Garage Door Opener

May 18, 2018, 03:34 PM

V-Tail

Garage Door Opener

We have a keypad outside the garage. It has been working fine for as long as we have had the opener, maybe 20 or 25 years.

Just recently, the keypad has become intermittent. Entering the code will open (or close) the door. Once. Then, it will not work for a while, maybe an hour or two. After "resting," it will work again. Once.

Classic symptoms of a dying battery. I just replaced the 9V battery. No change in behavior, same symptoms.

Any ideas? Old Craftsman system, if that makes any difference.

May 18, 2018, 03:41 PM

bigeinkcmo

If you replaced it with a good battery I'd say maybe try to reprogram the keypad to the opener. or... If you've recently replaced the lights with LEDs that could also be causing interference. We identified that as a cause of one problem we were having with intermittent garage door performance on our old Martin opener.

That's about all I got other than replace the keypad. They usually are pretty cheap, maybe $50 or so.

May 18, 2018, 03:43 PM

Sailor1911

Given the age, presume that pad is wired to the opener. Could you have a partially broken wire where it is attached at the pad or the opener?

Given the age, I might be inclined to replace the opener, et al. Current technology is wireless and the opener can connect to the internet (phone app) through your wireless router and you can monitor and/or operate the door from your phone. The app for mine will email me a message each time the door is opened or closed.

May 18, 2018, 03:55 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
Any ideas? Old Craftsman system, if that makes any difference.

Could be Operator error. You know the stuff that happens when you get older. LOL

May 18, 2018, 03:55 PM

arfmel

I’ve always wondered if miscreants could open a garage door that has a wired opener by pulling the face off the opener and jumpering the two wires together.

May 18, 2018, 03:56 PM

V-Tail

big: If it did not work at all, I would say maybe you are correct vis reprogram. It works. Once. Then it needs to "rest" for an hour, maybe more, before it will work again. Not Martin, I'm pretty sure that the Craftsman is a re-branded LiftMaster.

Sailor: Not wired. It's wireless, but not wifi. Presumably the same type wireless transmission as the remote for the car. No "app," Al Gore had not yet invented the internet when this was installed.

If I understand correctly, you are suggesting a replacement of the whole system. No, the opener works just fine when activated by the wired button inside the garage, and by any of the car remotes. It's just the keypad outside the door that's flaky. Everything else works.

arfmel: Not wired. It's wireless. Good point, though, that sounds like a security hole.

May 18, 2018, 04:16 PM

Sailor1911

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
big: If it did not work at all, I would say maybe you are correct vis reprogram. It works. Once. Then it needs to "rest" for an hour, maybe more, before it will work again. Not Martin, I'm pretty sure that the Craftsman is a re-branded LiftMaster.

Sailor: Not wired. It's wireless, but not wifi. Presumably the same type wireless transmission as the remote for the car. No "app," Al Gore had not yet invented the internet when this was installed. If I understand correctly, you are suggesting a replacement of the whole system. No, the opener works just fine when activated by the wired button inside the garage, and by any of the car remotes. It's just the keypad outside the door that's flaky. Everything else works.

arfmel: Not wired. It's wireless. Good point, though, that sounds like a security hole.

Possibly have anything to do with relative humidity? Just thinking maybe the electronics inside the keypad maybe getting old and decrepit like the rest of us. ;-) Sounds like a new keypad is in order.

My point on replacing the whole system was that I would not be inclined to put a lot of time and money into fixing one that is that old. Also, the newer tech ones use randomly generated (changing) codes when the door is activated so that the thieves have a more difficult time driving down the street and broadcasting codes to open garages.

May 18, 2018, 04:29 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Sailor1911:
My point on replacing the whole system was that I would not be inclined to put a lot of time and money into fixing one that is that old. Also, the newer tech ones use randomly generated (changing) codes when the door is activated so that the thieves have a more difficult time driving down the street and broadcasting codes to open garages.

Looks like replacing the whole system would be in the ballpark of couple hundred bucks, plus I would have to pay somebody to install it as my health / physical condition is not conducive to the work involved.

A replacement keypad, on the other hand, would be about forty bucks, and that is something that I can install myself.

As far as somebody driving down the street and broadcasting codes, yeah, that's a possibility, but there are other ways to get into the house if a bad guy wants to get in. We're in a gated community, been here for more than 30 years, have not seen this type problem. Yet.

May 18, 2018, 04:38 PM

Fenris

Not to be a smart ass, but I'd try a second "new" 9 volt battery, just to be sure.

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The Dhimocrats love America like ticks love a hound.

May 18, 2018, 04:41 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Fenris:
Not to be a smart ass, but I'd try a second "new" 9 volt battery, just to be sure.

Already did. No improvement. Voltmeter says both batteries, from newly opened package, are good.

May 18, 2018, 04:48 PM

Scuba Steve Sig

Just for kicks, touch a 9v battery to your tongue and make sure to have good terminal contact with your tongue, while you try the code.

May 18, 2018, 06:52 PM

dsmack

I think you may have corrosion in the key contacts where the keypad has lived outdoors for years.

Get some of the following and follow the instructions:

Caig DeoxIT®, #D100L-16BX

I have saved many electrical switches, relay contacts, etc. with the DeoxIT D110L. Look it up online and get some coming. I'll bet it will solve your problem. Would also be a boon to the maintenance of the various switches on the carpet shampooers you rent..

It only takes a tiny bit applied to the contact surfaces and allowed a few minutes to work it's magic.

I use it frequently for the exposed switch mechanisms on my motorcycles...

Good Luck, Don

May 18, 2018, 07:08 PM

ensigmatic

This sounds more to me like a defective component than a switch contact. A switch contact would be more arbitrary, as opposed to working, then after a "rest," working again.

I suspect you're going to need a new keypad.

BTW: A straight voltmeter won't reliably tell you anything about a battery's health.

May 18, 2018, 07:09 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by dsmack:
I think you may have corrosion in the key contacts where the keypad has lived outdoors for years.

Get some of the following and follow the instructions:

Caig DeoxIT®, #D100L-16BX

Hmmm . . .

I did not think of that. I'll be at the shop tomorrow. I use Zep Electrical Contact Cleaner for the connectors and terminal blocks on the carpet cleaners. Aerosol spray. I'll bring a can home with me. Couldn't hurt to try, worst case I'll replace the keypad -- I'm seeing them for around forty bucks on Amazon.

May 18, 2018, 07:19 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
This sounds more to me like a defective component than a switch contact. A switch contact would be more arbitrary, as oppressed to working, then after a "rest," working again.

I suspect you're going to need a new keypad.

BTW: A straight voltmeter won't reliably tell you anything about a battery's health.

Re the voltmeter, maybe, maybe not. If the voltmeter shows a really low reading, then we know the battery is NFG. If the voltmeter shows nominal battery voltage, then battery could be good, could be bad. What I'm saying, a "bad" indication from a voltmeter means a bad battery. A "good" indication does not necessarily mean a good battery.

Re the "rest" period, it did it again. I ran out to pick up some fast food. Crabcakes, a buck each on Friday. Got home, used the keypad to open the door. Worked fine, but then the keypad would not send a strong enough signal to close the door. Door closed fine using the hardwired switch inside the garage near the kitchen door, works fine with the remotes, but the keypad still needs a rest period between operations.

I'll try the contact cleaner mañana. Couldn't hurt!

May 19, 2018, 08:00 AM

SIGfourme

Try reprogramming with a different code. One of my electric safes had a "sticky" number. Changed the code-works fine.
The car transmitters work fine?

May 19, 2018, 08:24 AM

JALLEN

I went through this with the openers on the garage here. Exactly the same, from your description.

Replacing the pad did the trick. Be sure you get a pad compatible with your make and model of opener. Take the data to the HD or Lowes etc. There are quite a few variations.

The new pad will have to be programmed. You should find instructions for your opener online. Your car remotes will have to be reset as well.

Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown

May 19, 2018, 12:30 PM

tsmccull

If not the keypad, check the innards for an electrolytic capacitor. They tend to dry out after many years and can cause long delays before they “reform”. Used to be easy to buy a replacement cap at Radio Shack, but not so much these days.

May 21, 2018, 08:35 PM

jimmy123x

Are you kidding? A 20-25 year old garage door opener? It’s past it’s lifespan,by about 10-15 years, replace it. Has the springs
,cables, or wheels on the door been replaced recently? They should be replaced every 7 years or so and will screw up the logic board in the door opener in a hurry and it will act like you’re describing if the door isn’t adjusted (sprung) properly or the wheels are not rolling smoothly and jerking on the opener. Garage doors need periodic maintenance just like anything else.

Put new springs, a belt drive opener, and silicone wheels and life will be good again.