I got a problem with my garage opener in past few days. I can close the door when I leave for work but cannot open the door when I come home. At first I thought the trouble is caused by cold weather. Then I thought is the board gone bad. However, when I get the remote close to the antena, everything works fine. Finally I observe that my garage door open/close indicater(Made by Craftsman) both lights are flashing(red and green). Therefore I disconnet the AC power on the receiver then test out the garage door remote. Surprisely, everything works like a charm. The trouble is caused by the unit that attached to the garage door runs out the battery. I bet the receiver unit was sending signal to find the door unit consistenly which interferences the signal of garage door remote control, including my keypad door opener. After I replace the battery on the door unit, everything is back to normal. Just want to share with anyone who has the same situation. Signal interference will cause the trouble to remote control.

There are two completely separate possible problems. Problem #1 is a noisy LED (not, sound noise, but electrical noise that makes radio interference) that makes it more difficult for the radio signal from remote to base to work. Problem #2 is a capacitor on the board that wears out with age that affects the wireless capabilities. The LED bulb doesn't cause a bad capacitor or vice versa. These are cumulative issues, but unrelated in cause. So, it's slightly possible that a combination of these two issues could exist where the cumulative effects of both are enough to make it not work. But, one doesn't cause the other. Test #1 is to just temporarily remove any bulbs from the opener and see if that makes a difference in how the wireless remote works. If it does, then you probably just need a better bulb. If it doesn't, then the next most likely cause is the capacitor. For my opener, the bulbs made no difference. Mine was fixed by replacing the capacitor and is now working fine (at 25 years old).

kurto and bigbird: thanks for the advice. Exactly what I was looking for. My dear departed dad (high voltage POCO electrician, too bad I didn't learn more from him while he was alive...) always used Scotch 88 tape. I bought a roll a while ago. What an amazing difference from the Asian stuff. Reiterates the phrase "you get what you pay for." Thanks again.

I am new here and joined due to this particular discussion. I am an electrical contractor and recently bought a miller thunderbolt ac dc stick welder that I plan on wiring a receptacle for. The cable feeding the unit is only #10 AWG 3 conductor with what looks to be a 30 amp cord end attached (could have been added later--I bought it used. The welder input power is listed at 240 volt 46 amps if I remember right. My plan was to run #6 AWG wire and terminate to a 50 amp 3 wire twist lock receptacle. I would also replace the male cord end and wire on the welder to #6 wire and a different 50 amp cord end. The fella named rcmjr had a good question. He asked what size wire should I run for a 50 amp circuit? Well typically without considering Art 630 of the NEC we would run #6 THHN wire to the receptacle unless special circumstances are present such as a long run (over 100 foot), or it is feeding a motor or other instance. If you wanted to go what I would consider "over and above" and leave the receptacle in the home after moving out wired correctly thats how I would run it. That way when so and so moves in and plugs their 45 amp device into the unit they would be safe. A circuit breaker is kind of like a thermostat. It senses heat and opens the circuit. The problem with art 630 is that if you run #10 wire from a 50 or 60 amp breaker and terminate onto a 50 or 60 amp rated receptacle someone could theoretically come by and plug something other than a welder with a low duty cycle and the WIRE WOULD MELT BEFORE THE BREAKER TRIPPED!!! the size and rating of the insulation of copper wire is listed in 310.16 or thereabouts in the NEC. We usually size wire using the 75 degree column since most panel lugs are only rated for 75 degrees Celsius. That puts you right at about 30 amps. Now art 630 says I can run #10 wire to my receptacle to feed my 46 amp welder. What it does not say (but I believe it is implied) is that same wire will be terminated into a receptacle and breaker greater than the 30 amp rating of that wire. There are a couple problems with this. But perhaps most frightening is the fire risk. You can either terminate into a 30 amp receptacle for instance or say a 50 amp one. Well, in my opinion it is safer on a higher ampere rating receptacle because the receptacle is rated for a higher ampacity and would not be the weak link in the circuit. Since people who write code do their research I feel safe doing so as long as I prevent unauthorized access to the receptacle and if I was to move I would simply remove it or install a 240 volt 30 amp twist lock receptacle thus providing a safe circuit in most instances. The ideal situation would be to run wire rated for the amp draw of the machine regardless of what art 630 in the code says about duty cycle and downsizing conductor size. That would mean running #6 to a 50 amp plug and terminating into a 50 amp 2 pole breaker. Or #4 onto a 60 amp breaker and receptacle. I will probably run #10 wire though to my welder and remove the receptacle and pull the wire off the breaker if I move. I am new to welding but I am comfortable with electricity so I hope that helps someone out.