Garage door opener

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  • charliex
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2004
    • 632
    • Spring Valley, MN, USA.
    • Sears equivelent BT3100-1

    Garage door opener

    I installed a new Chamberlain 1/2 Hp belt drive opener and the remotes (2 wire-less remotes & a key-less entry pad) range is about 10ft if the remote is outside the car. From inside the car it takes many attempts to open the door. They offered to send me a more powerful receiver if I send them $70 plus s&h. I don't think that offer is very good. Anyone here have the same issue with a new model Chamberlain opener?

    Thanks in advance for your responses.
    Chas

    I should add I installed a new controller board that they sent NC. They suggested it was interference, I turned every breaker in the house off except for 1 in the garage/shop and still no better. My DC controller works from over 50ft with the door shut. The old Wayne Dalton worked from 30+ ft out. It does seem odd that more people aren't having problems. HD say's they don't have many returns. Why me. It is very smooth and quite, unlike the WD which sounded like a train wreak.
    Last edited by charliex; 01-04-2011, 09:24 AM. Reason: Add content/info
  • woodturner
    Veteran Member
    • Jun 2008
    • 2047
    • Western Pennsylvania
    • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

    #2
    Originally posted by charliex
    Anyone here have the same issue with a new model Chamberlain opener?
    Your garage door opener should easily open the door when you are sitting in the car in your driveway close to the door - but you probably knew that already.

    What did you do with the receiver antenna? Is there anything unusual about your garage - like it's a steel building or something like that?

    I assume the batteries in the transmitter are fresh and good? Do the transmitters work outside the car but not from inside the car? Does the car have metallic window tinting or something else that may be interfering with the signal?

    My guess is that the antenna is the problem. Make sure the antenna is stretched out and not bunched up. Try draping it vertically, then horizontally, and see if one position is better. It may be a polarization problem.
    --------------------------------------------------
    Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

    Comment

    • cork58
      Established Member
      • Jan 2006
      • 365
      • Wasilla, AK, USA.
      • BT3000

      #3
      I had the same problem with our 3 doors when the house and shop were built. I didn't like the remotes anyway and went to Home Depot and got ones that fit on our key rings. Now I to be careful to disarm the house before I get to close and open the door. The house alarm is good for about 700' and the door opener is about 300'.

      Another reason I got the small ones was if you put it on the visor in your car the bad guys knock out your passanger side window, take the remote, open the glove box, take the registeration and close the glove box. While your waiting for the police report they are in your house.

      I think it was $30.00 for each, and very easy to program! Just be sure to tell them which system you have.

      Just my thoughts

      Cork
      Cork,

      Dare to dream and dare to fail.

      Comment

      • crybdr
        Established Member
        • Dec 2009
        • 141
        • Lake Mills, WI
        • Ryobi BT3100

        #4
        Like others have said - check the receiver antenna. 10 feet is really short and I'm frankly surprised that Chamberlain's response was to try to sell you a more powerful transmitter.

        My opener is easily 15+ years old and the two transmitters work consistently from 100+ feet away - with old batteries, in the rain, during a sun flare, etc...

        Comment

        • capncarl
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 3564
          • Leesburg Georgia USA
          • SawStop CTS

          #5
          I am not a fan of Chamberlains customer service either. My "builder grade" Chamberlain doors operate from several hunderd feet also.

          My door opener control board died causing the doors to open and stay open, making it unable to close and lock. It would close manually but there were no locking devices, not an option. Chamberlains tech service took several days to return my calls and emails.

          Long story short, I contacted a local door service, they told me what was wrong and I purchased the repair parts from them and installed them myself. That is the route I would suggest for your problem. These guys (not the ones at Sears or the box stores) deal with doors and their little stupid problems every day and if anyone knows the answer they do.

          It is bad that we can not troubleshoot and repair our own cars, appliances, and now doors, but that is the way it is.
          capncarl

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Internet Fact Checker
            • Dec 2002
            • 20914
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #6
            i agree with the others, 10 ft is poor, you should have at least 50-100 feet from inside the car.

            I assume you tried more than one remote so the problem is likely with the receiver either not getting a good signal or being defective with weak reception on the GDO. There is probably a short piece of wire dangling from the back of it that's the antenna. try stretching this out in different directions. If you have an otherwise normal garage and this doesn't work then probably you got a bad receiver board in your GDO.
            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

            • natausch
              Established Member
              • Aug 2009
              • 436
              • Aurora, IL
              • BT3000 - 15A

              #7
              Verify the batteries in the transmitters first, since garage door openers tend to sit on the shelves for a few years before being opened all too often the original batteries are already exhausted.

              Comment

              • JimD
                Veteran Member
                • Feb 2003
                • 4187
                • Lexington, SC.

                #8
                It is priceir but another non Cumberland option is "Flash2Pass". It's range is a little less than my conventional garage door openers but is several times 10 feet. The primary reason I put it in my bimmer is there is nothing visible in the passenger compartment. You install a little remote under the hood, hooked to one of your headlights high beam circuit. You then replace the button inside the garage with the receiver (still also has a button). When the installation is complete, you tap the headlight switch two times and your garage door opens (or closes). It is about $75 to do the first car/door and then you can add other vehicles for about $35 each.

                Jim

                Comment

                • jaybee
                  Established Member
                  • Feb 2006
                  • 157
                  • Regina, SK, Canada
                  • BT3100-1

                  #9
                  Wanting things to at least start out right, we had our new door and track and opener installed. Everything was on sale !! The important info is that the installers were very careful to point out that the wire hanging down that looked like it needed to be snipped or tucked away is the antenna. Which means that they get to replace or untuck wires often enough for it to make their tell the new owner checklist. They also highly recommended that I put in compact fluorescent bulbs (even though they take longer to get bright in the cold - which is a moot point when the remote is triggered at the end of the alley on the way home). They claimed that regular bulbs don't last as long as they should due to vibration and filament breakage. We put in Clopay insulated doors, upgraded hinges, frosted windows in the top panel, and a Chamberlain 1/2 hp belt drive. We came from a manual swing up door and swmbo now has no nagging shoulder pain at all !!!

                  Comment

                  • LCHIEN
                    Internet Fact Checker
                    • Dec 2002
                    • 20914
                    • Katy, TX, USA.
                    • BT3000 vintage 1999

                    #10
                    Originally posted by jaybee
                    ... They also highly recommended that I put in compact fluorescent bulbs (even though they take longer to get bright in the cold - which is a moot point when the remote is triggered at the end of the alley on the way home). They claimed that regular bulbs don't last as long as they should due to vibration and filament breakage. ..!
                    yeah i don't know if CFLs is the way to go vs. rough duty incandescants.
                    The GDO bulb is not on long enough to make electricity savings a issue.
                    The slow turn on of the CFL coupled with even slower turn on when cold (garages are usually not insulated or heated) and the short time its on makes CFLS poor choices vs. instant on Incandescants. Finally the short on-off cycles is bad for CFLs copmared to incandescants.

                    Rough duty incandescants sold for ceiling fans, refrigerators, trouble lights and GDOs and other moving/vibrating machinery would seem to me to be a better bet - they are not as efficient as regular incandescants but short on time makes that moot. The heavy duty extr thick filament and extra filament supports makes them last longer under srtress.

                    your HW store will have these sold as rough duty, appliance, or fan lights.
                    Loring in Katy, TX USA
                    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                    Comment

                    • jaybee
                      Established Member
                      • Feb 2006
                      • 157
                      • Regina, SK, Canada
                      • BT3100-1

                      #11
                      Originally posted by LCHIEN
                      The GDO bulb is not on long enough to make electricity savings a issue.
                      The garage is my summer workshop, and the 2 gdo lights are perfectly placed to be over my saw etc. I usually used my trouble light hung from a ceiling hook for extra light (also use cfl in the trouble light). That being the case, I took the advice. Swmbo has had no trouble getting into a well lit garage at 30 below.

                      Comment

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