try changing the code.

another thing to check is it may be the wall button's wires are bad and intermittently shorting.

it is hard to find any problem when it only happens occasionally.

You have a very old outdated opener. It would be best if you just replaced it with a new state of the art opener.

Thanks for your replies. I may try to change the code but I have never done that and check the button's wires. Since I will be selling the house soon, I don't want to change the opener.

Be aware that code in many places requires an updated opener with the electric eyes and reversing mechanisms and all.

JJ Garden

If this is a Stanley machine, your problem is normal and it's a relativly simple fix. Is it a Stanley?

Hi GDS,
I finally got a chance to check the opener. It is from Stanley. Could you please tell me how to fix it? Greatly appreciated

JJ

Thanks GDS for the details. However, there is some difference to the symptom. The light bulbs did not flash when the door opens at no reason. I am sure the light bulbs are working fine.

I will try to open the box to check as your described.

Thanks again.

JJ

A number of years ago I had the same problem. Turnes out the neighbor had a new driveway poured and the cement trucks shortwave? radio was on the same freguency as our opener. Never had a problem again after that.

It could also be an adjustment thing, if the overlimit sensor thingys are out of adjustment, a very small movement, like the wind, might be enough to make the door think it's hit an object, and reverse (open)

Or it could be sunspot radiation, if it's an old opener.

I guess the alternative is, you could lock the thing - if there's a provision with buttons to do it, then it can't be opened with the remote til it's "unlocked" (don't confuse this with using a physical lock on the door, you'll burn the opener out)

Well, the problem happens quite sporadically over the last few months. Therefore, there must be something in the opener that is going weird.

pjb999, could you please explain more on the remote lock? Is it something add-on to my existing opener or the power switch to the opener? I was thinking to buy one of those remote light switch that you can use to turn on the lights in the house while driving to the drive-way and convert it to turn on the switch to the GDO instead.

In my experience most of the time its the bell button, buy a now one for 2 bucks at the local hardware store. Also I have found that the button on the remote control is so worn if you put it down face up the door will open. You can buy after market remotes at HD.....As far as local opener codes the home inspectors only checks the reversing sensor, if it reverses easily your covered.

Fast forward to July 2008.

I have a Stanley garage door opener approx 23 yrs old. It opens spontaneously, usually between 3am and 5am. The security light flashes. I can't associate the opening with any kind of weather event or human/animal intervention. I will look at the circuit board as suggested and re-post when/if I discover anything. As to a cause, I have been leaning to spurious radio transmission (RF) of some sort - perhaps a CB, ham, or taxicab radio. A nearby neighbor is a taxi driver.

If the opener is 23 yrs old. it is time for an upgrade to a new opener with the rolling code transmitters and the optical sensors that reverse the door. that will solve your problem of the door opening. then you have peace of mind when you leave home you know the door isn't going to open by itself

The solution posted by GDS above was right on.

When you come home and find your door open and you know it was closed before you left earlier, then depending on whether the light (clicker) is flashing or not, you have a good idea where to start looking for a solution.

No clicking means that the door was ordered to open while you were away either by a stray radio signal with concidental code, a faulty manual push-button switch wired directly to the opener, or stray electro-static/magnetic interference causing an overly sensitive circuit board to behave eratically.

A clicking light means that the motor came on by itself without any 'real' external command and attempted to push the closed door even harder against the garage floor and this triggered the overload protection which caused the door to open and the warning light to flash.

GDS explains perfectly why the motor would spontaneously come on by itself without any remote command. The reason as reported above is that there is a double-throw,single-pole metal leaf switch (3 thin metal strips riveted together) which gets activated only when the door moves to its fully open or fully closed position. One switch, two roles to play, thanks to two plastic wands that move up and down with the motor to trigger a stop at either the upper or lower pre-programmed positions.

This leaf switch is soldered to the circuit board by 3 joints, and over 16 years in my case, the constant pressure on this leaf switch (several inch-ounces of torque) can cause the solder joints to crack. And so they did in my case, as you need a magnifying glass to see these hairline cracks, but they were apparent to me, having worked in electronics for over 40 years.

When wind vibrates the garage door, the vibrations feed back into the circuit board and the bad solder joint(s) temporarily opens the circuit which makes the motor think that it still needs to continue closing the door. Since the door can't be physically moved any more in the down direction, the safety micro-switch gets triggered by the overloaded motor and the door gets re-opened.

To repair the bad solder joint(s), you need a 50 watt electronic technician's pencil shaped soldering iron and some thin solder that is designed for electronic work and not for copper plumbing.

Overheating the solder tabs on the board will cause delamination. Better to let an expert do the work. Cheaper than replacing the whole board and in my case, I only needed an hour to solve this problem, which would have been impossible without this thread.

Thanks GDS. All problems in life should have a posted solution like this one.

Wow, that post was from three years ago and I didn't think anybody took advantage of it.
It's nice to know that your efforts have been appreciated.
Thank you.
GDS

gds I have been searching for the answer to my GDO problem for a couple of hours and can't believe I found it just as I was giving up for the night! I can solder to mil spec MOTU stds so not a problem for me! Thanks os much for leaving this post up whomever is in charge of it and mostly to gds for supplying it!

I've got the same issue, and I work in electronics too. I'll be fixing it tonight...

If you have an older fixed code unit at least look into upgrading to a rolling code system.

You can replace the remotes and hook up a rolling code to just about any existing system.

Mine was mostly opening by itself, but Monday when I was taking out the trash it closed by itself leaving me outside. Could this still be from the loose board? Sometimes its only half open when I come home. Any suggestions?

Hi! My solution has been to plug the garage door opener in to a remote switch like you have for Christmas lights. I turn the power to the garaged door opener off when I leave and turn it back on when I return home, then use the garage door opener. I also use the remote to turn off the power to the opener before I go to bed at night. I had hoped that turning the power off to the opener would reset the cycle but it didn't. My unit is less than 5 years old and was professionally installed.

GDS was right on. The 3 little solder joints on the back side had broken loose. I resoldered them and fixed the garage opener that had been opening without notice. Your instructions were very precise and clear to follow. THANKS for your help. bill