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bennyz_gw

Remotes for Sears 3/4 garage door opener working intermittently

bennyz
14 years ago

A few weeks ago my remotes for the garage door opener started acting up. In the garage the remotes work fine, outside the garage they stopped working. If I get out of the car with the remote and reach into the garage it works and the door closes. The wireless keypad also now works sporadically. Most of the time it does not work. The hard wired connection to the opener inside the garage has always worked and still does. The 2 lights on the sensors for the door reversal are solid, and works fine if I ever break the beam when closing the door, it reverses like it is supposed to, and turns the light on when it is dark and the beam is broken.

Prior to a few weeks ago, the remotes worked 50-60 feet away from the door and worked perfectly. Suddenly about 2-3 weeks ago all of this started. The only change I can think of is excessive cold in my area. 10-20 below zero. Now it is about 30 above and it is still acting up. Any ideas? Should I reprogram all the remotes? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks for reading this.

Comments (4)

  • don_1_2006
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here are some items to check.

    Limited range of your remote controls could be related to radio frequency interference that comes from something in your home or in the surrounding environment. Certain electrical devices can radiate interference; this could be almost anything that is plugged into an electrical outlet.

    Please keep in mind that the device can be brand new, or can be an item that has been in use for quite a while. Also, the item may continue to function properly as far as you are able to tell. The only problem with the item may be that it has started to broadcast the interference, with no other symptoms noted.

    Some devices are more likely to generate interference than others. This includes TV cable, cable amplifiers, surge protectors, fluorescent lights, battery charging devices (power tools, golf carts, etc.), anything that utilizes a timer (sprinkler systems, lights, alarm systems, etc.), and a myriad of others. If the problem seems sporadic, we can safely assume that the device responsible for the interference is only being operated during these times. Again, please keep in mind that the age of the device does not determine if it is capable of broadcasting unwanted interference. Any electrical device can be the source of the problem.

    The first step is replacing the battery in your remote. If the range on your remote does not improve, remove the wall control wires from the overhead unit. If the range does not improve you will likely need to replace the remote control. After replacing the remote, or if you have other remotes programmed in to the opener, and the range problem still exists, please proceed to the Power Down test.

    Multiple garage doors:
    If you have two garage door units and one is working just fine, you will need to start by unplugging the good unit. This will help determine if the unit with no range starts to function properly. If the range comes back to the bad unit then you will need to replace the logic board on the unit that was unplugged as it is emitting an RF signal that is over powering the other garage door opener. If the range doesn not improve after the "good" unit has been unplugged, replace the batteries and try programming some additional remotes to determine if the existing remotes are the issue. If the extra remotes do not have any range then you would need to replace the receiver logic board in the "bad" unit.

    Power Down test:
    To isolate potential sources of interference, turn the circuit breaker off to the garage and plug the garage door opener into an extension cord from another room. If the range improves, then the interference is coming from a device in the garage. If no improvement is seen follow the same procedure, this time turning off the circuit breakers to your home, with the exception of the garage and test the remote controls. If improvement is noted, turn the circuit breakers back on, one by one, until the range problem resurfaces. This will allow you to narrow down what room the problem device is in. You will have to go from there to isolate it further, by unplugging and re-plugging the items in that room.

    If you are unable to determine any source of interference, then the receiver logic board in the overhead unit will need to be replaced.

  • bennyz
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks Don for the great answer. It gives me some things to try, and hopefully resolve this. I will start tackling the interference issue. I will let you know what I find out. I only have 1 opener, it is almost 1 year old, and both remotes and my programmed opener in my car all acting the same way.

  • bennyz
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    UPDATE. Still have the problem. To check my house, shut down all of my power except for the circuit for the garage, and the limited range problem with the remotes still an issue.

    Then I shut off the power to the garage and with an extension cord plugged the opener into a different citcuit in the house, and still have the issue.

    The remotes still work fine in the garage and up close to the opener, just not at a distance.

    I have scheduled an appt. to have someone come out to look at it and hopefully fix it. After reading lots of info. online, I think it is now either Rf interference from neighbors, (and not my house), or maybe the circuit board on the opener is bad and needs to be replaced.

    Frustrating

  • slohanz69
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My problem is that the garage door opener will not reset,generally the key pad flashes but nothing is happening all i am getting is a yellow light .
    Need you help
    Thanks
    Maurice