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Craftsman 1/2 HP GDO only opens half

14 years ago

I have this GDO that came with the house and my guess is at least 15 years old. Using any opening device (standard control inside garage, keypad outside garage or remotes in the car) the door will only go up half way. Then the unit will be dead for 30 seconds to a minute. Then pressing any of the buttons will close the door.

There is a green light on the standard control panel which turns off after the door gets stuck halfway on the way up. It stays turned off for 30 seconds to a minute. Then when the green light comes back on, making a clicking noise near the motor unit and a light flashing a few times, the garage door can be closed from its halfway open position by pressing the control panel.

The alignment green LEDs are solid green and with the motor arm disengaged the garage door is easy to lift all the way up.

Please help.

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Comments (5)

don_1_2006
14 years ago
It sounds like it might be losing power. What does the opener do when the door is not connected to it? Which light flashes a few times? Also count the times - it matters. Was it this way when you bought the house? Post back and I will try to help.
papu_09
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Don thanks for your response.

The GDO is manufactured in 1997. I could not find any model #. It has been functioning fully till now. We have been in the house for 9 years. There were couple of times we needed to service it. Once for a broken spring and another time something minor I do not remember what.

I just now finished experimenting with the GDO to identify a consistant pattern. Following is what I found:

GD in closed position, arm engaged, the green light on the standard control panel is on. After I pressed it to open the green light went off and the GDO opened the door 3/4 and stopped. The light on the panel came back after 15 seconds with 1 clicking sound at the motorized unit.

I pressed the control panel to close the door from 3/4 open position. GDO closed the door normally. The green light on the control panel went off like before and came back after 15 seconds with a clicking sound at the motorized unit. 8 seconds after that an orange LED on the right side of the square red learning button flashed 4 times.

The above happened consitantly 3 times. Let me know what I should do next so that you can have a better understanding of what is wrong.

Also I have the following addtional question:

Does the standard control panel run on battery or electricity? If battery, then does that need to be changed? How is the unit opened?

Thank for your help.
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don_1_2006
14 years ago
On the rear of the motor unit near where all those white are you will find the 'up force' control. Increase this about 1/4 turn and try.

The red LED flashed a code for "door sensors misaligned but I don't thank that is true. If it is really flashing that code it will flash and pause continuously.

The wall control runs on electricity supplied by the two wires and the keypad runs on a battery. There is a small phillips head screw near the bottom and the panel slides off.

I still think you may have a loose connection and it may be on your logic board.
papu_09
Original Author
14 years ago
I have an up force and a down force on the left side of the unit when facing the door. It is accessible with a screwdriver. On the back underneath where the wires meet is an up and down weight control with marking 1,2,3...7. Which one should I be turning?

If it is logic board loose connection then I have to call the door guys, right?

Thanks,
don_1_2006
14 years ago
You should be increasing the 'up force'.

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