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Posted by dave on April 28, 2007, 12:34 pm
our garage has a "genie excellerator" opener on it. we've had it on
there for like 4 yrs now, approx, since it was new. problems with it are
'numerous' (and related to each other?):
1. this opener has ALWAYS (since it was brand new) opened, or closed
our rollup door "at whatever speed it FEELS like that day" regardless of
settings. at various times it 'crawls upward dead slow' end to end,
sometimes it "rockets upward like a bullet from a gun barrel", from one
end to the other (of its travel), and other times it "operates mostly at
medium speed, except when it first starts to move and when it nears the
end of its' travel, where it slows down considerably" (which is how, I
think, it's *supposed* to operate). does this mean the 'motherboard' in
there is defective?
and also, for whatever bearing this might have:
2. the door is standard residential, steel four panel, 16 feet across,
and, when the opener 'red pull knob-rope' is used to DISengage the door
from the lead screw, and I close the door manually, the door will "fall
entirely CLOSED of its own weight", from a dead stopped position,
starting when it's up about 16 inches up from fully closed. does that
mean the single torsion spring is wearing out, -or- improperly adjusted?
the 'most major' problem is this, however:
3. sometimes (about 10 percent of the time, at entirely random times)
it'll close fully, then, when the bottom of the door (and its fat
gasket) hit the slab, the main lead screw extrusion will "flex way too
far upwardly" (accompanied by the door trying to close TOO far) and then
the door will 'immediately self-open' back -up-, as if it hadn't 'seen'
the close-stop reed contact (or some dang thing).
I have the opener set to close at 'near minimal' force, but NOT 'full
minimal'. when this bizarre 'ARCHUP/door bounceup' stuff happens, I
don't hear the (normal) tiny 'relay click' I ordinarily hear in the
control head about a half-second after the door has closed fully. is
this 'auto bounce back UP by itself' another indicator the 'main board'
in the thing is either defective or 'going defective over time'? or what
-could- cause this bizarre behavior other than that?
4. another possible indicator: this opener seems to not want to close
when I adjust it to close at the 'minimal close force' setting. it'll
just close halfway, or not even halfway, then 'auto-bounce' right back
up. I've tried intercepting the door, with my hands when it's closing,
to SEE if our kitty could be safe IF this thing closes on her, and the
weight this opener allows, even at the 'lite' close setting, is what I'd
consider to be "VERY heavy indeed", like the weight of a HUGE car
battery, at LEAST, before it'd open back up*...aren't these 'close
force' things supposed to FAR more sensitive than that?
all rollers are clear, free-spinning, well oiled, and 'looked after'.
same applies to all door hinges. the tracks are also unbent, hung
correctly, and entirely unobstructed. door itself is also unbent, and
correctly horizontal in its tracks. this is an inland environment, not
'salt air' or anything like that. all electrical connections are clean
and free of corrosion. no 'jury-rigged' or 'shabby' electrical
connections anywhere.
thanks in advance for 'tips' and ideas on these baffling events, guys,
toolie
- -
replies by e-mail, if any, please remove the weird stuff from my address
before you click send. thanks :-)
- -
*I tried to measure this 'door close force' =exactly= by spanning the
slab where the door closes, about halfway up, with a stout board
supported by two A-frame ladders (one 6-footer inside the garage, one
8-footer outdoors), with a good quality bathroom scale located
mid-plank. when the door closes on it, the needle jumps around
dramatically, though, so it's impossible to read accurately (when the
door closes on the scale then bounces back up) *but* it 'seems like'
(best I can judge) around 70 lbs of close force is involved here (and
this with the opener set at 'as light as I set it and still have the
door close fully') - does that seem right?
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Posted by on April 28, 2007, 1:18 pm
> our garage has a "genie excellerator" opener on it. we've had it on
> there for like 4 yrs now, approx, since it was new. problems with it are
> 'numerous' (and related to each other?):
>
> 1. this opener has ALWAYS (since it was brand new) opened, or closed
> our rollup door "at whatever speed it FEELS like that day" regardless of
> settings. at various times it 'crawls upward dead slow' end to end,
> sometimes it "rockets upward like a bullet from a gun barrel", from one
> end to the other (of its travel), and other times it "operates mostly at
> medium speed, except when it first starts to move and when it nears the
> end of its' travel, where it slows down considerably" (which is how, I
> think, it's *supposed* to operate). does this mean the 'motherboard' in
> there is defective?
>
> and also, for whatever bearing this might have:
>
> 2. the door is standard residential, steel four panel, 16 feet across,
> and, when the opener 'red pull knob-rope' is used to DISengage the door
> from the lead screw, and I close the door manually, the door will "fall
> entirely CLOSED of its own weight", from a dead stopped position,
> starting when it's up about 16 inches up from fully closed. does that
> mean the single torsion spring is wearing out, -or- improperly adjusted?
>
> the 'most major' problem is this, however:
>
> 3. sometimes (about 10 percent of the time, at entirely random times)
> it'll close fully, then, when the bottom of the door (and its fat
> gasket) hit the slab, the main lead screw extrusion will "flex way too
> far upwardly" (accompanied by the door trying to close TOO far) and then
> the door will 'immediately self-open' back -up-, as if it hadn't 'seen'
> the close-stop reed contact (or some dang thing).
>
> I have the opener set to close at 'near minimal' force, but NOT 'full
> minimal'. when this bizarre 'ARCHUP/door bounceup' stuff happens, I
> don't hear the (normal) tiny 'relay click' I ordinarily hear in the
> control head about a half-second after the door has closed fully. is
> this 'auto bounce back UP by itself' another indicator the 'main board'
> in the thing is either defective or 'going defective over time'? or what
> -could- cause this bizarre behavior other than that?
>
> 4. another possible indicator: this opener seems to not want to close
> when I adjust it to close at the 'minimal close force' setting. it'll
> just close halfway, or not even halfway, then 'auto-bounce' right back
> up. I've tried intercepting the door, with my hands when it's closing,
> to SEE if our kitty could be safe IF this thing closes on her, and the
> weight this opener allows, even at the 'lite' close setting, is what I'd
> consider to be "VERY heavy indeed", like the weight of a HUGE car
> battery, at LEAST, before it'd open back up*...aren't these 'close
> force' things supposed to FAR more sensitive than that?
>
> all rollers are clear, free-spinning, well oiled, and 'looked after'.
> same applies to all door hinges. the tracks are also unbent, hung
> correctly, and entirely unobstructed. door itself is also unbent, and
> correctly horizontal in its tracks. this is an inland environment, not
> 'salt air' or anything like that. all electrical connections are clean
> and free of corrosion. no 'jury-rigged' or 'shabby' electrical
> connections anywhere.
>
> thanks in advance for 'tips' and ideas on these baffling events, guys,
>
> toolie
>
> - -
> replies by e-mail, if any, please remove the weird stuff from my address
> before you click send. thanks :-)
> - -
>
> *I tried to measure this 'door close force' =exactly= by spanning the
> slab where the door closes, about halfway up, with a stout board
> supported by two A-frame ladders (one 6-footer inside the garage, one
> 8-footer outdoors), with a good quality bathroom scale located
> mid-plank. when the door closes on it, the needle jumps around
> dramatically, though, so it's impossible to read accurately (when the
> door closes on the scale then bounces back up) *but* it 'seems like'
> (best I can judge) around 70 lbs of close force is involved here (and
> this with the opener set at 'as light as I set it and still have the
> door close fully') - does that seem right?
When disconnected, the door should be close to balanced. Meaning it
should either stay in place throughout it's range or only require a
little force to keep it from going down or to move it up. From your
description, it sounds like the door is not balanced and that could be
part of the problem, depending on how far out it is. I would addresss
that first.
Besides a down force limit, does the opener have a down distance
limit? If that is set too far, the door will try to continue to go
down, resulting in some of the behavior you see.
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Posted by Pop` on April 29, 2007, 12:46 pm
Inline:
trader4@optonline.net wrote:
>> our garage has a "genie excellerator" opener on it. we've had it on
>> there for like 4 yrs now, approx, since it was new. problems with it
>> are 'numerous' (and related to each other?):
>>
>> 1. this opener has ALWAYS (since it was brand new) opened, or closed
>> our rollup door "at whatever speed it FEELS like that day"
>> regardless of settings. at various times it 'crawls upward dead
>> slow' end to end, sometimes it "rockets upward like a bullet from a
>> gun barrel", from one end to the other (of its travel), and other
>> times it "operates mostly at medium speed, except when it first
>> starts to move and when it nears the end of its' travel, where it
>> slows down considerably" (which is how, I think, it's *supposed* to
>> operate). does this mean the 'motherboard' in there is defective?
>>
>> and also, for whatever bearing this might have:
>>
>> 2. the door is standard residential, steel four panel, 16 feet
>> across, and, when the opener 'red pull knob-rope' is used to
>> DISengage the door from the lead screw, and I close the door
>> manually, the door will "fall entirely CLOSED of its own weight",
>> from a dead stopped position, starting when it's up about 16 inches
>> up from fully closed. does that mean the single torsion spring is
>> wearing out, -or- improperly adjusted?
>>
>> the 'most major' problem is this, however:
>>
>> 3. sometimes (about 10 percent of the time, at entirely random times)
>> it'll close fully, then, when the bottom of the door (and its fat
>> gasket) hit the slab, the main lead screw extrusion will "flex way
>> too far upwardly" (accompanied by the door trying to close TOO far)
>> and then the door will 'immediately self-open' back -up-, as if it
>> hadn't 'seen' the close-stop reed contact (or some dang thing).
>>
>> I have the opener set to close at 'near minimal' force, but NOT 'full
>> minimal'. when this bizarre 'ARCHUP/door bounceup' stuff happens, I
>> don't hear the (normal) tiny 'relay click' I ordinarily hear in the
>> control head about a half-second after the door has closed fully. is
>> this 'auto bounce back UP by itself' another indicator the 'main
>> board' in the thing is either defective or 'going defective over
>> time'? or what -could- cause this bizarre behavior other than that?
>>
>> 4. another possible indicator: this opener seems to not want to close
>> when I adjust it to close at the 'minimal close force' setting. it'll
>> just close halfway, or not even halfway, then 'auto-bounce' right
>> back up. I've tried intercepting the door, with my hands when it's
>> closing, to SEE if our kitty could be safe IF this thing closes on
>> her, and the weight this opener allows, even at the 'lite' close
>> setting, is what I'd consider to be "VERY heavy indeed", like the
>> weight of a HUGE car battery, at LEAST, before it'd open back
>> up*...aren't these 'close force' things supposed to FAR more
>> sensitive than that?
>>
>> all rollers are clear, free-spinning, well oiled, and 'looked after'.
>> same applies to all door hinges. the tracks are also unbent, hung
>> correctly, and entirely unobstructed. door itself is also unbent, and
>> correctly horizontal in its tracks. this is an inland environment,
>> not 'salt air' or anything like that. all electrical connections are
>> clean and free of corrosion. no 'jury-rigged' or 'shabby' electrical
>> connections anywhere.
>>
>> thanks in advance for 'tips' and ideas on these baffling events,
>> guys,
>>
>> toolie
>>
>> - -
>> replies by e-mail, if any, please remove the weird stuff from my
>> address before you click send. thanks :-)
>> - -
>>
>> *I tried to measure this 'door close force' =exactly= by spanning the
>> slab where the door closes, about halfway up, with a stout board
>> supported by two A-frame ladders (one 6-footer inside the garage, one
>> 8-footer outdoors), with a good quality bathroom scale located
>> mid-plank. when the door closes on it, the needle jumps around
>> dramatically, though, so it's impossible to read accurately (when the
>> door closes on the scale then bounces back up) *but* it 'seems like'
>> (best I can judge) around 70 lbs of close force is involved here (and
>> this with the opener set at 'as light as I set it and still have the
>> door close fully') - does that seem right?
>
>
> When disconnected, the door should be close to balanced. Meaning it
> should either stay in place throughout it's range or only require a
> little force to keep it from going down or to move it up. From your
> description, it sounds like the door is not balanced and that could be
> part of the problem, depending on how far out it is. I would addresss
> that first.
Agreed, BUT, he "tested" it at 16" open. The test you refer to has to be
done around the half way point or a tad higher. That way the needed
open/close forces needed are equal and as a result, lower than other
situations.
>
> Besides a down force limit, does the opener have a down distance
> limit? If that is set too far, the door will try to continue to go
> down, resulting in some of the behavior you see.
True also and it almost certainly does have such a thing.
Regards,
Pop`
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|
Posted by Larry and a Cat named Dub on April 30, 2007, 10:07 pm
I also have this opener The door has to stay open about halfway up on its
own if it don't in all likelihood its the springs and not the opener. Have
you called the factory they are very good on troubleshooting
They sent me a new mother board and the springs adjustment were the problem
Also if you keep plugging and unplugging it will confuse it and it will need
to be reset
Been there done that Hope this info helps
> Inline:
> trader4@optonline.net wrote:
>>> our garage has a "genie excellerator" opener on it. we've had it on
>>> there for like 4 yrs now, approx, since it was new. problems with it
>>> are 'numerous' (and related to each other?):
>>>
>>> 1. this opener has ALWAYS (since it was brand new) opened, or closed
>>> our rollup door "at whatever speed it FEELS like that day"
>>> regardless of settings. at various times it 'crawls upward dead
>>> slow' end to end, sometimes it "rockets upward like a bullet from a
>>> gun barrel", from one end to the other (of its travel), and other
>>> times it "operates mostly at medium speed, except when it first
>>> starts to move and when it nears the end of its' travel, where it
>>> slows down considerably" (which is how, I think, it's *supposed* to
>>> operate). does this mean the 'motherboard' in there is defective?
>>>
>>> and also, for whatever bearing this might have:
>>>
>>> 2. the door is standard residential, steel four panel, 16 feet
>>> across, and, when the opener 'red pull knob-rope' is used to
>>> DISengage the door from the lead screw, and I close the door
>>> manually, the door will "fall entirely CLOSED of its own weight",
>>> from a dead stopped position, starting when it's up about 16 inches
>>> up from fully closed. does that mean the single torsion spring is
>>> wearing out, -or- improperly adjusted?
>>>
>>> the 'most major' problem is this, however:
>>>
>>> 3. sometimes (about 10 percent of the time, at entirely random times)
>>> it'll close fully, then, when the bottom of the door (and its fat
>>> gasket) hit the slab, the main lead screw extrusion will "flex way
>>> too far upwardly" (accompanied by the door trying to close TOO far)
>>> and then the door will 'immediately self-open' back -up-, as if it
>>> hadn't 'seen' the close-stop reed contact (or some dang thing).
>>>
>>> I have the opener set to close at 'near minimal' force, but NOT 'full
>>> minimal'. when this bizarre 'ARCHUP/door bounceup' stuff happens, I
>>> don't hear the (normal) tiny 'relay click' I ordinarily hear in the
>>> control head about a half-second after the door has closed fully. is
>>> this 'auto bounce back UP by itself' another indicator the 'main
>>> board' in the thing is either defective or 'going defective over
>>> time'? or what -could- cause this bizarre behavior other than that?
>>>
>>> 4. another possible indicator: this opener seems to not want to close
>>> when I adjust it to close at the 'minimal close force' setting. it'll
>>> just close halfway, or not even halfway, then 'auto-bounce' right
>>> back up. I've tried intercepting the door, with my hands when it's
>>> closing, to SEE if our kitty could be safe IF this thing closes on
>>> her, and the weight this opener allows, even at the 'lite' close
>>> setting, is what I'd consider to be "VERY heavy indeed", like the
>>> weight of a HUGE car battery, at LEAST, before it'd open back
>>> up*...aren't these 'close force' things supposed to FAR more
>>> sensitive than that?
>>>
>>> all rollers are clear, free-spinning, well oiled, and 'looked after'.
>>> same applies to all door hinges. the tracks are also unbent, hung
>>> correctly, and entirely unobstructed. door itself is also unbent, and
>>> correctly horizontal in its tracks. this is an inland environment,
>>> not 'salt air' or anything like that. all electrical connections are
>>> clean and free of corrosion. no 'jury-rigged' or 'shabby' electrical
>>> connections anywhere.
>>>
>>> thanks in advance for 'tips' and ideas on these baffling events,
>>> guys,
>>>
>>> toolie
>>>
>>> - -
>>> replies by e-mail, if any, please remove the weird stuff from my
>>> address before you click send. thanks :-)
>>> - -
>>>
>>> *I tried to measure this 'door close force' =exactly= by spanning the
>>> slab where the door closes, about halfway up, with a stout board
>>> supported by two A-frame ladders (one 6-footer inside the garage, one
>>> 8-footer outdoors), with a good quality bathroom scale located
>>> mid-plank. when the door closes on it, the needle jumps around
>>> dramatically, though, so it's impossible to read accurately (when the
>>> door closes on the scale then bounces back up) *but* it 'seems like'
>>> (best I can judge) around 70 lbs of close force is involved here (and
>>> this with the opener set at 'as light as I set it and still have the
>>> door close fully') - does that seem right?
>>
>>
>> When disconnected, the door should be close to balanced. Meaning it
>> should either stay in place throughout it's range or only require a
>> little force to keep it from going down or to move it up. From your
>> description, it sounds like the door is not balanced and that could be
>> part of the problem, depending on how far out it is. I would addresss
>> that first.
>
> Agreed, BUT, he "tested" it at 16" open. The test you refer to has to be
> done around the half way point or a tad higher. That way the needed
> open/close forces needed are equal and as a result, lower than other
> situations.
>
>>
>> Besides a down force limit, does the opener have a down distance
>> limit? If that is set too far, the door will try to continue to go
>> down, resulting in some of the behavior you see.
>
> True also and it almost certainly does have such a thing.
>
> Regards,
>
> Pop`
>
>
>
>
|
|
Posted by Pop` on April 29, 2007, 1:00 pm
IMHO, with all the fiddling you've had to do, I think I'd just replace the
door opener for a different brand. Over Head Door made mine, and I like it
a lot, never have a problem, etc., the 23 years we've been here other than
having to replace belts twice, once due a broken spring that allowed the
door to cock in the tracks.
Of course, it's also possible the probem has nothing to do with the opener
but instead is a problem with the door, tracks, springs, etc. etc..
When you check the "balance" on a door, it should be done at about the
half-travel point, which is usually a little over half way opened. It
should stay there on its own or begin to move very slowly (at first - don't
let it fall or go all the way up on its own!). You said you did it at 16",
which makes the test moot.
There, the springs should be about half way extended between the full
open and full closed positions. Springs should not sag when the door is
fully opened. Springs have to be the SAME springs on each side.
If you decide to try to slug your way through it, pick a time when it's
working right and get it fully adjusted. Check the instructions or if you
don't have them, get them from their website. It's not very hard to do,
even without instructions but they make identifying the parts easier.
THEN when it screws up, start checking other things. Temperature change can
cause a lot of problems in some areas and IMO is most likely what's going on
in your situation. Run the door up and down by hand, being very careful to
not drop it, and check its full travel both directions several times.
Something should expose itself.
Loose or worn hinges and/or rollers or tracks can be a culprit too, since
they allow the sections of the door to move around w/r to each other. Check
all the hardware and tighten if needed. The wheels have to be freely moving
and not filled with dirt or with flat spots or seriously worn edges.
Weather stripping moves easily with temp changes and can jam a door's
movement. Lots of possibilities to look for.
Lifting a door with the bottom handle does NOT duplicate the same action as
the door opener. To do that, you really have to finagle a way to put the
force on the arm to door connection and lift it. An added pulley might be
necessary; don't go trying to lift the door from a ladder! Keep safety in
mind at all times and take no chances.
HTH
Pop`
dave wrote:
> our garage has a "genie excellerator" opener on it. we've had it on
> there for like 4 yrs now, approx, since it was new. problems with it
> are 'numerous' (and related to each other?):
>
> 1. this opener has ALWAYS (since it was brand new) opened, or closed
> our rollup door "at whatever speed it FEELS like that day" regardless
> of settings. at various times it 'crawls upward dead slow' end to end,
> sometimes it "rockets upward like a bullet from a gun barrel", from
> one end to the other (of its travel), and other times it "operates
> mostly at medium speed, except when it first starts to move and when
> it nears the end of its' travel, where it slows down considerably"
> (which is how, I think, it's *supposed* to operate). does this mean
> the 'motherboard' in there is defective?
>
> and also, for whatever bearing this might have:
>
> 2. the door is standard residential, steel four panel, 16 feet across,
> and, when the opener 'red pull knob-rope' is used to DISengage the
> door from the lead screw, and I close the door manually, the door
> will "fall entirely CLOSED of its own weight", from a dead stopped
> position, starting when it's up about 16 inches up from fully closed.
> does that mean the single torsion spring is wearing out, -or-
> improperly adjusted?
> the 'most major' problem is this, however:
>
> 3. sometimes (about 10 percent of the time, at entirely random times)
> it'll close fully, then, when the bottom of the door (and its fat
> gasket) hit the slab, the main lead screw extrusion will "flex way too
> far upwardly" (accompanied by the door trying to close TOO far) and
> then the door will 'immediately self-open' back -up-, as if it hadn't
> 'seen' the close-stop reed contact (or some dang thing).
>
> I have the opener set to close at 'near minimal' force, but NOT 'full
> minimal'. when this bizarre 'ARCHUP/door bounceup' stuff happens, I
> don't hear the (normal) tiny 'relay click' I ordinarily hear in the
> control head about a half-second after the door has closed fully. is
> this 'auto bounce back UP by itself' another indicator the 'main
> board' in the thing is either defective or 'going defective over
> time'? or what -could- cause this bizarre behavior other than that?
>
> 4. another possible indicator: this opener seems to not want to close
> when I adjust it to close at the 'minimal close force' setting. it'll
> just close halfway, or not even halfway, then 'auto-bounce' right back
> up. I've tried intercepting the door, with my hands when it's closing,
> to SEE if our kitty could be safe IF this thing closes on her, and the
> weight this opener allows, even at the 'lite' close setting, is what
> I'd consider to be "VERY heavy indeed", like the weight of a HUGE car
> battery, at LEAST, before it'd open back up*...aren't these 'close
> force' things supposed to FAR more sensitive than that?
>
> all rollers are clear, free-spinning, well oiled, and 'looked after'.
> same applies to all door hinges. the tracks are also unbent, hung
> correctly, and entirely unobstructed. door itself is also unbent, and
> correctly horizontal in its tracks. this is an inland environment, not
> 'salt air' or anything like that. all electrical connections are clean
> and free of corrosion. no 'jury-rigged' or 'shabby' electrical
> connections anywhere.
>
> thanks in advance for 'tips' and ideas on these baffling events, guys,
>
> toolie
>
> - -
> replies by e-mail, if any, please remove the weird stuff from my
> address before you click send. thanks :-)
> - -
>
> *I tried to measure this 'door close force' =exactly= by spanning the
> slab where the door closes, about halfway up, with a stout board
> supported by two A-frame ladders (one 6-footer inside the garage, one
> 8-footer outdoors), with a good quality bathroom scale located
> mid-plank. when the door closes on it, the needle jumps around
> dramatically, though, so it's impossible to read accurately (when the
> door closes on the scale then bounces back up) *but* it 'seems like'
> (best I can judge) around 70 lbs of close force is involved here (and
> this with the opener set at 'as light as I set it and still have the
> door close fully') - does that seem right?
|
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