Garage Door Opener



Question:
The door opener is acting up. The door will only go a foot or so and stop then the next time gos the other way. Tested the beam sensor on another opener and they worked fine. You came hear what seems to be a relay going off and on, coming from the control board. Notice that some times when you hear the sound, the light on the beam sensor go off. Disconnected the wiring from the button to check for a short. This is a Stanley opened. It may work fine a few times before actng up again. Any ideas what to look at next.

Answer:
If it works with the trolley disconnected, then see that the door opens and closes easily and is balanced properly (should slowly fall if 1/3 open, should slowly rise if 2/3 open). If it is, then suspect motor capacitor (cylindrical, not on circuit board) and the 2 motor relays (clockwise and counterclockwise), but never rule out cracked solder joints because of all the vibration from the motor, and cracks can be nearly invisible except under 10x magnification and strong light. Those relays are known to build up carbon on their contacts, but don't file or sand them. They're standard parts, like Clare or Omron, and are available from electronics supplies and maybe even the Radio Shack Industrial catalog Stanleys weren't cheaply built like Liftmaster or Chamberlain units and rarely break mechanically, except for 1980s models made with brittle polyester parts (rarely had optical beams, force adjustment was through a single large knob on the bottom, and the only chips on the board were 3 generics, each 14-16 pins).





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