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Broken Craftsman garage door opener – fix or replace?
Hi:
I bought a house a little less than a year ago and the automatic garage door opener just broke. I’d guess it is about 6 years old and it is made by Craftsman.
It was working fine, then (I think) it was as if it pulled to the left and the door hit the side woodwork surrounding the door, and the door would not open. (once the opener was not attached I was able to open and close manually)
The motor still works – I disconnected the door from the door opener and the pulley (?) still goes around from the motor unit to the front of the garage and back. Now, though, when I try to reconnect the door to the unit it does not engage the door. That is, the pulley goes full circle but never snaps on to the door to pull it down.
To me, since the motor and pulley seem to work, the opener is ok. But Sears wants $80 just to come to look at it. I have had to spend a lot of unexpected money on this house so far so I am reluctant to spend $80 with the chance of being told I need a whole new unit. On the other hand, if the problem can be fixed with a brief adjustment from a professional, that would be much better than buying a new one and then having it installed.
I know it is difficult without being able to see the garage door and the opener, but does anyone have suggestions?
Comstock F - thanks, but I can't open the video. When I click to play it brings me to a 'this pages can not be displayed screen'
for anyone else that might be looking at this question! ....
I have pulled the engage/disengage lever - no difference
as you can likely tell from the question I am not exactly mechanical (lol) so short of that and releasing and reattaching the door to the opener, I don't know what else I can play around with
(I did try the lever on the rope and to re-engage and neither solved the problem)
FYI - (things you couldn't know from my question - I did call a professional) turned out to be a combination of the door and the opener.
The unit was mounted to the ceiling of the garage on too flexible bars (punch angles) so there was shimmy when the unit was in motion, the lever connecting the unit to the door was too long and the ball bearing rollers on the door needed to be replaced
it is all good now!!! thank you, though, for all your suggestions
5 Answers
- Ron GLv 41 decade agoFavorite Answer
If you are not that mechanical just pay the eighty bucks. From your description there is not that much wrong with it. I would say that there is a 95% chance that all it needs is adjusting.
- 1 decade ago
Sounds like it just needs to be re-engaged. Pull the red rope down & then back toward the motor head to get it to spring all the way up & it should self engage as the two pieces come together.
When you dis-engage you pull down & towards the door so the pin will lock in place. This is so you can open & close the door all the way & the two pieces can pass by each other. Without this feature you would have to pull the rope every time you opened or closed the door manually because it would constantly re-engage itself when they came together.
- goldwingLv 71 decade ago
If the opener is a worm drive (like a big screw that turns when opening or closing, it sounds as if the "teeth" that are hooked to the garage door are NOT engaging...try pulling the cord (disengage) and reingaging door...doesn't sound as if there is much wrong unless in jamming the door, you stripped the teeth or gear (doubtful). Garage door openers are tempermental, at best, I have have the entire door come off the tracks, no harm to the opener. Play with it yourself, you will figure out what is wrong...if the screw is not turning, the unit is shot. Good luck, Goldwing
- Anonymous5 years ago
Hi - Chances are it's a screw gear or a chain drive that may have a guide or sprocket broken. Now a days the garage door openers are fairly inexpensive; about $150.00 and up. The new ones come with sensors. Instead of diagnosing what the problem is, you can put a new one in with the warranty for much less worry. Hope this helps
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- 1 decade ago
There is usually a short rope that you pull to disengage the door from the opener. If it does not rehook as you said I would make sure the rope release is not stuck in the released position. It should be spring loaded to go back to the locked position, but I have seen them stick before. Push it back up by hand and try it again.
