Craftsman Garage Door Opener Problem

[lago]

I have 2 Craftsman garage openers and after 5 years, the 'rack' had stripped it's threads. This is the plastic part that rides on the screwdrive when the door is opened/closed. Both failed within weeks of each other, even though one door is used more than the other.

I replaced both racks and guess what, about 3 months later, both failed again. Again, one door is used more frequently yet both failed at the same time.

Sears is no help. Called for replacement parts but no one is available to ask why/how they failed so soon.

The opener is made by Chaimberlain and I contacted them via email. No response since it wasn't their actual opener. I did see that the replacement part has the identical part number as Sears but $3 cheaper.

The instructions do not indicate that any type of lube is needed. I have one of the openers down and am thinking of how I can give it a good cleaning before reinstalling the new part again.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
TIA
Ken

I removed the rails and saw that due to the high humidity we had, rust had developed on the screw. I used a wire wheel brush in a drill and removed all rust and then sprayed with a garage door opener lubricant. So far, no problems.

[JeffG78]

First make sure that the problem isn't the door itself. Disconnect the trolley from the screw and open the doors by hand. See how heavy they are and if they glide smoothly or bind at any point along the way. If the doors are too heavy, the opener pinions will strip. They should almost be weight neutral, but not quite. If they are not, it means that the springs need adjusting. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS!!! If you have never adjusted garage door springs, make sure you learn what can and will happen if you do not follow the safety precautions.

If the doors do operate smoothly and are well balanced, it could be an alignment problem with the openers, or a lube problem. It could also just be junky openers.

Is it a one piece beam/screw, or did the unit come in a 3' long box? I had a Genie many years ago that was a three piece screw and it broke on a regular basis. I wound up replacing the beam/screw assembly with a one-piece beam/screw that I bought at a garage door service center. Genie had two models of the same opener. One was sold at retail stores and one was sold to contractors with the only difference being the beam so that the retail version would fit on store shelves and in customer's cars. What I found was that the beam would flex at the joints putting a bind in the system. In my case, the screw would fail, but I could see the trolley pinion failing just the same.

Check to see if the beam is flexing when the door opens or closes. If so, you might be able to either tighten the connecting straps that join the beam sections, or fabricate stronger, longer straps. If the beam is a one piece unit, it could still be flexing enough to bind the trolley, but this will require more trial and error alignment of the opener to the garage and door.

I will never again buy a screw drive opener. They are more prone to failure than simple chain drive units. As far as lube, go to HD and in the garage door hardware section, they carry screw drive lube made by Genie. It is a tiny little gray tube. It is very important to use the proper screw lube so that it doesn't get thick in cold weather. I had a screw drive opener in my last house that wouldn't work at all in the winter. I removed the screw from the beam and cleaned both with brake clean. I then re-lubed the screw with the proper grease and it worked great. It will take a few tubes if you clean all the old stuff off.

Good luck.

[alexruseell]

Hi,

I had such kind of problem with my craftsman garage door. I didn't know what I suppose to do? So I contacted to local garage doors Leeds company and replaced garage door completely.

[LCHIEN]

i would, as suggested by Jeff, check the operation of the doors to make sure they are going smoothly and most importantly, properly balanced (or counterbalanced).

[JimD]

You may also want to double check the park position of the door (closed position). If the opener is trying to move the door slightly into the floor, it will also damage the piece that is failing.

I had to replace mine when the torsion spring failed. It was about 7 years old. We have a 16 foot wide door but it is not real heavy. The new part is noticably quieter. That seems to be at least a crude indication of when it is getting ready to fail. I think mine is a Genie and the part that interfaces with the long threaded rod is zinc or a similar soft metal. It works fine - as long as it is not lifting very much. I deliberately positioned the close position where the door is not even on the floor - but within the flexibility of the bottom gasket of being on the floor. I think it stresses the drive less this way.

Jim