Random up and down movement of door

[kjhansen]

I did a search on this forum and found a similar problem: the door will reverse and go up when you want it to go down. But mine is more creative. It will start to go down when you want it to go down, then reverse, then reverse again, stopping an going with a mind of its own. It will go up when you want it to go down. It will stop at any point in the up-down process. It will also go down all the way and stop. Then go back up. I've thoroughly lubricated the tracks, wheels, and rods with a silicone spray (silicone doesn't gather dust and dirt), to no avail.
Keith

[norlando]

Was it a normal-working door that suddenly got weird? Or is it a new installation you are trying to setup and adjust for the first time? Some of those behaviors sound like the safety mechanisms working properly as intended, but require adjustments (force adjustments and travel limit adjustments) to get things to normal.

[kjhansen]

It's an old door that has been getting persnickety for a while now, but not this bad. We've had to encourage it to come down (multiple button presses or pulling on it worked) in the past (the electric eye sensor seems to work fine BTW), but the suddenly-going-down when it's already started up, then reversing and reversing again is new.
Keith

[norlando]

Have you disconnected the opener from the door to manually test the door, by hand? It should be easy to open and close and remain in place if you open it halfway and let go. If a spring is broken or something is binding or bent, the extra drag might trigger the safety reversing mechanism. Though I am baffled that it reverses down after starting to go up. Most safety mechanisms will reverse if it senses trouble on the downstroke, but will stop (and remain still) if it senses trouble on the upstroke.