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Craftsman Garage Opener Clicks only and LED blinking 5 times

nosleep
15 years ago

My 1/2 HP Model 139.53641SRT opener clicks to all my remotes open button (I have no wall mount) but the motor does not move. The LED next to the green "Learn" button blinks 5 times and pauses for 2 seconds continuously after I hit the open/close button on my 3 button remote model 139.53779 (LED does not blink right after I re-plug in AC power). http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/garages/msg012015459574.html indicates a 5 blinks is a diagnostic for ""RPM sensor or motor overload".

I verified obstruction sensor works and aligned. I also opened the opener housing and verified the motor gear to be fine. Is there anyway to checkout the motor and the RPM sensor?

(Right before the opener stops working, I open the garage door and accidentally hit a button on the 3 button remote that I normally don't use to close it about 5 minutes later and the opener started to act that way. I tried holding the same button for 2 seconds just in case that is the "locked" button for vacation and the opener still behaves the same. I wanted to make sure that I did not accidentally lock up the opener by hitting a wrong button on my remote and end up replacing the opener if someone out there can tell me how to unlock it. I have no owner manual because the opener and remotes came with the house.)

Thanks for your help.

Comments (77)

  • moveingon1113
    7 years ago

    This cold solder joint was exactly the problem with my garage door opener I want to think u4 posting this you save me $150 you're awesome

  • righthip2
    7 years ago

    Mine clicked and blinked 5 times with no other action. Turned out there was a white wire disconnected inside the casing. (not at all connected to the control board). This white wire was born just a little on the short side. It stayed attached 13 years, then decided to pull loose. It goes from the front of the motor to the upper rear of the housing. There is a plug/wire I had to pull to even see the male tab that the female end of the white wire goes on. We added an extension to the white wire so it would not continue to pull off. Hopefully I can save someone from the trouble I went through. Anne

  • Amy
    7 years ago

    Bad solder joint stopped my opener when the temperature dropped below 0F.
    Mine was on the solder pad at the top right in the picture. I could
    actually see a gap all the way around the pin. A few seconds with the
    soldering iron and it's ready for another arctic blast. Thanks for your
    post zermatt. Tom

  • sandie weenum
    7 years ago

    I have a Liftmaster 1/3 HP and sensors are working, garage door goes down all the way, but then continuously goes back up. Yellow light blinks 5 times before pausing. Do I need a new unit? Is there sensors on top the motor to garage door also?

  • jaskoleo
    7 years ago

    @zermatt This helped me soooo much!! Thank you!!! I have a Lift master 1/2hp from 1999 . I had the same situation, 5 blinking light trouble code also. I have the lamest soldering iron known to man but was still able to make a good connection. Thank you! Your comment from 4YEARS AGO saved me lots of money and time. Hold your head high you deserve it, I hope you have a wonderfull day :)

  • Peter Klosky
    6 years ago

    No need to remove unit.

  • Matt
    6 years ago
    The lift master door opener failed to operate suddenly after 17 years in use(the manufacturer label dated 01/00). I called the garage door service specialist who attended my call two years ago to replace both spring and cable wires over 500$. This time he quoted me $500 for the replace with new one (1/2 HP chain drive unit) including labor. Before I get one from Home Depot for 150$ plus install fee $127 , I did one more Google search to better understand the diagnostics code LED five blinks and read this article about solder joint on logic PCB. since I have solder iron at home that I took the PCB out from the unit, an oxidized spot which is the back of connection pin(white wire) is noted. Reconditioned the joint and it works. Thanks folks posted and shared your experience that help me to save $$$$ and moreover I've gained DIY knowledge.
  • Matt
    6 years ago
    The nylon gear looks in good shape except one the solder joint oxidized. Reconditioned the solder joint and the unit back go normal again. Thanks @zermatt and folks shared the info.
  • jason7370
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hey guys. I have a model 41A5021-1l. Had a lightening storm, tripped a breaker, and now it's dead it seems. Completely. Even the GFI outlet it was plugged into needed replaced. Pulled the board out and noticed maybe two smokey areas on the board. I can buy a new board for $75 but I don't think this issue is a bad sodder joint. Here are some pics. Any ideas? And had blue capacitor are the teeth supposed to look like that? Thanks, Kinda a newbie. (i can also add more photo's if need be)


  • ralphei
    6 years ago

    That capacitor has blown. Can be replaced, but with several other burn marks on your board, you may have several other failed components, so don't be surprised if it's "toast" and needs replaced. Home owner insurance may cover damage from lightning.

  • pima74
    6 years ago

    Points out that it is a good idea to plug the opener into a good surge protector (also fridge, microwave, TV etc)

  • andrew10987
    6 years ago

    Ugh, I had the same exact symptoms some of you described...garage door opened during a cold day then refused to work since then with the 5 blinking lights and brief humming sound when I press the open/close button.

    Unfortunately, the circuit board looked just fine though. Even so, I touched up any solder joints that looked the tiny bit suspect but still same 5 lights and hum sound. Anything I should look out for with the plastic sprocket inside the opener? Looks like a pretty cheap piece of plastic and prone to break but it looks fine...when I called a repair service they said it's most likely that sprocket and they have kits to replace it.

  • Pam Caldwell
    6 years ago

    I had the same problem and appreciates everyone's feedback. My garage door opener gave me the 5 blinks and a buzz and no movement shortly after I installed LEDs in it, and I read now that can interfere with the RFID signals from opener to remote so suggest you stick with incandescents.

    I checked the logic board as suggested and saw no cold solders but bought a replacement on eBay JIC. Nope, didn't do the trick.

    I detached the garage door from the opener with the emergency pull cord so I could at least close it, and in checking the troubleshooting section of the manual, I saw another issue could be the trolley getting stuck on the stop bolt in the rail. Yep! With the outer trolley detached (the one you release by pulling the handle), I could see the inner trolley looked hard up against that stop bolt. I used a crescent wrench to loosen it and that released the inner trolley. I was able to operate the trolley from the wall control then. I re-attached the outer trolley to the inner one. I noticed the travel of the trolley after a full open/close cycle took it nowhere close to the stop bolt, so I'm guessing maybe the LED interfered with the signalling on when to stop? Just a guess.

    Meantime I thank everyone for the good input and most of all for letting me know I'm not the only one who can't stand not being able to fix things that don't work by myself!

  • Peter Klosky
    6 years ago

    I also had a trolley over-run where it ran into the stop bolt when lifting the door. Removed the cover and manually spun the motor to put the trolley back within the normal limits, then everything worked fine. Cleaned the contacts of the travel limit microswitch, just in case. Has worked fine for several weeks since this issue. Lubricated the nylon gears with spray silicone while I had the cover off, too. Much quieter.

  • Tatyana Safanov
    5 years ago

    We have similar problem. Can someone help us? About a week ago my son was able to open a garage but it was slow like it was running on a battery. Than I could not close it at all. No sounds, no movements on a motor side. 5 flashes. We have HD900D model. Since we have a home warranty we arranged an appointment and they told us it's a burned transformer and not a normal wear and tear and they do not cover it. We just bought and tried to install a new transformer but it did not work either. Both transformers give an input 120v and output 6v instead of 24. Circuit board looks fine. What can it be?

  • Greg Schroder
    5 years ago

    I too simply had a cracked solder point. Thanks to zermatt for the tip, although the cracked point was a different one.

  • nykito
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Yesterday my Chamberlain opener stopped after opening the door part way, subsequently refusing to operate with only a clicking sound from the opener after pressing the wall control. Long story short, I resoldered all three large connections to the relay and the opener is working again.

    The opener is from 2001 where I'm not sure if lead-free solder was in use at that time, but the problem cited in this thread is common to older lead-free connections. Over time lead-free solder fractures with vibration and/or temperature cycling, causing failures. This is why in many high reliability applications (e.g. aerospace) leaded solder is still a requirement given leaded solder is unlikely to exhibit this failure. I used leaded solder for my rework of the relay's connection to the PWB...

    My thanks go out to those in this thread. If this didn't exist I would most likely replaced the opener.

  • edmundsjwang
    5 years ago

    Bad Relay causing blinking 5 times

    My garage door opener can't close after it was open when I got home from work. Trying to find the cause and bumped into this site. The posts here gave me some idea. I opened up the opener and removed the board. Everything looks fine except the down relay coil is open. It was found by using a multi-meter to measure the coil resistance. It should be about about 20Ω or so but measured open. I used a similar relay to replace it and now it's working. Save me money and time for a new opener.

  • nykito
    5 years ago

    A few weeks on and I had to go back into my Chamberlain opener given a similar problem. This time I pulled the circuit card completely from the opener where I could inspect all of the solder connections. I found another failed joint, this time at the large connect at the top of the board, where one of the connections had a fractured solder joint. This time I reworked all of the larger solder joints.

  • rsattler
    5 years ago

    My Craftsman garage door opener stopped working and the indicator light was blinking 5 times (motor overheat error). After unplugging, waiting 15 minutes as recommended and replugging, the drive still would not work and the light was still blinking 5 times.

    At wits end, I found this solution! And it is still relevant as this was the issue with my opener. I installed the opener in 1995. While the circuit board is slightly different from the ones here, sure enough I found a bad solder. After resoldering the connection, the opener functions as normal.

    Glad I found this site!

  • JeffN
    5 years ago

    My My My.... 10 years after the original post by zermatt and his help is still helping others, including myself!!! I had the same problem described above; door opened and would not close, 5 blinking lights pattern. I found this post and followed the advice. After removing an LED light, then checking the stop bolt, gears, all ok and still no close. Pulled out PCB and checked the solder connections. All looked fine but looking again with a magnifying glass revealed one connection that looked different than others. Caution to others, it can be very hard to see a bad solder connection. Mine was very hard to spot and it was a different connection than from the original post. A bit oxidation was the clue. After putting a spot of solder on the connection... works like a charm! Blew out the motor, added a bit of grease on the gears, and WD40 to the motor shaft, and reassembled.

    A Big Thank You to Zermatt!! I hope after all these years he is able to see that his efforts continue to help many others with this problem. Saving time and money.

    I too created an account just to express my appreciation to Zermatt.

  • tim s
    5 years ago

    Add me to the list! same as above, mine was 3 to the left of the original, saved me time and money THANKS.

  • burgesr
    5 years ago

    Dear Zermatt,

    Don't know if you are still receiving these, but add my astonished voice to the chorus of very grateful DIYers whose openers have been fixed based on your pix and advice about the bad solder joint. I am an electrical engineer with a doctoral degree, and I was prepared to spend hours with fancy equipment, but I was expecting a bad component, not a bad solder joint and would never have found this problem. I was frustrated searching the web for a schematic and logic sequence, and just decided to look up the 5-blinking error code, when I came across your post. My opener was not even the same one (mine was Craftsman 139.53600), which I installed in 1987 ! Even so, the logic board looked the same, so I pulled it out last night. All the solder joints looked good --- bright and shiny, but I figured there was no harm in resoldering the connection which you identified anyway. I was skeptical, but much to my surprise, that one touch with the iron fixed it immediately. As JeffN mentioned above, the cold solder joint was scarcely visible except for a very slight discoloration seen with a magnifying glass at the very base of the solder dome. I wasn't worried about the money after 30 years of good service in almost daily use, but you saved me a ton of time and the aggravation of obtaining and installing a new opener.

  • ddlaz
    5 years ago

    Zermatt - THANKS! worked a treat for me.

  • Matt Rinne
    5 years ago

    +zermatt for president! Saved my weekend!

  • Ashley Kania-Blickenderfer
    5 years ago

    This exact thing happened to me, clicks, light blinks 5 times (RPM sensor Error/Motor Overload). It was the start capacitor. Finding out whether its the cap or the motor is pretty easy to check. First unplug the unit and take the cover off. Turn the shaft of the motor to make sure it is free. (if you cannot turn it, then the problem is the motor). If it does, then check the windings. Use a multimeter set to ohms (or continuity) and read red to white, blue to white and red to blue. You should get numbers (or a ringing sound if equipped), if you read OL, again the problem is the motor.


    IF all of that checks out, take a picture of how the wires were connected to the cap and label each one with tape. The cap is not polarized so there is no positive or negative terminal, however the two blue wires and the two red wires should be connected to the prongs of the same terminal.


    Use a socket or flathead and loosen the strap, then pull the capacitor out. BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET THE TERMINALS TOUCH ANY METAL ON THE WAY OUT.


    Now you have to discharge the cap. Using rubber gloves and an insulated screw driver, (or, you can REMOVE THE LEAD from the meter and use the metal lead tip) touch one terminal wuth the back side of the metal part of the lead or screwdriver, then touch the other side of the metal lead to the other terminal (connecting the two). You should get a spark. Do this 2-3 more times to make sure it is fully discharged. Once it does not spark anymore it is discharged.


    The side of the cap reads 53-64 mfd, -40/+65


    Now, connect the leads back to the meter. Set the meter to Ohms (omega symbol) or Farads (uf, mf, etc) and touch one terminal with the black/neg lead and the red/pos lead to the other terminal. The ohms/continuity should read numbers or ring. If you are using the farad (mf) setting, it should fall between the stated range (53-64 mf) or close to it. If it reads OL or much much higher than 64mf, the capacitor is fried and needs replaced. Got my new one for $26 including shipping.


    Hope that helps!

  • Bill Brown
    5 years ago

    Like many above, I created an account just to thank zermatt for this thread. Your legacy lives on, as I had the same problem, right down to the same terminal with the cold solder joint.


    Many thanks! If you're ever near Salt Lake City, I'll buy you a beer.

  • Mark Yoder
    4 years ago

    Zermatt's solution is still going strong. My mechanical skills are limited, but I gave this a go. It ended up being one of the easiest fixes ever. It never goes the way it is supposed to, but this did. Thanks Zermatt!!

  • baksharp
    4 years ago

    Hi Zermatt, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!. God bless!. 10 yrs later and your fix still worked!. You rock!. My craftsman garage opener is now working, thanks to you!!!. If you have a youtube channel I would be your first subscriber!. I had to solder 1 contact and voila!. I removed the logic board plastic holder (just 2 screws from outside). It was very nerve daunting at first but i braved it. Took me 10 mins to remove all screws from outside. Took pics as i moved along. Un-hooked the brown and black wires. Un-hooked the logic-board holder plastic. And then sat on a table and removed the 4-5 screws of logic board. Powered my soldering iron and soldered 1 bad contact. Soldered a few next to it just that looked rusted at the pics u had posted. That did it!. Thanks, baksharp.

  • doctauri
    4 years ago

    +1 for Zermatt’s post. I zeroed right into that same solder joint, confirmed it didn’t look right, heated it up and flowed new solder on it, and now it works again. 10 min job.


    Thanks Zermatt!

  • Milton Q
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago


    Thank you Zermatt!! Huge help saved a lot of money. For anyone who hasn’t soldered def look up a YouTube video. My craftsman model is a 1/3 HP built in 1996. But had the same green light blink 5 times and same clicking and no up or down. My weld was in a slightly different location but same burnt look. Cleaned with steel wool and re-soldered and all worked perfect after! I know the picture is hard to see, but my weld was a little left of Zermatts.

  • Dane Nicholson
    4 years ago

    Anddddddd still holds true to this day. Zermatt saved me a pretty penny with this fix. Door would go up and come down maybe once a or twice and then the 5 blinking lights of death. Unplug it. it would go up a third of the way, maybe, then I’d have to bring it back down and then boom 5 blinking lights... bought new compatible lasers sensors and still nada. Found this page after digging, subscribed just to see what ppl were talking about and poof the magical answer. My solder spot was a little to the right of Zermatt’s and a lot harder to detect. I soldered that bad spot and the spot he said, just to cover all the bases, and like magic door works repeatedly no issues. Zermatt4President!

  • HU-658023911
    3 years ago

    Mine is flashing five times also . But my garage door is opening and closing fine . It opens with all the controls also . So most things I’m reading say it won’t open , but mine is ?

  • Derek Morrison
    3 years ago

    Yahoo!!! I was so happy to find this thread. I had the same type of problem. In my case there are 2 circuit boards. The smaller separate board contains the power relays. When I took that board out and got a look at the solder joints I found that one was slightly charred and disconnected. The wire from the relay seemed to be standing by itself in the middle of the hole in the circuit board with a small 'volcano' of solder surrounding (but not touching) the wire. i re-soldered this connection and put everything back together. The door opener seems to be working just like before.

    Thank you so much! i'm guessing that saved me between $150 and $250 for a service call and new circuit board.


    This is what the smaller circuit board looks like


    This is what the damaged connection looked like


    This is what it looks like now


  • HU-611940973
    3 years ago

    Above every one are correct! I have same problem, It is the circuit board designed problem. All happened on the relay power pin soldering problem, It should be used larger power relay or bigger solder spot since the power relay pin pass by higher current to cause high heat to melt down the small solder point..

  • jason7370
    3 years ago

    OK, so my issue is a little different. WHen I hit the button on the wall, or the remote, nothing happens. I took out the board and reflowed some of the solder joints and then it seemed to fix it... But only for 24 hours.... So... I have to unplug the power to the unit after I close the door, then it will work if I plug the unit back in the next day, but if I leave it plugged in, after about a day the 60 watt light bulb comes on by itself and it won't open or close and 5 blinks on the led on the motor housing. When it's working and I close the door, the 60 watt light bulb turns off like it should in 4 minutes, and I can put the door up and down 5 times if I want and no issues.... It's when i leave it overnight and try it the next day it won't work, no humm, no click, nothing and those 5 leds blinking... Any ideas???

  • HU-280052118
    3 years ago

    After several days of trouble shooting and looking at solder joints from the ladder they all seemed to be fine.I removed the board and was going to check prices on a new one and found your post.You were spot on.....literally, mine was the same one that you posted👍Thanks from all of us DIYers,you have saved us all 💰

  • HU-445756571
    3 years ago

    @zermatt Thank you!!! After 7 years it helped me too to fix garage door but little different solder points. I had the same situation, 5 blinking light trouble code also. As per suggestions first i replaced RPM sensor which worked for few weeks but stopped working completely. After inspecting logic board had to touch all points for both connectors on logic board for good connection.


    Thank you!

  • Prad Fam
    3 years ago

    was a bad solder for me on the yellow board too thanks!

  • Jimmy Hansen
    3 years ago

    Had the EXACT same issue. Pulled the 4 screws out on the backside, unplugged the circuit board, found the EXACT same bad solder joint and resoldered myself. All works now! Thank you so much!

  • Randy Ratliff
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    Zermatt, after 7 years, your solution still holds true. I just re-soldered that exact connection, and gave new life to a garage door opener that was manufactured in 1995 and hasn't worked for about 10 years. Even had a couple of different garage door installers tell me to throw it away and get a new one.

    A HUGE thank you!

    Heroes don't always wear capes...

  • Vlad F
    2 years ago

    Had exactly the same issue with my 20yo garage opener. Repair technician recommended replacing the unit. Glad I found this thread. Faulty soldering was easy to spot, looked very similar to the pictures above. The whole repair took about an hour. Thanks a lot for sharing this!

  • Benjamin Tong
    2 years ago

    6 years hence and I have to make the same repair again. But it worked again! Not sure if it was the same solder spot I repaired previously. But at least it was very easily identifiable by the super dark spot, as if it was burned. Thanks again!


  • Sergii Sn
    2 years ago

    @zermatt thank you very much, found the same issue with the same prblem, fixed in 5 minutes just buy updating connection by soldier. seems that is factory diffect.

  • Chris English
    2 years ago

    21 year old unit with same issue , and it's now fixed. Great discovery. Thank-you

  • burgesr
    2 years ago

    Okay I am back on this site again three years later with a different problem. Everything works fine using the directly wired wall button. The remote, however, will only open the door. I cannot close the door using the remote. Anyone have any ideas?

    Thanks,

    Rick

  • burgesr
    2 years ago

    An update on my comment from yesterday. It's not whether the door is going up or down that locks the remote out; rather it is time. The remote is locked out from activating the opener for 4.5 minutes after its last activation (up or down) -- exactly the duration of illumination of the lamp. So it appears that the controller is going into the mode where it locks out remotes after every activation, even though I do not have the multifunction door control panel.


    Rick

  • Dan Wytko
    last year

    Same problem, same simple fix. Thank you!

  • HU-57572367
    last year

    mine lost the solder joints that feed load

    current to the motor from the main connector at the top of the board. Same fix.

  • HU-400873643
    last year

    Thank you zermatt!!! Your legend continues.

    1997 Craftsman 1/2 here. Same 5 blink symptom. Searched and ended up here. That was exactly the problem.


    You really have to look closely at the solder joins. It can be hard to spot.


    Re did the solder, reassembled the machine, and it works! Thanks again!