Fix Tempermental Garage Door Opener sometimes works sometimes doesn't

[@porschmn]

This is an old post but after watching it I just found and fixed a cracked solder joint on the same board shown here. Saved a sh** load of money Thanks a ton!!!!!

[@frankmurray1388]

I can't believe it. I'm a field engineer (although not for garage door openers) so troubleshooting is my daily fare. I've played with my GDO off and on for weeks with confusing results. Opened it up and looked at the circuit board, which looks completely different, but what did I find? A cracked solder joint where the transformer connects to the circuit board!! Problem fixed within minutes!! Thank you so much Andrew!

[@p14buk]

This is a very common problem with the Craftsman or Liftmaster garage door openers of the same vintage shown in the repair youtube video.. This intermittent electrical problem does appear especially during weather changes. Vibrations from the operation of the door opener can also cause the same problems. Symptoms include no response from the door button or remote, moving partially up or down before stopping, etc. The most noticeable is when the door moves and stops midway and you will note that the lights go out indicating the power supply board is the culprit. Many times by unplugging and plugging the door opener back in will temporally fix (reboot) this but is only the quick fix when you need to get the dam thing open or closed to move the car!. Removing this power supply board as instructed and visually inspecting the solder joints with a magnifying glass (unless your eyes are real good) will show what we call a cold solder joint. Reflowing the solder and adding some electrical 60/40% rosin core solder will definitely fix the problem using any solder gun or iron. These boards are manufactured using a wave soldering technique which if not properly performed at the factory will eventually cause future failures at the joints were the components connect to the board. My repair was at the electrical connection pins between the transmitter board and the smaller power board. Total repair time including moving the car out of the garage, getting a step ladder, etc. took about 50 minutes. Purchasing a new receiver logic board assembly with the plastic end panel is an option and runs about $75 from Amazon. You can't just buy the power supply section of the assembly. Try fixing it first or call a friend with experience. I seem to be called all the time on garage door opener problems.

[@PyroRob69]

@@p14buk I have had to resolder most of the solder joints on the control board on my Craftsman opener, as well as re-cap it. Recapping the radio board made all the difference in the world.

[@ag4allgood]

@@PyroRob69 Bad capacitors are usually deformed out of their original case. The top case will look like the innards pushed upward - might even look like they exploded.

[@davidboron1485]

Thank you! Just did mine tonight and it worked. Spent about $10 for my soldering iron and solder. I didnt have to hunt for my bad area. It was brown. Can't thank you enough!

[@nrich4704]

My GDoor symptoms were identical to this video. Took the GDoor controller apart, found a loose soldered connection on the power circuit board, soldered it, put it all back together and PRESPTO... works like a charm. Thank you.

[@matthj11]

All I can is thank you, thank you, thank you! I was going to call a repairman in to change my Liftmaster gargae door opener but your video saved me and it turned out to be the Feit Led light bulbs I had installed. The issue with the light bulbs did not start until after a 2 day power outage for some reason but after removing them my issue was solved.

[@itwasntme47]

I can’t believe it was my bulb causing this. I put a new bulb in about a year ago. Thought the remotes were getting old so I bought new ones. Still the same. Lived with it during the winter.Googled extending garage door antenna and your video popped up. Thanks a ton!!

[@markstaunton6288]

Almost 4 years after you posted this video and it’s still helping people. Well made video. Excellent, clear instructions. Thank you very much for showing the soldering. The crack in my board was right where yours was. Now i can enjoy my long 4th of july weekend! I hope you enjoy yours as well

[@sandsk5783]

Thank you so much for the light bulb tip! We were ready to call a garage opener repair person until we tried removing the LED light bulbs we had just replaced. Both the keypad and the garage door opener in the car worked perfectly even from a distance! Also ordered some LEDs specifically for garage door openers and we'll try them. The LEDs are brighter so I hope this works. Thanks again - no other video I watched mentioned this problem and none of their "fixes" worked.

[@martinpratte6177]

Followed your instructions and found the left solder joint was cracked. Resoldered it and now works perfectly. Unbelievable. Yhank you for the post.

[@3dwonderwerx310]

Why I did not think about this is beyond me... it's always hot here so it always mis-behaved. I have an older opener but I found multiple suspicious solder joints, I just went around and touched each joint with my fine tip iron and a little fine solder and bingo! Now my opener works again and saved me $300.00, thank you!!!

[@MrKewlhanz]

I changed my incandescent light bulb out for a led bulb. I just so happened to have changed the gear assembly at the same time. So when I put it all back together I couldn't figure out why it spins a few revolutions and then stops. It was the led bulb! I had no idea those bulbs emit a radio frequency. Which also explains why my garage door remote is so temperamental now. I changed all the bulbs over my washroom and my workbench with LEDs. My remote has acted weird ever since. I just thought the remote was going bad. Anyway,thank you so much for taking the time to explain things. The best trouble shooting video on yt for garage doors!

[@nadinecarnell4508]

This was a life (money) saving video! Thank you. I was having trouble with the door, watched several videos and happened on this one. Never thought I'd be so lucky to have something this simple work. Then I remembered I had recently changed the light bulb to an LED. It took a week or two before I had an issue with the door. It started sporadically and continued to get worse. I changed back to regular light bulb and tried the door. Nothing. Ugh! I ran my errand and when I came back I tried the garage door opener and presto it opened. I tried it a few more times just to make sure it really works. This has saved me a lot of money I could ill afford to spend on a service call. Thank you!

[@elsifend]

Thank you so much for this video. My garage door opener was having intermittent problems in hot weather. I followed your instructions and found a cold solder joint on the circuit board. I re-solder the joint and it is working fine now.

[@larryd9012]

I soldered the part also and now it works great. Bunch of cash stayed in my pocket. Thank You

[@Nickvec]

Mine was working intermittently and I found the capacitor leaking and so ordered a new one on Amazon. Cost was about $7. I put the info on Nextdoor so others could save money and I got pushback as to why I didn't just call a garage door repairman. (In my area that's between $60!-$90 just to show up) SMH!!! People think everything needs a 'specialist' to fix. Glad you were able to fix yours!

[@mikeschauble1352]

After watching other videos about why my garage door kept reversing when closing and not being able to resolve my issue, I decided to watch all 12 plus minutes of this video. My first thought was that this video could have been allot shorter and that I really doubted this could be my issue but after cleaning the optical sensor lenses and making sure they were aligned, I was out of options and still had the same intermitent problem. Also, we had noticed that our door always seemed to be worse when the weather was cold. Long story short, I followed the instructions in the video and lo and behold, I found a loose componenet on the board with a cracked solder joint. After resoldering the part, everything worked like a champ and was not a difficult fix at all. If you've exhausted all the easy fixes, I would highly recommend following this advice. Thanks

[@buddyguypj]

Can't thank you enough, I put led bulbs in my opener and never even considered that could be my problem. Thanks again.

[@pauls5711]

Saved me some $$. I could not see any cracks on any solder joints with my old eyes, but I went ahead and reflowed all the pins to the transformer. World like new again. Thanks for the tips.

[@IgorShulyatikov]

I watched the video and could not find any issues with the soldering. After reading the comments I re-solder all contacts at the element in the video and the problem was solved. Thank you so much for the great guide!

[@gazzer313]

For years, one of the lights would sometimes work, but mostly not. Lately, the opener has been flaky, just as you describe. I pulled the boards and found a bad solder joint. The vexing intermittent opener problem is now resolved and both lights work fine. Thanks very much for this video. It's refreshing that you went to the trouble of investigating the cause instead of just replacing boards like most of the other "experts". Thanks again.

[@KevinCoop1]

I checked the one you had crack. No issues there. Found a wire going to the light socket that had a bare spot. Taped it up. Worked great 10 times then started again. Found out board is obsolete, so, I ordered a used one. Then gave it the old college try. Found it was the pin on the other board that the 4 and 1 plugs on the other board. It was the one opposite end of the single pin side. Works perfect now and I have spare parts. Thanks!

[@dallasstroud8061]

Can't thank you enough. It's been months if not a year with our garage door not working right. It would open with the remote from around the corner but wouldn't close even when we were right outside the door. It was the freaking lights! I pulled both LED lights out and the remotes work like they were brand new. I literally had a whole new opener in my Amazon cart and then found your video. Thank you so much, definitely earned a sub!

[@kyle4prez601]

Thanks! Never in a million years would have thought the light bulbs would be affecting the receiver, but unscrewing them made it work!

[@roslynhill5514]

My garage door has been working intermittently for the past almost 2 weeks. Sometimes it works from the wall panel, sometimes not, sometimes it works from my car, sometimes not. I was trying to figure out what to tell the tech I planned to call tomorrow to come fix it. Two minutes into your video, I went to the garage and removed the 2 new incandescent bulbs I’d installed before the problems started. I’ve tested it a few times and now the garage seems to be working just fine. My son thought I was crazy and said I needed to watch the rest of the video, which I will, but so far changing the lightbulbs has it working!! Who’d have thought??? THANK YOU!! I will look for those garage-specific bulbs. I replaced them because one was out, and that one it still out. But at least the garage is working properly!!

[@geoffmamaclay1774]

Our opener started to experience the same issue you identified. It would start opening then stop. I had to hit the unit to get it to work and close before I looked at it. The issue was a fracture in the solder as you exactly described! Hard to see a first but it was there. Resoldered the spot and it is now operating fine. Now I have to return the new craftsman opener I bought just in case the fix didn’t work 😅. The wifey willl never know!!! Thanks again for this video!

[@eduardosandiero8986]

This just saved me from forking over hundreds for a new opener. Thanks so much! $11 Soldering tool fixed the issue.

[@marcuseolaus6980]

Light bulbs!! I would have Never thought of it! New bulbs and voila! Thank you so much for the heads up, you are a lifesaver.

[@robbiekohler4852]

This video saved my bacon!!!! I had the same exact cold shunt took me 15 minutes to fix after this video. Thank you

[@happychowlennium5233]

You are very observant. I would not have known the crack in the soldering led to my garage opener works intermittently. I thought it was the capacitor issue at first, but after replacing it, it still didn't work right. Now, with your video, I fixed it and it saves me a lot of money!!

[@jimwalters1964]

Easy fix - thanks so much! I have opened this up once before and replaced the 10-inch 'antenna' with a 20-foot run of heave gauge wire. Can open a block away now! I have previously done almost the same thing replacing barrel capacitors in 3 of our Bosch appliances - each time about $3.50 in parts. They wanted $600 for the whole circuit board for the dishwasher.

[@valentingeorgiev5001]

Thank you for this video! The broken solder on my unit was at the connector that joins the two boards together. I did not notice at initial inspection, had to use a very strong magnifying glass and wiggle the pins to see the crack. Re-soldered and all good.

[@treespectro1]

Thank you for the video. My Liftmaster just quick working one day. Only thing it did was click twice when either the wall switch or the remote were pushed. I thought it must be the capacitor or the circuit board. I opened up the unit and the capacitor appeared ok so I considered the circuit board. Upon first look all seemed fine. I was looking for something obvious. I decided to disconnect the board and examine it more closely. I found taking close pictures of each section of the board to be very helpful. I was able to zoom into each solder point and see if there was an issue. Soon enough I found a couple of suspect solders. I added a small amount of solder to the problem points. I reinstalled the board and the opener works again! Great solution. Thanks for the advice.

[@superspeeder]

Excellent video, thanks! I have a 1/2hp Craftsman just like this one which was going up fine but randomly stopping going down. This started right after one of the door cables broke, which had shaken the whole system pretty good. My power board didn’t have any obviously broken joints like yours did, so I just re-flowed all of the larger solder joints anyway. Fixed the issue immediately. This is the third time I’ve been plagued by broken PCB solder joints; twice in very expensive modules in my cars, and now once on a garage door opener. I bet issues like these are responsible for many openers being tossed into landfill.

[@jeffsiesky6049]

Holy heck. My dollar general led bulb was causing interference when the light was on making the remotes and keypad work poorly. I had no idea what the problem was. I bought a new opener. When leaving we would have to close the door with the wall pad and step over the eye beam because the light was still on. I removed the led bulb and back to normal. I guess I can take back the new opener I had bought and thankfully didn’t open. Thanks for the video!

[@dbiles2000]

very good repair video. A lot of times those little problems can turn into big ones

[@dphachey]

Wow. Been having problems for the last year. Was ready to replace the unit. Removed the LED bulbs and problem solved!!! That would’ve never entered my mind! THANK YOU!!!

[@gilbertoalexandre9346]

Thank you so much for your video! I watched several KZbin videos and tried lots of things before watching your video but nothing really worked. The problem with my garage door was just like how you described - intermittent - and although I could not see any cracks in the welds, I took a leap of faith and re did the welds of the pins. Then I put everything back and it worked! Great tip! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@chrisstachtiaris2348]

First video I’ve commented on because it was an amazing needle in a haystack find and right on point!! Saved me hundreds of dollars and time!!

[@thebanjoman1963]

Thank you. Had a lightning strike to the house and it blew out the builds and control board. Replaced the board and added LED bulbs. It would work only about 20 pct of the time. Was ready to call an expert. Put in incandescent bulbs they now work 100 pct of the time. Gave me fits.. thanks..

[@deltabravo5719]

SECOND potential SOLUTION BELOW...... For anybody who has a similar problem and not quite the answer... Shout out for this VIDEO and information in it (Great job Andrew!!!!!). I opened mine and had an issue with the power pins from the "back" board on the right ... as they connected... to the "top" board on the left... the power would come and go (Start and stop with a little pressure on the external plastic panel). Stopping the door mid opening and loosing power to the unit and lights. SOLUTION: A rubber washer (bottom left screw)behind the bottom board (on the right)... the added 1/16th inch pressure tightened up the power pins by adding a tiny amount of twist between the boards and now there is a good connection ALL the time. Thanks again Andrew!

[@archermhjj]

Thanks so much for this! My opener would travel 5 or 6 inches, reverse back to where it started and then nothing. It even did this with the door not connected to the pulley. Gotta admit I didn't watch this all the way through. After the first few minutes I went and replaced the LED bulbs with regular bulbs, and presto, bingo...it started working fine again!!!!

[@courtneyscause9923]

I had just installed LED bulbs in my opener and couldn’t figure out why i had such difficulty with the door. Thanks for helping me solve this!

[@thebears8955]

A very big thank you for posting this video!! I have a similar 1/2HP Craftsman door opener that has worked very well for many years. The other day it started acting up. Would randomly stop midway through closing, seemed to open fine but closing was a problem. Same symptoms as you described in the video where the light would flicker when the door stopped so looked like a lack of power issue to me. Watched your video and took the boards out as you suggested. On the very same row of pins but the other end from what you had in the video was a cold solder joint! WOW!! easy fix and back together and working well now. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[@WV11JW12]

Had the same problem with our craftsman opener. Pulled the power board an sure enough the exact same connection was broken. Thank you for this tutorial saved me a lot of head ache trying to diagnose my shitty 50 year old garage door. Made me question if company’s even bother doing field testing to update there designs to fix things like this when so many people are willing to just go out and buy a new one. Little rubber stand offs will hopefully fix this for longer then just re-soldering the connection.

[@AndyLosik]

Oh my gosh! I have been fighting with my Chamberlain Liftmaster since Christmas and I have tried resetting everything. It was the dumb LEDs I had installed. I would have never guessed. I can't thank you enough, Andrew. Now I have to thaw out from my most recent hour of fighting. If not for your video, I would still be out there freezing.

[@harrybosch8972]

I had a circuit board that burnt out, so after replacing it, I let the bulb hang out Of its holding place just hanging there as soon as I heard filament I didn't even have to finish this video I k ew that was my problem. When I tested it without a light bulb the unit worked perfectly after I put the light bulb in and reprogrammed the opener sure enough it went bezurk. I secured the light bulb and viola back in bus. Thank You, I found your video the second hit. Thanks again!!!!!

[@rogerwhite5465]

LED bulbs were messing up my Garage door opener change them out and the problem went away. Very surprised but it worked and very easy to check to see if that is the cause of a misbehaving door! Thanks for your insight!

[@johnpi2608]

I know this video is 4 years old, but, thank you so much for this video, it saved me. Especially the 8 min mark!

[@jackcarter8067]

I only listened to the first 1:41 of the video. Why? a couple of weeks ago I replaced my fluorescent tubes with LED tubes rather than replace a presumably bad ballast. ever since the door opener works VERY erratically from the car and remote signalers. I'm sure I looked at 20 videos, mostly the first minute or two because it was clear they did not apply. Then I came across yours. After you mentioned the possible LED signal interference I checked and that was it. the title of your video is exactly correct; temperamental is the word.

[@paullarouche4648]

Amazingly clear explanations! Best 13 minutes I've spent in quite a while. Consider me subscribed! Update: I was going to replace my garage door opener. But with the information obtained in this video I was able to get it working fine again.

[@michaelbobo9899]

Thank you for this. I had the same cracked solder joints so I re-sweated the entire power board and some of the control board. My 2007 door opener is working great again..

[@dougmcneely4564]

The damn lightbulbs! Changed them back to incandescent, problem solved! Thanks for the insight. It saved me a service call and $$$.

[@joecalderon4269]

This video really helped! Thanks! Let me explain I took the circuit board apart and looked at the soldering and visibly didn’t see a break in the soldering but I did apply heat new solder to it and Wala it worked! See my garage door was intermittently working which makes you believe you need a new unit but obviously this isn’t the case. It was simply a micro crack in the welds. Once it was reconnected I never had an issue again.

[@joseplascencia8380]

Thanks for the video! I resoldered a few joints and my garage is finally working again! I’ve put this off for over two years, manually opening and closing my garage door. $20 Iron and $7 Solder was better than a few hundred dollars for a new opener.

[@johnremy1951]

Thank you. My issue was just as you diagnosed. A pretty easy fix... couldn't have done it without your wisdom and guidance. My best, John

[@tharais]

Recently acquired a new, Genie Wall Mount Universal remote to replace a Liftmaster "clicker" we kept inside our front door to use from the house. This arrangement has worked for more then ten years. Flawlessly no less! But suddenly, door would open but, would not close. Despite checking the sensors, replacing remote batteries, etc. However, the wired wall switch worked first time, every time. Thus, I figured it had to be the remote operator. The new Genie remote was easy to program and worked right away, as long as I had it with me in the garage. But, once I brought it inside and mounted on wall, it too would open but not close the door. Intermittently of course. Just like the old one I replaced. I've been reprogramming, testing, retesting, researching and racking my brains out trying to figure out what the problem was. I finally just stopped working on it and just used the hard wired wall operator switch. Then, just this morning, my wife left and called me immediately from the car to tell me the door wouldn't close. So, back at it I went. I discovered that, when using the new wall remote, the learning light was flashing after the door opened to full height. But, not with the old remote and not with the hardwired switch. Really puzzling now. And I ended up here seeking more information. In watching the first two minutes of your video, I had a new clue. I have cheap, FEIT brand led lights in both my garage door openers. And, when the door opens, the lights go on. Of course, I assumed that the answer couldn't be this simple. But apparently, it is. I went downstairs, unscrewed the light bulbs and came back inside and operated the door via the new, Genie Wall Mount Remote. Walla! It worked perfectly. I don't know why it worked with those lights up until a week ago. But it seems they are some how interferring with the close command on our remotes and now

[@stuartnoriko]

This video helped me pinpoint a similar problem on my power board. I was not able to see any problem with the solder under a magnifying glass, but a continuity tester located the problem pin at the corner. I am guessing it is a power or ground pin. Thanks for a great explanation and step by step debugging strategy.

[@bobbg9041]

GOOD POINT TO MAKE HERE, AND THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT I WILL BE LOOKING AT MINE. BUT ID LIKE TO ADD TO THIS when using a soldering iron you want to keep the tip clean, befor you use the soldering iron on any connections what ill do is take a paper towel get it wet then squeeze off most the water untill its just moisture on it, most professional soldering stations come with a sponge for this after the tip is clean put just a little bit of fresh solder on the tip and wipe it off on the damp sponge or paper towel a good toilet paper can work or even a tissue or just use a wash cloth or rag. Then you can use the soldering iron. Dirt on your soldering iron can make poor joints. Most circuit boards move down an assembly line components are placed on the board by robots, then it runs over a flowing river of solder and then its washed in water bath. This is comon in manufacturing electronics. Few are done by hand now days. This is why mass production can turn out electronics And keep prices low most the cost in manufacturing is labor cost its one way to bring down cost without lowering qulity. After the parts finished it runs over a camra system to inspect the parts. My guess is vibration caused the joint to open up You can try using a silicone to make the part more stable or just make sure the door and all its bolts are tight they loosen up over time. If you ever find a 1950s style opener they almost never have problems do anything you can to keep it. I belive you can still buy parts for them. They are almost bullet proof.

[@danaroenish4429]

thank you for saving me a lot of money on a new system that i obviously didn't need, it was the lightbulb

[@jeffreysilverman5214]

Wow, thanks for solving my problem. recently replaced my bulbs with LED's and suddenly door opener and homelink wouldn't work unless directly under opener. Replaced bulbs with regular bulbs and working like new again!

[@thomassankara2857]

I have a similar issue, did you do same thing in the video to resolve the problem?

[@warringtonwilliams464]

Thank you so much! I never connected the LED bulb to my problem. I should have considered it could serve as a jamming device as I spent a few years as an electronics tech in the Navy

[@csmers3743]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Thanks to your video I was able to troubleshoot a microscopic cracked trace on the signal board and re-solder. Opener works again as it should.. I was about to break down and buy a new board!! Your the real MVP

[@donbogart1562]

Thank you! I never would have thought to check the bulbs. My LED bulb was interfering with the wireless signal to the opener.

[@ottumland]

Thanks for the video! Seems like I had all the issues it was possible to have on this. I had the cold solder joints that needed repaired, but that didn't fix it. Then, my remotes wouldn't program. Turned out those had frequency drifted, and had to have the variable cap adjusted. Then finally, there was the LED light bulb issue, which explained why the garage door would OPEN, but not CLOSE. Because the light would be on once it was open!

[@grnsgottaM]

Thank you for this video! Google results from years ago, were swimming in sensor problems. I could have taped them together and still had this problem, when the shop got over 78° inside. I gave up and just dealt with it. At least I have something to inspect now. Thanks again. Edit: I wasn’t able to fix the board, but $100 to get it working all summer long, was well worth it! I’d just gotten used to it not working a couple months out of the year.

[@johnflack909]

I'm pretty sure changing the light bulb to fix my garage door opener was the craziest thing I'd ever heard of.....until I tried it....and it worked.

[@pfarrell6]

Same here. Thank you Andrew DIY

[@1989paperboy]

Great video and explanations. Helped me to track down the source of my problem and avoid an expensive repair call. Cheers.

[@Rustyrailhead]

I live in sunny warm/hot Az. and our chamber.. unit wont work when it is cold outside. I played with the antenna thinking it wasn't long enough like a fan remote sometimes doesn't work if tucked too much into the cover. I like your video as it leads me in the direction I am thinking the problem is as in cold weather most things shrink up as in this joint you explain in the piece. So now I think I have an answer to our problem and make the wife happy, Hell, make me happy not having her mad at me if I don't answer the phone to press the wall button for some reason closes the door. Now to go and investigate my door.

[@timmccarville990]

thank you - no longer pulling my hair out trying to figure this old bugger out! Thanks!!

[@ryansclement]

Great video! I did as you said and found a few joints that I resoldered and now works beautiful. Thanks so much for creating the video!

[@EliteOnTheBeat]

YOU know what else works "beautifully"? 60 seconds + A coat hanger going straight thru the top of your garage door to the dislatch. EASILY to break into YOUR house! If you don't want your house broken into make sure you zip tie the dislatch on your garage door. Thank me later. You're welcome Ryan. God bless.

[@smccain953]

This was very helpful. Mine would stop travel at random times, only quick flicker of the light bulbs when it happened. Other symptom was the LED on the wall switch would sligtly dim and flicker at random times. I measured the voltage on the blue cap of the transformer board which should be 24V, but it would drop down to 16V sometimes. Did not notice at first, but the one of the transformer solder joints was cracked. Just resoldered it and all good.

[@jamesblade911able]

Thank you, this video was extremely informative and helpful. My door began working randomly, it would shut off as if it lost power in mid cycle, top, ect... completely random. Seemed more temperamental during the rain or really high humidity days here in SC. Door had been acting up for about 2-3 weeks. The last 2 days it was stopping almost immediately, as soon as vibration began it shutdown. I pulled the board and found a hairline crack in the solder just as you had, a bit of heat from soldering gun, little extra solder and done, fixed. Thank you again, extremely helpful.

[@Nicecalgarian]

💕🇨🇦🙏 Thank you immensely for this. I was going crazy why my garage door would only do this in winter.

[@danr9183]

Thank you so much for this video. I had just put in some LED bulbs when the old incandescent bulbs burned out and I was so confused why all of a sudden my doors would open the first time I used the opener in a while but then would not close. I realize now it’s because when the opener is idle the lights are off so the first signal gets through. But when the opener turns on the lights it creates its own interference problem from the LED and so it stops responding to the remote!

[@bobbowers6340]

I had the shaking problem and intermittent opening/closing part way and sometimes all the way, and sometimes no operation at all. Lights flashing were different all the time, so they gave no hint. Wires to sensor and wall control were fine, but.... later. After watching your video, and seeing you had the same "hit the opener body" action, and it worked, I disassembled the control panel. The logic board looked fine, and examined with microscope. The power board was also fine. I thought maybe the push-on connectors may not have made good contact. Reassembled. I found that one of the wires to the wall button had not been stripped far enough. I stripped it further. Reinserted wires. All works good again so far. 1/4" of wire insulation was taking the wall control offline, and stopping the whole thing. (Was a professional opener installation about 10 years ago replacing an old opener which had operated for 20 years.) THANKS! Saved me at least a hundred $$ and maybe a thousand, if I had had to have a pro fix it or replace it.

[@deanstuder1775]

I'm coming along late on this so I get the benefit of seeing all the comments early on. It would appear that this happens frequently at the heaviest of all components on the board, the main transformer. It is understandable that connection failure would likely occur here. Perhaps the factory should hot glue, or equal, this transformer in an effort to eliminate the stress on these connections. These components are all held in place by their soldered connections only. And or use vibration isolators to eliminate the shock of a reversing motor. They need seismic restraint engineering, just like structures do for eathquakes or wind . On a miniature scale. To me this is the problem, the broken connection is a symptom. You will have to repeatedly fix the symptom until the under lying problem that caused it is fixed. Intermittent troubles like this n. are the absolute worst of worst of the possible troubles you might encounter. You can only feasibly do this if you live there. For a professional GDO repairman , this option wouldnt be taken. They would replace the circuit board or more likely , the whole unit. They have to guarantee their repairs and resoldering a few connections on an old board is asking for trouble compared to replacing with new.

[@tonydigiovanni9077]

You're 100% right. But companies claim doing it right cost money and consumers will not pay for extra components ....so they say.

[@chantelvonutassy6732]

If the problem can be fixed with a soldering iron it's the best option as the same thing would occur with a replacement board. The problem is the vibrations from the door causing damage to the board, so a quick fix would be a suitable answer to a problem which will likely reoccur in the future (new board or not) instead of spending more money.

[@yes350yes]

I had two different issues with my garage door. Door starts to go down stops half way goes back up and the incandescent light would flicker but those were different issues happening at different times. Plus the incandescent outside would not last long. So I tried the led bulbs In the garage and outside problem solved never another flicker and no changing of the outside bulbs for 3 yrs now. The other problem I sprayed the rollers on the garage door with WD 40 solved the other problem , less squeaking too. Worked for me cant guarantee it will work for you.

[@mwcleaning]

Here’s a tip. If your eyes are not used to looking for loose solder joints, take a close up picture of the board with your phone and then zoom up/scan the picture for loose joints. You will be amazed how good this works. Better than a magnifying glass. My broken pin was the last one where the two boards join together.

[@Turbo231]

Nicely done, I feared this was my issue and it was, so went through and resoldered and fixed it. Thanks!

[@berniesaul8538]

Unbelievable. I am an electrical engineer so I was very skeptical of claims that an LED bulb could cause my problem. It was and it did. When the LED bulb is on, the opener will not operate. When the bulb is not on, it works great. Can't thank you enough.

[@JimMortson]

Just lost power to unit. Turned out the GFI in my garage had tripped. Not where the unit was plugged in but apparently controlled all other outlets. Good video, tho. Learned a lot!

[@SitioWebMas]

That's the exact same problem my garage door opener had - thanks very much for posting this video!

[@Cholocarlito]

You just saved me 150 bucks. Works perfectly now!

[@dangraef7447]

I can't believe it! I had to look at it with a magnifying glass but sure enough, my same solder joint that is in the video was cracked and caused my intermittent problem (up or down). Thank you for the post!

[@edt8220]

I was having Intermittent operation in cold weather. I watched this video and took out the two LED light bulbs and door operated. I put them back in and they both lit up when screwing them in. One was a little faded looking and my car locked when I put it back in. The door seems to operate fine now after 5 test runs. I've also had success cleaning the eye of the beam transmitter / receiver after winter muck made the face too hazy.

[@kenfuller1373]

Phenomenal recommendation regarding the light bulb interference. Who knew? THANKS!!

[@trashmanwm]

Brilliant, it was the led lights, 2 year problem solved just like that. Thank you sir

[@robertbateman3665]

A cold solder joint can also show as a dull gray as opposed to a shinier silver color.

[@ctvediting]

Another tip that might help people: spider webs on or near the infrared safety sensors. As spring comes on, I've found the fine webs can attach to the bottom of the door and trip the closing run. Those sensors have to be perfectly aligned and solidly secure and no insects anywhere near the "eyes". Hope this helps someone.

[@ericrideout173]

I applaud your effort, really. I would be interested in how long this repair works, without more repairs needed to opener. Just asking. I install & repair , so my time is money for customers. So I can fix them as well, but unless it's quick, then no, depending on condition & age, I recommend a new one. My avg. repair charge either way is $150.00 + parts, taxes of course, yada

[@lauriesailer6871]

Thanks I found a cold joint fixed it and the garage door started right up!

[@gr0v3r]

This was exactly my issue and new solder fixed the issue! Thank you so much - very valuable.

[@joevignolor4u949]

None of your garage door opener videos seem to address problems with the RPM sensor that is located on the end of the motor shaft. This sensor tells the opener's electronics how fast the motor is spinning so it can detect a slow down caused by something jamming the garage door. Apparently as the thrust bearing inside the motor wears the round plastic interrupter wheel moves away from the little light beam sensor. This causes the speed sensor signal to drop out, which causes the opener's electronics to think the door is jammed. This will cause the opener to stop after a short movement and either remain still until the start button is pressed again or auto-reverse. The solution is to take the interrupter wheel off the motor shaft, push the motor shaft all the way back and reposition the little collar on the shaft to eliminate the play. The collar has set screws on it that can be loosened to readjust the collar. Then just put the interrupter wheel back on the shaft. Afterwards the RPM signal will remain constant and the intermittent stopping will be eliminated.

[@pradeepbansod3334]

I have found a weather related problem where the door wouldn't close in winter -- it would start down and then reverse up. Lubricating the door (I used silicone spray but garage door lithium grease is better) fixed the problem and I do it every year before winter. I spray the torsion springs and all bearings (including the pulley bearings and the roller bearings, but not the tracks or the roller surface themseves).

[@-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

Oh my gawd! You look exactly like Andrew Howard, the Wales actor from Cardiff. Possible stunt double? Only time will tell.

[@jmbism]

Added a mouse device transmitter in the garage; then remote opener failure. Unplug mouse device and problem fixed!!!!! Wife happy-I'm happy. t Thanks for your tip!

[@Bob_Neufeld]

I think this is not sporadic. The remote will not activate the opener while the LED is lit, which is generally for a few minutes after the door opens or closes. This explains why our built in car remote would not close the garage door from a few feet away when backing out but works just fine from the end of the driveway when returning home. Also explains why your opener worked again after the delay of several tries. Thanks for the tip. Works just fine now.

[@linquishjohnson9043]

This guy saved me alot of money from buying another garage door opener.I had recently just installed an l.e.d. light bulb in the opener,and my garage door wasn't operating properly.Sometime it would open,but when I would try to close it,then it wouldn't close.It was operating sort of like it had a time laspe delay before it would operate properly. So watching this video,and hearing him say that if you have an l.e.d. light bulb could cause it not to operate properly is what really got my attention. By the way I changed the battery in my garage opener remote,and thought that would fix the problem,but that wasn't the problem.It was the l.e.d. bulb that I had installed, that was causing the problem all along. I changed the bulb,and installed a regular clear light bulb,and haven't had any other issues with it.Thanks again for this video,because a simple fix,saved me a whole lot from spending unnecessary money.

[@johngddr5288]

Thank u for the video dude. Gave me more confidence in soldering!

[@JRCinKY]

Really good video. I haven't got mine going yet but I have eliminated a couple problems. I am NOT competent to do this, but I am going to give it a Go.

[@0202fabrice]

If a solder joint has been cracked for some time, the solder can be sufficiently oxidized that attempting to reflow won't work. It's good practice to use some electronic flux (not plumbing flux) on the joint before heating and soldering.

[@michaelcalkins8648]

OMG! My problem was a freakin LED bulb. Thank you so much.