Motion sensor on garage door opener?

[mburdette]

I thought I was freaking out... but I think (hope) the answer is that our Craftsman garage door opener has a motion sensor built in (or added on or whatever). Or else there is a 'short' in a wire SOMEWHERE that causes the light to come on whenever we open the door from the house into the garage.

The door doesn't go up, just the lights come on.

I didn't see any wires or sensors on the actual house door.

I didn't see any extra wires or hardware that could be an outboard motion sensor.

I have not climbed up to get the model number to do a search on the opener, and I don't have the manual.

I hadn't noticed the light coming on before, and it doesn't come on EVERY time I open the door - but more often than not, when I open that door from the house to the garage, the lights on the opener come on.

The other weird thing is that last week I was walking by the door and heard the garage door operating. I opened the door to the garage and the door was going up.. then it stopped and was going down.. then it was going up, then it closed. I assumed this was caused by a neighbor's code temporarily being the same as ours (which is supposed to change every time). Probably unrelated... but??

So.. possessed garage door opener?

EDIT: went through the new password procedure, and suddenly I'm a "forum newbie"....

[scorrpio]

Dunno what your model is, but, from Sears website:
Craftsman 3/4 hp Garage Door Opener, Chain Drive

Sears item #00953990000 Mfr. model #53990

From feature list:
Motion-detecting control console automatically turns the opener lights on when you enter

[Tundra_Man]

Our GDO does that with the lights too. The sensor is built into the button hanging on the wall.

Not sure what caused the phantom opening though.

[jziegler]

The other weird thing is that last week I was walking by the door and heard the garage door operating. I opened the door to the garage and the door was going up.. then it stopped and was going down.. then it was going up, then it closed. I assumed this was caused by a neighbor's code temporarily being the same as ours (which is supposed to change every time). Probably unrelated... but??

So.. possessed garage door opener?

I don't know how much truth there is to this, and snopes does not have anything to say on the subject, but I have heard that military radios and equipment may interfere with garage door openers. Although it does not happen commonly, it seems possible. The radio spectrum used by garage door openers and most household radio gear (wireless networks, cordless phones) is not regulated to the same degree as radio and TV stations, cellular communications, and the like. In fact, the same frequency can be used for multiple things. So, if the military has something on the same frequency, and occasionally is near your house, it is possible, although not very likely, that it could cause weird stuff with garage doors.

Note, a quick google search shows some news articles about this. Just a thought.

-Jim

[mburdette]

Thanks for the information, everyone. I'll have to take a closer look at the button console for the sensor.

[onedash]

Jim
You are right but don't know for sure if this is the case. The garage door opener is a FCC Part 15 device which means it must accept any and all interference received from an authorized source. Most garage door openers are in the Military UHF band and yes there have been many articles written about this issue lately.
I know people pay good money for their garage door openers as well as many many other items without realizing they must accept interference.
The FCC should have payed closer attention to the rules that regulate part 15 devices as well as make it clear to consumers what it means.
In my opinion the consumer should have to eat it. The military shouldn't even think about changing frequencies and the manufacturer never guaranteed that it would work without any interference.
But the media sure can turn this against the DOD and say they are preventing kids from getting into their house...I know...Use a Key....

[Martin]

Phamton garage door openers

Occasionally, the police will intercept a car with a dozen garage door openers.
The occupants will drive slowly down a alley or street trying all the openers and recording the results. In our neighborhood someone stole a universal garage door opener and signal light changer from a firestaton.
mburdette: are you near a military base? one time in the last century, I worked at Fort Hood, TX. one of the other men on the crew was a retired Army pilot. He reported one night about midnight; his bedroom tv came on and off. He could hear a helicopter operating in the distance. He checked with some of his friends, they were operating a helicopter gunship with the IR gunsight in a bulb on the mast above the roter blades. the helicopter could stay below the horizon and slowly raise the gunsight above the hill or other obstruction to acquire the target.

[jziegler]

Trust me, I was not trying to blame the military on this one. I understand the part 15 rules better than many people. As an electrical engineer, I have to know something about this stuff. In this case, the military had the band first, it is the primary gegulated use of the band, so they get to keep it and people with the malfuncting openers have to deal with it somehow.

Most people have a poor understanding on part 15. How many know aht a microwave and interfere with a 2.4GHz cordless phone or a 802.11B/g network?

-Jim

[scorrpio]

We once had a problem with garage opening and closing spontaneusly. After twisting our brains into a knot over this, we found a spare remote in the back of one of kitchen drawers. When someone opened or closed the drawer, sometimes various items would shift and hit the remote's buttons.

According to Sears, their openers support billions of combinations - meaning someone transmitting exact code is not too likely. In-house garage often allows access to home, which means opener is a high-liability device. It should open only when the signal is exact, clear and strong. A messed up signal that "resembles" correct code should only work to close the doors.

[mburdette]

There is a small Marine base about 2 miles away, and, unrelated, we occasionally get military helicopters overhead (they do not land at the local base).

We do have a motion sensor on the button console.. that explains the mysterious duct tape that was on the console when we moved in, and I didn't think much about why.

We haven't had a LOT of problems with random opening and closing - but there have been a few times.

Thanks again for the information.