio, lanterns, battery charger, fluorescent fixtures, etc.? 
Do you have any neighbors that may be using a new home security system or Closed Circuit TV Camera System or baby monitoring system, or added/changed a satellite dish, irrigation system with remote control, or an unlocked Wi-Fi modem...or anything similar? 
Have you tried to re-program the remotes? 
What color is your operator's program button? 
Have you tried turning off all electrical (except the garage door operator) to isolate anything on your house's electrical system?

Start the process of elimination at your own premises...and hopefully you can find the culprit that's causing the problem is owned (and controlled) by you. If the problem is from a neighbor's property, then you are at their mercy to eliminate the interference.


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## cerbercat (Sep 6, 2011)

Just getting worse and worse. Cleared the settings and tried to reprogram the remotes and it's not taking any of them. All the batteries are good. I'm going to try and call tech support I guess. thanks for the number, Koot.


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

cerbercat said:


> Just getting worse and worse. Cleared the settings and tried to reprogram the remotes and it's not taking any of them. All the batteries are good. I'm going to try and call tech support I guess. thanks for the number, Koot.


You don't want to answer any of the questions...or try to solve the problem?


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## cerbercat (Sep 6, 2011)

talked to a friend of a friend who installs garage doors and he seems to think the board is probably fried since it refuses to program. New board costs about $90 while a whole new motor costs about $140. Does that make sense to anyone?


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## Koot (Nov 25, 2007)

cerbercat said:


> talked to a friend of a friend who installs garage doors and he seems to think the board is probably fried since it refuses to program. New board costs about $90 while a whole new motor costs about $140. Does that make sense to anyone?


If you are sure that you are unable to program the unit then chances are good you do have a defective PCB.


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## 0rchard1956 (Sep 11, 2011)

I have a 1/2 Hp Craftsman Opener too. No power anywhere, no lights, no sensor light-nothing. Found a new board from Northern Shore Commercial Door.

New logic board $65.00 plus shipping.


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## damiandouglas (Sep 26, 2011)

You need to reprogram the garage door remote. From what you said it would appear the code may be off.


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## cerbercat (Sep 6, 2011)

Turns out it was the board. Works fine now, but the universal remote wouldn't program. My garage door friend told me the opener was not good to use with the sears doors and may have even helped cause the board to go bad.


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## cbramsey (Nov 10, 2011)

Ok, First thing to try is to unhook the opener from the door (should be a red string) and see if the door closes freely. If you are having to put any unnecessary force to close the door then the opener is as well and they are programmed to stop. If this is the case or if you have an older opener, you might adjust the force settings, this will be the amount of force required to stop the opener and make it reverse. Depending on your opener, it could be a small screw or could be a program button. If the door does go up and down freely, close your door (still unhooked from opener) and try to run the opener without it being hooked to the door. 

I spend 10 years in the garage door industry and in a situation like yours that would be the first steps I would take to troubleshoot. It is entirely possible that the RF frequency is interfering. intermittent problems are always the most difficult to diagnose, but if you can eliminate the mechanical issues then you can move knowing you have something strange going on and not something with the door.

As a part of maintenance, you should spray all hinges, rollers and springs on your garage door with WD-40 at least every three months and sometimes more often depending on the climate you live in.


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Great post, cbramsey! :up: Thank you.

And welcome to TSG! :up:


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