Genie garage door opener

[76zimmer]

I've run through the trouble shooting manual to no avail. The door starts to close, but within a foot starts back up. Some say replace the infra-red beam transmitter and reciever, others say to replace the circuit board, or the limit switch, so by the time I try all these parts I'm not far from having a whole new opener....so this thing is 18 yrs old and It has served me well for this long, so I was thinking of getting another Genie screwdrive, but do you know of something better?

 

[Fordum]

Don't know if I have ever worked on a Genie, but I have fixed a few openers. And have a friend who runs a garage door company.
Don't know what brand he uses, but if I get to feeling better, I'll ask.

Meanwhile, here are some things to check.
First, pull the door release and see if the unit runs all the way to the end with no load.
If so, then try closing the door by hand to see if anything is binding.

There may be a many as three different things that control what is happening.
A run timer, a load sensor, and the infrared beam.

If the run timer is messed up, then it will stop and go back under no load. If it does, check the control board to see how the length of time is selected, and change the setting to something else and then back.
If it uses a potentiometer it may be dirty and will clean up by turning. If dip switches, turning them on and off will clean them up too.

The load sensor is usually a switch mounted on the drive end of the screw. The thrust bearing is usually spring loaded with the switch attached to the frame.
When the screw encounters a load, the bearing moves back against the spring and eventually closes the switch.

The beam is mounted on both sides of the door. Some of them just have a reflector on one side, others have a receiver.
Make sure that the two pieces are solidly mounted, the optics are clean, and there is nothing inbetween the two halves.
I saw one that had the two halves mounted on a bracket hooked to the door track. One of the tracks worked loose from the wall, and would twist enough to misalign the beam when the door started down.

 

[Avery4jc]

Our garage door did this exact same thing last year after I gave it a love tap with my trailer right in the middle down low.

On ours it bowed the bottom panel inward just enough that when it was almost closed it would barely trip the beam. I fought with straightening it then I just flipped the sensors to the outside of the brackets instead of the inside. It gained me about an inch and fixed it.

You been backing trailers into your door?

 

[Fordum]

BTW your post was a little unclear. Does it stop after moving about a foot, or about a foot from the floor.
If it stops after a foot of travel, do my last post checks.
If it stops a foot from the floor, look at the bottom of the door. I had a piece of pine straw stuck to the bottom of the door, right next to the side where it was hard to see.
But, being that close to the transmitter it was enough to trip it just before it got down.

 

[76zimmer]

my door reverse's after about a foot from the top. 16/7.6 door.
I have the infrared sensor boxes mounted to the wall studs with stout steel plates as the brackets that came with the unit got mangled from a garage incident.
The sensor beam eyes are clean
The garage door closes/opens easily by hand. Feels pretty balanced overall.
J...I will take your list and go through it all tomorrow.

 

[sweetk30]

instaled a screwdrive genie few years ago did same thing.

found out i didnt use a LOT of grease/lube on the screw.

friend came over as he had one for years also . he got the tube of grease out and slimed it all up and hit the button.

been workin fine since.

 

[4X4HIGH]

I have a Chamberlain whisper drive and i'm happy with it. I've had this one for about 6-7 years and IIRC I paid about $150 for it back then.

 

[bailey9r]

Obvious thing first is check the preload springs, but double check it cause sometimes one will break and not be that easy to see and there is no way a opener can open or close it unless they are somewhat balanced. Then disconnect the opener and roll the door up and down by hand to check for binding, before you blame poor Genie. Then if it looks like it is her letting you down then dump the bitch and get a craftsman with a diehard battery so you are still in the game when the power is off.

 

[76zimmer]

my door reverse's after about a foot from the top. 16/7.6 door.
I have the infrared sensor boxes mounted to the wall studs with stout steel plates as the brackets that came with the unit got mangled from a garage incident.
The sensor beam eyes are clean
The garage door closes/opens easily by hand. Feels pretty balanced overall.
J...I will take your list and go through it all tomorrow.

Obvious thing first is check the preload springs, but double check it cause sometimes one will break and not be that easy to see and there is no way a opener can open or close it unless they are somewhat balanced. Then disconnect the opener and roll the door up and down by hand to check for binding, before you blame poor Genie. Then if it looks like it is her letting you down then dump the bitch and get a craftsman with a diehard battery so you are still in the game when the power is off.

Yep springs look good, and tension feels pretty balanced throughout the entire range of door opening. It is a very heavy door also.

 

[woodchk502]

I have a lift master and had a similar problem about 3 months back. It would start closing and then just stop. Like it had lost all power. Then whenever it felt like it the light would come back on and it would work for a while. I took the circuit board loose and while pulling it out I felt it clicking. click power. click no power. click power. then finally when I got it all the way loose a click and its been working fine since. actually still hanging there.

All that being said if yours is not stopping its going down then pow! it goes back up I think Id try to find a way to trouble shoot the infared beam.

Just what worked for me. Good luck.

jim

 

[Fordum]

I've run through the trouble shooting manual to no avail. The door starts to close, but within a foot starts back up. Some say replace the infra-red beam transmitter and receiver, others say to replace the circuit board, or the limit switch, so by the time I try all these parts I'm not far from having a whole new opener....so this thing is 18 yrs old and It has served me well for this long, so I was thinking of getting another Genie screwdrive, but do you know of something better?

Well, my problems have progressed. The head cold got better, moved into my chest and shut down my voice completely.
Now its getting better, but it has turned into a sinus infection which feels like its going to blow the top of my head off.
And my doctor is in England until Monday.....Woo Hoo.

So, I have not given this the attention it deserves. But I need something to take my mind off the pain, so here goes.


Which model do you have? I went here,
http://www.geniecompany.com/GenieCompany.aspx?cid=322
to download a manual, but did not know which one to get.

When you say you have gone through the troubleshooting manual, I assume you have adjusted the close force setting and watched the LEDs on the safety beam.

Does it go all the way to the limit switch with the door disconnected from the drive and the door up?
If so, try letting it move towards the closed position with the door disconnected and then close the door by hand before it gets to the end.

If it stops and reverses then, then something about that door closing is breaking the beam or causing a loose wire to move.

You can see the beam with some digital cameras. Actually all digital camera pickup elements can see infrared, but many have IR filters.

If you have an infrared remote control for a TV or something, go into a darkened room and point it at your camera and see if you can see the LED blinking through the electronic viewfinder.
Some cell phone cameras can see it and some can't. If you find one that can, put a white piece of paper in front of the receiver and see what the pattern looks like.
It may be right on the edge.

OK, I gotta go. The head is not getting better. The idiots are resurfacing the main highway I need to go down to get to town, and it a long wait to get anywhere.
I'm gonna cut through the woods and go to one of these walk-in clinics to score me some antibiotics.
I should have done that last Monday, but the doc was out of town and I figured I could just tough it out.
Since the sinuses share a blood supply with my brain, I want to kill this thing before I start acting like my idiot cousin..........

 

[76zimmer]

Well, my problems have progressed. The head cold got better, moved into my chest and shut down my voice completely.
Now its getting better, but it has turned into a sinus infection which feels like its going to blow the top of my head off.
And my doctor is in England until Monday.....Woo Hoo.

So, I have not given this the attention it deserves. But I need something to take my mind off the pain, so here goes.


Which model do you have? I went here,
http://www.geniecompany.com/GenieCompany.aspx?cid=322
to download a manual, but did not know which one to get.

When you say you have gone through the troubleshooting manual, I assume you have adjusted the close force setting and watched the LEDs on the safety beam. YES, same results, door closes about 6-10 inches then reverses.

Does it go all the way to the limit switch with the door disconnected from the drive and the door up? BEING A SCREW DRIVE, THE SCREW WILL CONTINUALLY RUN UNTIL IT TIMES OUT, IT WILL DO THIS IN EITHER DIRECTION WITH THE DOOR UNHOOKED.
If so, try letting it move towards the closed position with the door disconnected and then close the door by hand before it gets to the end.
TRIED THIS...HELD THE DOOR OPEN ABOUT 1' FROM FLOOR, RAN THE OPENER FOR ABOUT 10 SEC, THEN CLOSED THE DOOR TO THE FLOOR (ENGAGING THE DOWN LIMIT SWITCH) THIS STOPPED THE MOTOR.

If it stops and reverses then, then something about that door closing is breaking the beam or causing a loose wire to move. IT DID NOT REVERSE FROM THE ABOVE TEST

You can see the beam with some digital cameras. Actually all digital camera pickup elements can see infrared, but many have IR filters.

If you have an infrared remote control for a TV or something, go into a darkened room and point it at your camera and see if you can see the LED blinking through the electronic viewfinder.
Some cell phone cameras can see it and some can't. If you find one that can, put a white piece of paper in front of the receiver and see what the pattern looks like.
It may be right on the edge. THE BEAM IS PRETTY EASY TO SEE WHERE IT IS HITTING AT IN THE EYE, I BLEW SOME SMOKE INTO THE RECIEVER EYE, AND GOT IT DEAD CENTER...DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING...

quote]

LOOKING INTO A NEW OPENER, I'M DONE FOCKING AROUND WITH THIS ONE.

 

[bp71k5]

I have a Chamberlain whisper drive and i'm happy with it. I've had this one for about 6-7 years and IIRC I paid about $150 for it back then.

I had one of those too. It was really cool how quiet it was. I could open it at midnight for some night wrenchin' without waking anyone.


-Brian

 

[76zimmer]

I had one of those too. It was really cool how quiet it was. I could open it at midnight for some night wrenchin' without waking anyone.


-Brian

Holding up well then?

I got 18 years out of this Genie, without having to do anything til now. I still suspect something in the circuit board or???? seems the mechanial easy stuff outside the box is all OK.

 

[sweetk30]

little of this does good things . http://www.blastercorporation.com/Garage_Door_Lube.html

mine was just recently bouncing a bit going up/down and would not open at times.

its getting cold here all the time now and still got worse.

lubed the screw and roller wheels with this and opens perfect now.

few bucks to try and possible fix it.

 

[bp71k5]

Holding up well then?

I assume it is, new owners are using it now.




-Brian

 

[76zimmer]

little of this does good things . http://www.blastercorporation.com/Garage_Door_Lube.html

mine was just recently bouncing a bit going up/down and would not open at times.

its getting cold here all the time now and still got worse.

lubed the screw and roller wheels with this and opens perfect now.

few bucks to try and possible fix it.

thanks Brett, I did clean the screwdrive w/ brakecleaner, then lubed with PB blaster, also the rollers on the door. This door doesn't seem to be the issue here, it is a pretty heavy door, but seems well balanced and is relatively easy to open and shut by hand.

I assume it is, new owners are using it now.




-Brian

Thanks Brian.

 

[sweetk30]

what pb blaster product tho ? ? ? ?

if you use this it will rust stuff fast. its only for removing rusted bolts . http://www.blastercorporation.com/PB_Blaster.html

NOTE : all blaster product can's look almost the same. always check the can lable

 

[zombie1969]

Genie sucks. The one that came with my house was acting weird. Whenever there's a power loss and power is restored it didn't work. I would have to lift the door manually and unplug the unit for a few seconds then plug it back in and it was fine till a power loss. I went and got a new one the same model just a newer version and guess what...Same thing! I had genie send me every part of the thing to try and fix it and in the end they said its how its programed to work in the event of a power loss. How the hell does that make any sense at all? Apparently its not enough you have to reset every clock in the house they felt resetting your garage door was going to be needed also.

 

[Fordum]

OK, trying to get back up to speed on this thing. I'm down in the swamp, and have discovered that the swamp is not damaged-leg friendly.
Got a few minutes right now when I'm not hunting, and I am letting my leg rest so the pain will ease off.

If I read your reply post correctly, the unit does not reverse when the door is disconnected. Just runs until it times out.
Plus, the unit does not reverse when you close it manually.

If I got that correct, then we have narrowed the heck out of the possibilities.
It has to be something involved with the door. Its not the limit switches, because it does not reverse when you close it manually.
And its not just a logic problem, because it does not do it when the door is unhooked.

I'm pretty sure that narrows it down to something wrong with the force system.
It has the system that stops it and reverses it when it encounters too much force, and apparently it is tripping when it shouldn't.

I say when it shouldn't, because you have moved the door by hand and it moves easily. But, even so, when you hook up the door, it trips. Which almost has to be the force sensor system.

At this point however, I have hit a wall. I do not know how it senses the amount of force.
I doubt its an actual strain gauge, because that is a little too high tech for that unit.
Its got to be either a movable thrust bearing on a spring that moves according to the amount of thrust needed to close the door, a torque sensing spring on the motor mounts or somewhere that twists according to how hard the screw has to turn, or a current sensor that detects how much current the motor draws.

I'm guessing that whatever it is is defective. Broken spring, or the motor needs oiling and is drawing too much current.

I wish I could have this darn thing in front of me for 5 minutes, I could tell how it detects a load.

I'm in the swamp until Sunday. Got to crawl out and go do some work on Monday and Tuesday.
I've got a friend who installs garage doors for a living. He just might have a Genie laying around.
If he does, I'll check it out and see if it gives me more ideas.