First: From the number of postings from Craftsman GDO owners here, might i suggest you buy a better GDO (garage door opener)!
Either that, or hire a professional GDO repairman to come in and trouble-shoot it correctly, or replace it with something better!
It seems the Sears repair/trouble-shooters want to get yer dollars, so many trips equal many dollars!
There must be better GDOs out there, although you might have to pay more money for better product!
Go thru this site--observe the many GDO questions, and the many GDO repeat queries, and you'll see what i mean!
Re: the plastic shavings--they are probably from the stripped gears, either inside or outside of the motor/transmission case!
Rustyj

Wow!!!!!!! I called the K P Garage Door Service in Arlington Heights, IL (847) 255-2287, who installed the doors (see the original posting)

1) he tells me that he does not want to troubleshoot the problem knowing the history of the gear replacements
2) says that the up/down forces should not have been set to the max (9), by that confirming he's done a poor job when he installed the doors
3) does not want to look up the records of him installing the doors because he claims that the warranty does not transfer to new owners
4) swears at me and calls me names saying that I am so cheap to call professional when I was actually calling for professional to come and fix it
5) uses racist remarks about me

I will be filing an official complaint with the police regarding that business. As for my problem, anybody can recommend a good professional GDO repairman in NW suburbs of Chicago?

Thanks!

Gene.

It sounds like the problem is with the door and not the opener.

Can you open the door easily with the opener disengaged? It should be light enough for a about a 5 year old child to lift.

If not, there's your problem.

I expect you will find the original door was much lighter than the current replacement door. Therefore the springs are too weak as installed to counter ballance the door. I would be considering replaceing or adjusting the door hardware and a new opener. The dealer should make good on this installation. But doen't hold your breath. Do check door operation as machiem said above. I just found the bolts in the tracks catching wheels as they tried to pass by on both sides.

Thank you, guys, for posting replies.

I checked the door to make sure it could be manually opened and closed while disengaged... and since it was not that easy to open, I asked the closest GDO serviceman to do a service call for me.

For $80, I got the following:
1) he said that the door is balanced just fine and that I have new springs
2) he told me that I should have put "white" grease on the two plastic gears, a lot of it!!!
3) he tightened the bearing that holds the worm gear on the drive shaft... and after that, was able to lower the up/down forces to 5s
4) he tightened the chain just a little
5) he would not give warranty because the plastic gears are already worn after 5 days in operation
6) he thinks that 2) and 3) were causing the gears to worn out so fast.

Gene.

Gene I would like to reccommend you call Sears service department if you have additional problems. A technician that charges for work performed and refuses to warranty his work is worthless. Sears service will not only do it right they will guaranty it.

I have a Sears garage door operator with a 3-function remote control that I can not get to work in harmony with a Security+ keyless entry system -- eather one or the other works--- get one programed and working go the program the second one get it working the first one does not work... both worked at one time ... store people thought it was a bad security+ keylessd -- replaced with new ---- use the "SRT" buttom to program units -- unable to have both systems work at same time - it is one or the other-----any help would be appreciated---thank you

One of your remotes has reverted to an older technology. You need to buy a new one with the same model number and you will be able to program it plus one of your old remotes. Throw the other away after removing the battery.

I have craftman garage door opener model # 139.53879. Yesterday, when I go back to home, the garage door opener doesn't work,it doesn't open or close the door, but the Garage door is working with switch. I have no idea, what went wrong. The remote has 3 buttons and I am not aware of these button, no owner manual left by previous owner.I replaced the batteries, but no luck Any help will be approciated. Thanks -Surinder

Having a problem with a Craftsman screwdrive 1/2 hp opener; door goes up OK, but have to press and hold the button in, both in the garage and in the house, to complete the operation for it to close; won't close at all with the remotes. Unplugged all the wires in the back of the unit, tried using the remotes, the light on the opener flashes, and that's the only response. Anyone have any ideas? thanks. Considering replacing with a Chamberlain, any input on the quality of this brand or any other?

Sure sounds like your door sensors are misaligned. Simple problem. Don't replace it for that.

When I press the open button, the motor turns on, sounds like it's working, but nothing is moving. The trolley doesn't move nor does the door open. I can open the door very easily. Any help would be appreciated.

Remove the cover and check the white nylon drive gear. It is just in front of the motor and is probably stripped. You should be able to replace it yourself and it is readily available.

I recently replaced the nylon drive and worm gear on my craftsman opener and it works great....As long as 6 inches is all you need to get out of the garage. I don't know why but the opener will only raise the door 6 inches. The motor either turns off or reverses after running for 3-4 seconds. I even disengaged the drive gear by taking it out to see if that was holding it up. So even without the door attached to the motor it's doing the same thing. Any suggestions?

opener signal is weak,control in vehicle and hand control,you have to be 6 feet from it and cross your fingers that it will open what is the problem ?

Put in new sensors will only close when button is held on hard wired control

Hi,
I have a Sears Craftsman GDO model 139.53985D that I inherited when I bought my house 3 years ago. I have had few problems until recently when it intermittently opens (or closes) and then freezes. Sometimes, pushing the button will cause it to go up (or down) but sometimes it's just locked there. I identified that it seems to be a loose connection of some sort since I noticed that the wall button and the sensors are not powered (usually) when it's locked. If I bump the bottom of the motor unit enough times, I can hear a clicking (like an electrical relay) and if the lights come back on, then it will work fine. I opened the sucker up and found that if I pressed on the transformer, I heard the same clicking sound. But I can't seem to clearly identify the source of the loose connection. If I disconnect the two circuit boards from each other, and then manually push them back together with the power on, then I also hear that sound.

Any advice? Or just buy a new unit?

Thanks,
N