My garage door opener is a screw drive. It opens about halfway, then there’s a loud “KA-CHUNK!” and it stops moving. It lowers without an issue. I released the garage door from the opener and verified it moves easily on the guide rails, all the way up.
Any thoughts what I should look for?
A piece of that (extra-long) screw missing? Or, conversely, something jammed in there?
Look for a good garage door company. I’ve worked as an aircraft and automobile mechanic, but found that garage doors are best left to experts. Especially these springs!
Does the motor keep running after the thing goes ka-chunk, or does it seem to jam and stop?
My suspicions is that you’ve got an opener with a sectional screw and the joint is misaligned or broken.
One thing in your favor is that the door works easily manually, so the rollers, track and those evil springs are OK, so if you want to replace the opener on your own, you’ll be safe as long as you don’t mess with the springs.
The motor stops. I won’t be able to take a closer look until the weekend.
Thanks to everyone for the responses.
Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk
I have a genie as well and had a somewhat similar issue, kinda. Mine was shaking quite a bit as it was the carriage was traveling, I think it kerchunked about halfway as well. IIRC a lot of people complained that a big chunk of screw was missing where the two screws met in the middle, so check that section out carefully.
In my case, just about every single nut and bolt had loosened over the years. The ones that connected it to the wooded frame over the door, the ones that connected it where coupled, and the ones that connected it to the motor where all loose enough that I could spin them by hand. Tightened them all up, lubed the screw drive while I was there and it’s been fine since. It also took care of the excessive flexing of the track.
Now, quickly making sure all those bolts aren’t at least able to be tuned by hand is quick check I do when I’m up there putting some grease on the drive screw every year or so.
ETA, I think it happened to make the noise in the middle it was binding right there as it flexed. Either because of the screws being coupled or (and?) the track flexing the most there.
I just want to second this good advice. Try this first.
I should add that if they’re this loose it’s probably not a terrible idea to put some loctite on it if you have some around or maybe pick some up (I should follow my own advice) for the next time you lubricate the screw drive. When I found this, I couldn’t believe it hadn’t fallen yet. It had been shaking/flexing for so long. It still does, but it was getting pretty bad.
I also added some bracing. The motor was hanging with just two vertical brackets and I added two at a 45 degree angle*. While I was doing all this, I also replaced all the steel wheels with nylon and added vibration dampeners. Oddly, while it is quieter, it actually rattles the house a bit more, you can feel it, just near hear it.
IIRC my reason for starting this whole project is because I was convinced the opener was broken since it would either not work at all or move a little and quit. I was >this close< to replacing it and I found a wire going to one of the IR sensors that had a loose connection. It appeared connected, all the lights lit up, but as soon as the door would move, the vibration broke the connection and everything went screwy.**
*Rethinking it, maybe I didn’t add those, I’ll have to check.
**This could be another thing to check. If you have the Genie model that I do, that goes flying up super fast, if they stop on the way up (even if you do it with the button), it’s pretty jarring.
I’ve had exactly Joey P’s experience too. Tighten everything up and you’ll be amazed at the difference.
Another possibility not mentioned is that the grease attracts dirt, dust, and bugs. And slowly congeals into a goopy nearly solid mess that’s definitely not working as lubrication any more. You might have a blob of that gunk right where the car is hanging up.
Cleaning the worst of the solidified old grease off the worm drive before adding new is a messy unpleasant job, but pays dividends.
Including all wire connections both on the unit as well as on the IR sensors at the door. Also, just for kicks, watch the light on the sensor(s) when it stops and make sure it’s not blinking.
Listen for relays clicking a few times. There’s a difference between the circuity stopping it and everything binding up.
Also, a lot of openers will flash a code on the unit. Check that out. You may have to use one of your hands to block the light from the bulb to see the little LED, but if that’s flashing, go on the internet and find out what it means. Even though I didn’t believe it, that’s what helped me find a loose connection at the IR sensor.
ETA, one more thing, it’s very common for everything to appear find, but the vibration makes it not fine. As I mentioned, in my case the vibration broke a connection. I’ve also seen the IR sensors lines up, but the vibration made them not lined up or something ended up in the way (though that would cause the door to go back up). Check for a blink code, that’s going to be your biggest hint.