Craftsman garage door sensors

18 years ago

I have a craftsman opener that will open only by holding the button on the wall. I was told that the problem was the sensors, so I got 2 sensors and wired them up only to have the same problem. They were used sensors and the sender lights up when wired and goes out when I wire the receiving sensor. Is there a way for me to test the sensors to see if they are working with out the system ?? I have power to both sides. And I put the sensors facing each other and the green light doesn't come on.

Can someone help?

Thanks

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Comments (8)

Don_
18 years ago
Make sure you are connecting the wires correctly. The solid white wires go to terminal 2 and the white wires with black tracer go to terminal 3. There is no way to check the sensors other than to hook them up to the opener. They should be marked with a small decal. One is the 'sending unit' and the other is the 'receiving unit'. The light on the sending unit should be on all the time and the receiving unit only lights when they are pointed at one another. It sounds like the receiving unit has a short causing the light on the sending unit to go out. See if you can take them back.
gmani
18 years ago
I am at my wits end. I have a brand new Chamberlain opener and the sensors will not stay aligned (I have tried and tried, even with a laser leveler but nothing works). I was told that I could by-pass them by taping them together, eye to eye. I tried this last night and it still doesn't work. I don't need the sensors, is there anything I can do? Please help!
Thanks,
Greg
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The sunlight shouldn't affect it. I can't think of any way that it would. "I have solid green and orange LEDs, " But that doesn't mean that they are aligned correctly and the slightest vibration could throw them off. They can be close enough to make the LEDS light up while the door isn't moving. Watch the LEDS while it is closing and see if they blink. Use a string or straight edge if you have one that is long enough, or you can also use a laser level. Using a string is easiest to describe, so I will use that example. I hope you can figure out my instructions! It's easier with two people but if you are doing it alone. Tie the string below one sensor and pull it over the top of it, then over the top of the other sensor. The string should lay flat across both. Adjust if needed. Then tie off to the side of one and pull across the other and adjust that axis also. Repeat step one in case the adjustment moved the other axis. I hope this helps.
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If your opener didn't come with safety sensors it will not work with them.
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Cold weather affects the receive unit of older Craftsman garage door sensors. You've tried tweaking the alignment. You've checked the connections. Everthing is as it was when it worked but now the weather is cold and the garage door won't close. The green light on the receiver is off. You've tried warming the sensor with a hair drier and it miraculously woke up after a few minutes of gentle heat. Well, are you ready to fix this thing or replace it? Let's fix it. Remove the clip on wire and unscrew the sensor from the bracket so you can hold it in your hand. Notice the seam that runs lengthwise along the unit. Using a sturdy blade such as a carpet cutting knife, score the seam several times being careful not to apply too much pressure or cut yourself. Carefully pry the shell into two parts. Be careful not to lose the lens when separating the pieces. Gently lift out the printed circuit board. On this board are two electrolytic capacitors. One is 470uf at 10 volts. The other is 1uf at 50 volts. (Probably only the 470uf part is bad but I replaced both capacitors because I don't like doing the same job twice). Go to Radio Shack or your favorite parts supplier and buy replacements. Solder them in observing the correct polarity. The board has a plus sign near the hole through which the positive side of the capacitor goes through. If you are unsure how to solder the parts in, find the nearest geek on the block and pay him a few bucks to do it for you. Put the two halves back together and use black electrical tape or whatever you've got (no duct tape pleeez!) to hold it together. Plug in the cord and mount it back on the bracket and tilt up and down until the light comes on. You are in business again for about 5 bucks worth of parts and a little of your time. Alternatively, you can buy a new set of sensors for about 30 bucks. RE: Craftsman Garage door opener One last post: I took the old capacitors to work with me and put them on a cap checker. My suspicion was correct. The 1uf capacitor was still good and the 470uf capacitor was bad. So you don't need to replace both unless you really want to. Just replace the 470uf capacitor and your repair cost has now dropped to about 2 bucks worth of a part and your time. PS: When you tape the two halves together, run the tape lengthwise along the seam, one piece on the top and and another on the bottom. The mounting screw will keep the halves together. You just want to keep the dust out.
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that makes no sense. only thing i can think of would be to check the safety sensor beam and make sure they are still lined up. maybe you knocked them out of alignment. of course, that should only affect CLOSING, not opening. other than that, was there a light there previously or did you tap off the AC outlet for the GDO? did you kill power before installign the light? maybe you shorted the wires and made it go stupid.
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sdello
18 years ago
gmani:
I don't understand your post. you say that the sensors "will not stay aligned". I interpret this to say that they work when initially installed, but then move and no longer see each other (so the door doesn't work properly). Then you say that when you put them right next to each other (and bypass the safety feature) they don't work (even though "alignment" is taken out of the picture).

If they don't work when in very close proximity to each other (assuming they are wired correctly and there are no cuts/breaks/shorts in the wire leads) then they don't work at all. If it's a brand new opener then return them.

This is a safety feature that is integral with the computer logic board. There is no way to disable the requirement to have working sensors connected and still have the door operate without having to manullay hold the wall switch for the full closure of the door.

hope this helps.
Don_
18 years ago
gmani check the connections at the terminals on the back of the motor unit. If they are not tight the vibration when the motor runs could be causing your problem.
vzelenko_hotmail_com
16 years ago
I have a similar problem. I had a brand new garage opener installed about a year ago and it all worked fine. Recently, my remote stopped closing the door, yet it opens fine.

When I hold down the button on the wall (directly connected), the door closes. The power is set to the max and there are no difficulties sliding the door for the motor.

I suspect the issue is with the sensors. One is ALWAYS yellow while the other is always green. I even unmounted them and held closely together (still wired) to check the alignment issue, but same result. One thing to note is there was some work done near sensors that produced A LOT of dust.

Is there anything I can check or do to fix this?

Thanks in advance.
sdello
16 years ago
vzelenko:
If the sensors are operating properly, the sender light will be on all the time, but the receiver light should only be on when it is aligned with the sender. If the beam is broken, i.e. something blocks the reciever then the light should go out. If you're finding it on all the time and can't make it go out then it sounds like it might be a logic board problem. when the work was done, is it possible that the circuit got overloaded and tripped the breaker or something like that? the PC logic boards don't like electrical spikes and it may have damaged the board.

Hope this helps.
Jerry_Webster_Rogers_com
15 years ago
I have a similar problem, the door will not close unless the wall switch is held. I have moved the sensors physically together, one has a yellow light which is always on regardless of alignment (is this the sending unit?). The other has a green light which, in this reconfigured (close together) arrangement is on solid (i.e. aligned). But the symptoms are unchanged.
The travel (door down direction) is about 6 to 8" then stops and reverses (the door itself is released to eliminate any binding problem). A small yellow light on the back of the motor flashes four times then goes out and then repeats the four flashes.
don_1_2006
15 years ago
The flashing light is giving the code for misaligned sensors but that can't be as you describe it. I would have to say bad sensors. The light that stays on all the time is the sending unit and the other is the receiving unit.

Craftsman garage door sensors

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Don_

gmani

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