Genie Pro Max Chain Drive Stops & Powers Down

[Kendall]

Hi,

New to the forums. Thanks for having me!

My opener works somewhat intermittently. If I let it sit for awhile, it might open... or it might just open a little ways and stop. It does this both on the way up and on the way down and it can stop anywhere along the way. There is no rhyme or reason to it. When it stops, the light turns off and the backlights on the wall switches go out. It could take minutes or hours for the lights come back on. when they do, the garage door will work again... maybe once... maybe for just a few seconds.

When it's working, it's working as normal. Doesn't appear to be slowing, working hard or anything.

Pressure dials were set fairly soft. I turned them all the way up and it made no difference.

This can even happen after it's been sitting all day. Motor doesn't need to get hot or anything.

Door is 6 years old, well used and has been noisy for years. It is not terribly easy to open or close. Certainly more difficult than most non-auto doors that I'm used to. I figure the rollers could use some Teflon or something.

I have never done anything to service it.

Your thoughts?


Update: Thu 5/19/11 10:51AM PDT

OK. My little girl hit the button yesterday afternoon and killed the door again. I wanted to attach the shuttle to the door arm again this morning so the door would at least be locked (no manual latch.) After sitting all night, the light was on so I hit the switch. The shuttle went the wrong way so I hit it again... dead; the light, the switch backlights, the whole 9. So it died with virtually no strain on it.
.

[Ibanezrokr]

Sounds like low spring tension to me, but I'm not there and can't see it.. You should call a professional.

[Kendall]

Sounds like low spring tension to me, but I'm not there and can't see it.. You should call a professional.

Nice username! I used to play an old Artist. Should have never sold it.

Thanks for the reply!

If the spring tension was low, wouldn't it be easier to shut? It takes some effort to shut by hand (disconnected from the chain) and will only begin to fall on its own as it comes within 2 or 3 feet of the garage floor. Pretty much the same on the upward run, therefore he spring seems in relative balance to me. But I wonder if the track wheels need lube or something else is making the entire travel difficult.

And again, the tension knobs were low when all of this began, so you wouldn't think the motor was working very hard before. But turning them all the way up made no difference.

[Kendall]

Update:

OK. My little girl hit the button yesterday afternoon and killed the door again. I wanted to attach the shuttle to the door arm again this morning so the door would at least be locked (no manual latch.) After sitting all night, the light was on so I hit the switch. The shuttle went the wrong way so I hit it again... dead; the light, the switch backlights, the whole 9. So it died with virtually no strain on it.

I will update the OP accordingly.

Any thoughts?
.

[HayZee518]

with the carriage disconnected see how much pressure it takes to close the door and open it. the torsion spring is supposed to equal the weight of the door. check your tracks. maybe the garage frame settled, knocking them out of plumb or creating a wedge from top to bottom. the wheels have a ball bearing in them. the track doesn't need grease or oil. the grease will just attract dirt.

[Kendall]

with the carriage disconnected see how much pressure it takes to close the door and open it. the torsion spring is supposed to equal the weight of the door. check your tracks. maybe the garage frame settled, knocking them out of plumb or creating a wedge from top to bottom. the wheels have a ball bearing in them. the track doesn't need grease or oil. the grease will just attract dirt.

Thanks!

Yeah, I wouldn't grease the tracks themselves.

But as I mentioned in the update, the unit stopped this morning while disconnected from the door, i.e. under virtually no strain.

I was thinking it might be some kind of relay... perhaps before the capacitor.... but I've not been able to find any mention of this by anyone.

[billingt]

Hi, I have a problem that's identical to yours with one exception: it only happens on the way down (the door opens fine). But also very sporadic, and extremely annoying when I'm on my way out the door in the morning. My opener is a liftmaster, about the same age. From the research I've been able to do online, it seems like this may be a circuit board going bad, although it was hard to find the exact same symptoms anywhere else except here. I think the fact that the system seems to completely lose and then regain power with no apparent pattern suggests an electronic rather than mechanical problem. I'll keep you updated.

[Kendall]

Hi, I have a problem that's identical to yours with one exception: it only happens on the way down (the door opens fine). But also very sporadic, and extremely annoying when I'm on my way out the door in the morning. My opener is a liftmaster, about the same age. From the research I've been able to do online, it seems like this may be a circuit board going bad, although it was hard to find the exact same symptoms anywhere else except here. I think the fact that the system seems to completely lose and then regain power with no apparent pattern suggests an electronic rather than mechanical problem. I'll keep you updated.

Yeah, as I mentioned above... I was thinking there might be a relay that's going bad. Circuit board was actually my first guess until my father stepped into the mix. A bad relay doesn't seem like it would kill the whole thing. The fact that the lights in the wall switch go out, to me suggests something bigger like circuit board. Lord knows there's a big one in there.

I've done a lot of online research myself. The fact that we seem to be practically alone in this predicament seems pretty strange. But maybe circuit boards just rarely go out and you and I are the lucky ones.

[gdoorpro]

If you are having power failure to the unit, including the wall button, it is definitly the circuit board, and yes they do fail quite frequently the older they get. They often cost as much or close to as much as a new opener for DIY. dealers will charge $150 and up to replace a board. Ryan

[Kendall]

If you are having power failure to the unit, including the wall button, it is definitly the circuit board, and yes they do fail quite frequently the older they get. They often cost as much or close to as much as a new opener for DIY. dealers will charge $150 and up to replace a board. Ryan

Thanks Ryan!

Any thoughts of where I might look to find the part?