Monday, February 18, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Bait Coupons
After figuring out the problem lies with the RPM sensor, I still wasn't able to find it within the opener, as I was only looking on one side.
During that time, I found the Valpak coupons in the mail and among them I noticed this one:
During that time, I found the Valpak coupons in the mail and among them I noticed this one:
From initial look, it has some good offers like "Free Service Call" and "$50 Off", so I thought why not calling them if that will help me solve the problem faster without wasting more time on it. And as expected that turned out to be another trap but luckily it has some good consequences. I called them and a technician came, this time was more professional and polite than the initial one. After looking at the door, he noticed it's unbalanced so his offer to fix the issue was to just do some "lubing and tuning" for $189! I mentioned to him about the RPM sensor and how I believe it's the real cause for the problem, but he didn't even seem to know about that sensor and insisted on just doing his adjustments, bragging about his 7 years experience and that manuals don't solve problems. I wasn't ready to get cheated again so initially I refused to take this and here he asked for a $49 service call!
That time I started to figure out the trap, looking at the coupon fine prints, you get the free service call only with a service, and in this case you don't qualify for the $50 off since you cannot use with another offer! Got it? So either I pay $189 for a lube and tune which is so expensive for that, and I was sure won't solve the problem, or I pay $49 for nothing. I didn't give up and started arguing and calling these numbers complaining about the bait and mentioning that his diagnostic is not going to solve the problem, I could hear him at that time talking to his boss on the phone saying "I like customers that think they know better than me"! I finally gave up, but the good thing after this fight, I got a word from them that for the $189 he will get it fixed, or at least I showed them that I won't be an easy victim.
He went on to do the lubing, which consist of spraying lubricant on the door rollers and hinges, then he adjusted the spring using a big iron bar. He got the door balanced in less than 10 minutes, which I could have probably done myself, but it's good to see it at least once. Also the spring tuning was a bit challenging and needs a special tool. I will post links for videos online showing how to do this. After that he went to adjust the opener force and time limit controls and thought that's going to get him the $189, but as expected that didn't work and the problem remained the same. He then removed the remaining of the opener cover (I had it already opened when he arrived, so no excuses) and kept looking inside with no clue, until finally he gave up. He was obviously embarrassed after this and spent some time thinking what to offer, so he mentioned that the logic board needs to be changed which I can either wait for them to order and replace it for me or I can order it online and replace myself! It's nice when you get such suggestions from a service call, why am I calling them then? My concern was that they ask me to replace the whole opener similar to the previous one or pay $189 for the lubing and tuning, but I guess, feeling the embarrassment, he just asked for the $49 service call and told me that at least I got my door balanced, which I thought was fair. He also gave some good suggestions for what lubricant to use and doing it every 6 months. I finally wanted him to show me where's this RPM sensor (which was my main goal for this service call anyway), but he didn't have a clue, so he just told me to search online :)
Overall I was happy with this service, better than the first guy, at least getting the door balanced, but the real surprise came after he left, when I finally found what I was looking for. Since he removed the opener side nails and cover, I was able to spot the interrupter cup and RPM sensor inside and proceed with the solution.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The Solution
The first hint at the solution came from the garage door opener manual, which turned out to be a useful resource to read carefully when solving these problems. That model (LiftMaster 3280) turned out to have a good self-diagnostic Flash LED capabilities, which shows up when opening the lens cover on the side that has the wires and force controls.
The problem again was that the door was reversing for no reason. Even after disconnecting the opener trolley from the door by pulling the emergency release handle, the trolley would move for a few inches then reverse back. Adjusting the force and travel limit controls had no effect. But then, looking at the flashing LED every time I press the button, I noticed 5 flashes. The diagnostic chart in the manual pointed to these 5 flashes and short motor movement as an issue with the RPM sensor!
The RPM (Rotation Per Minute) sensor is a small board surrounded by an interrupter cup that sits next to the motor shatft. It's purpose is to detect resistance against the door movement and stops the motor from working against those forces to avoid damage to the motor or to whatever is blocking the door passage. Apparently when this sensor breaks, the motor cannot travel for a long distance without reversing causing the issue I had.
Another useful resource that pointed at exactly the same issue is the LiftMaster Support website:
If you have recently replaced your garage door opener's gears, the shaft bearing kit may be interfering with a part of your RPM sensor assembly called the interrupter cup. Make sure that the wire harness is plugged back into the RPM sensor and the interrupter cup is installed and seated all the way on the motor shaft, so that the edge of the cup rotates through the RPM sensor. The RPM sensor is a small 1 inch x 1 inch electronic circuit board with a 2 pronged black sensor. If the cup is not pushed on to the end of the shaft, it can cause the symptoms described.
It's not saying directly that the RPM sensor needs to be replaced, but pointing that these are the issues causing this kind of problem.
Knowing that the RPM sensor is likely the cause for this problem, the next issue was how to replace it? Luckily it was so easy to get it, since searching for it online returned many sources and costs as low as $6: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JGLXDI/. In addition, the product reviews are also helpful in pointing to similar problems and how they were resolved.
Next comes the biggest challenge, which is how to find that sensor within the motor unit? The manual has charts for the motor assembly parts, similar to page 31 in this manual: http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/74/746223fe-1706-44e0-a480-fe41347a16bc.pdf, but these are somewhat hard to decrypt. Searching the web returned also some links with description, photos and even videos, but again the way these photos were taken didn't make it very clear (in the future, I am planning to put some photos and videos that hopefully would make it easier than what was there), besides different models seem to have it at different locations. After looking at these, I thought that the RPM sensor will be on the side that has the logic board and gears. After removing that side nails, I spent quite some time looking for it between gears and grease without luck. But finally, after removing the rest of the nails and cover, which was somewhat of a challenge for someone not used to opening these devices (of course remember to unplug the power before opening the unit), I found it to be on the other side, the side towards the belt and trolley, hidden behind the interrupter cup with a wire plug connected to it. By unplugging the wires and removing the cup, it was easy to remove the sensor and verify it's the piece required.
Finally, after ordering a new RPM sensor, it arrived in a few days, and once replacing it with the older one, everything worked great! A new interrupter cup also came with it, but I didn't need it, since the old one was ok. After replacing it, I needed to adjust the force and limit controls since during the diagnosis they were messed up by myself and the great garage door service technicians that visited me.
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