Crafsman Opener Problem

[skimmy]

Hi everyone,

I have a ½ horsepower craftsman garage door opener. It was with the house when I bought it 5 years ago so I’m not sure how old the opener is.

About a week ago I went to open the door and it only opened about half way. I tried a couple more times with the same result. I was then able to get it open all the way by pushing it up a bit as the opener opened it.

A couple days later and the door would only open a couple inches and I was unable to ‘help’ it all the way up.

I tried disconnecting the door from the opener by pulling the cord (sorry, I’m not too familiar with the terminology). I then had the opener retract all the way up successfully (without the door obviously). A day later and I tried to do the same and now the opener (without the door) will only go up about half way.

The light is not flashing and I don’t hear a clicking sound which would indicate the gears have gone.

Any ideas? Your help is greatly appreciated.



Edit: Unfortunately I can't change my obvious typo in the title...

[NPA]

When it goes about half way up and stops, does the motor keep running?
Did you try to open the door manually? Did it feel too heavy/unbalanced?

[TJR]

You might have a broken spring and that will be too much weight for the opener to pull open.
If you have a sections door, roll up door, overhead door, (many names for the same) look above the door and you will see the springs, the broken spring will have about a 2" gap in between the coils.
If that not it, disconnect the door from the opener(pull the cord) and open/close the door by hand, you should do so without major effort, the door should stay about half way point by it self and in full open without the risk for dropping, then you might need to call a garage door tech to adjust the door.
There is a label under the front light cover with the date of when it was made and model number.
Most times when the gear wear out the opener will not click or has blinking light, that's when sensor are interrupted.
When the gear go bad you can hear the motor run, but nothing moving. If you have a droopy chain you tighten up, you might have worn out bushings @ the drive sprocket and @ the limit assembly, that can make the limit gear skip and not open all the way.