Genie screw drive garage door opener ideas

[zahc]

My genie screw drive is broken. The problem gradually got worse and now it is useless.

It's a starting problem. About half the time, it stalls before it even starts, either opening or closing.  Just sits there and buzzes. Except, when it does get going, it runs the door just fine. It never stalls or reverses, and has tons of power, so long as it does get going.

It stalls even when the manual disconnect is pulled so the screw is free. The door is not binding.

Since its a starting problem I replaced the cap even though the old one tested fine.

I can only assume something in the gearbox is sheared or wallowed. I guess I'll take it down and try to tear it apart.

[Harold Tuttle]

the carriage could be gummed up, what kind of lube are you running?

[Azrael256]

Put power to it and give the shaft a slight twist while it's sitting there buzzing.  $5 says it takes off when you do.  It sounds like the startup winding to me.

If it does, find your billfold and go to Sears.

[Scout26]

I've got one also.  Lately it's started this go down 6 inches, go back up (like it hit something or the safety beam was crossed.)  Press it again, same, press it again, same, press it again and hold the button down works about 50% of the time.  Then other days it works flawlessly.


Where's the pound head smilie ??

[Nick1911]

This is probably a pretty stupid idea, but....

hard start kit?  5-2-1's are pretty cheap...

[Triphammer]

1) start capacitor
2) end switch, it disconnects the start winding at speed
3) run capacitor, likely doesn't have one of these if its a capacitor start.

[Jim147]

I've only worked on two garage door openers and don't remember the brand. One was commercial with the air switch in the bottom seal.

I'm going to go with relay on the board not making contact every time.

jim

[Brad Johnson]

I'm seconding the start capacitor idea.

Brad

[HankB]

The screw drive is EXTREMELY sensitive to the type of lubrication.

The preferred grease is Lubriplate "AERO" . . .don't use ordinary Lubriplate, be sure you use AERO.

Also, supplementing it with LPS 2 spray lubricant is a good idea; LPS 1 will work too, but LPS 2 will "stay in the threads better" according to the garage mechanic who replaced the torsion springs in my old home's garage door.

From time to time, depending on conditions, you have to clean the muck out, too.

[zahc]

Put power to it and give the shaft a slight twist while it's sitting there buzzing

Already established that this works every time and it has plenty of power once it gets going. That's why I replaced the start cap. You can turn the motor tail shaft fairly easily. It seems like it has a bit of a hitch to it, but i'm not sure if is something binding or just the resistance of the motor from sitting there buzzing.  I already cleaned and lubed with Genie grease.

What is a start winding?

[Azrael256]

Already established that this works every time and it has plenty of power once it gets going. That's why I replaced the start cap. You can turn the motor tail shaft fairly easily. It seems like it has a bit of a hitch to it, but i'm not sure if is something binding or just the resistance of the motor from sitting there buzzing.  I already cleaned and lubed with Genie grease.

What is a start winding?

The motor windings sit at a particular angle to each other (depends on phase and such), but they end up with a gap where the net field is zero.  So there's equal 'pull' from the last winding, but equal 'push' from the next.  So there's no (net) motion.  If the motor is spinning, momentum pushes through the gap.  If it's not, there is an offset winding to 'kick' it.  There is usually a centrifugal switch that turns off the start winding when the shaft is spinning that may well have failed.  IIRC from the one I tore don last, that's inside the motor hosing, but yours my be replaceable.

You don't always fall into the 'gap', so you may get a start now and then, but most starts will fail.

[zahc]

That sounds like my problem exactly.

[Azrael256]

That sounds like my problem exactly.

I would be happy to be wrong here.  Mine had an internal switch, so we just got a new one.  It may have been 20 years since, and it was probably 10 years old even then, so it could be totally different in yours.  IIRC, popping open the unit and looking over the motor isn't too hard.  It might be a $2 part instead of a $150 unit.

One thing you might do is test the startup winding.  It may be wired separately from the main windings, so you'll have four pins on the connector to the motor instead of three.  The last dishwasher motor I pulled out did, but it has been too long on the door opener to remember.  There are a couple other ways to start a motor, but I would expect them in more expensive and higher demand sort of devices.  Stuff that doesn't cost $150 for a whole new one.  None of them are really any more practically replaceable anyway.

[BryanP]

I've got one also.  Lately it's started this go down 6 inches, go back up (like it hit something or the safety beam was crossed.)  Press it again, same, press it again, same, press it again and hold the button down works about 50% of the time.  Then other days it works flawlessly.


Where's the pound head smilie ??

I've seen this happen at 2 different houses, and in both cases it was keyed to the time of day.  When it wasn't working it was because the sun was shining directly into one of the safety beam modules, effectively blinding it.

[brimic]

I can only assume something in the gearbox is sheared or wallowed. I guess I'll take it down and try to tear it apart.

You'll know right away if you open the box. Most likely will have nylon gears which will look like a big pile of nylon shavings if your gears are shot. Easy enough to replace if you can get the replacement parts.