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Message
Garage Door Opener Interference - Help Pls
Posted on 4/21/16 at 8:08 am
Posted on 4/21/16 at 8:08 am
i'm having some electrical/RF interference issue with my garage door. the wall button works but the remotes won't work unless you are within 5'-10' of the operator. i have checked EVERY circuit in my house, talked with the neighbors to see if any of them have gotten a new electronic gizmo and have had no luck so far. the garage door company i use has been out to look at it several times and can't id where the problem is either.
fyi: i'm a home builder and have built +250 homes and except for 2 of them they have all had garage doors. i've never seen this problem before.
all the obvious stuff has been checked: safety beam is aligned correctly, no metal objects within 3' of the safety beam, fresh batteries in the remotes, moving parts on the garage door are cleaned and lubed.
basic question: does anyone have access to an RF detector?
tia
tldr: garage door ain't acting right and i don't know what to do
fyi: i'm a home builder and have built +250 homes and except for 2 of them they have all had garage doors. i've never seen this problem before.
all the obvious stuff has been checked: safety beam is aligned correctly, no metal objects within 3' of the safety beam, fresh batteries in the remotes, moving parts on the garage door are cleaned and lubed.
basic question: does anyone have access to an RF detector?
tia
tldr: garage door ain't acting right and i don't know what to do
This post was edited on 4/21/16 at 8:21 am
7
Posted on 4/21/16 at 8:52 am to mack the knife
There's a whole lot of RF bouncing around out there nowadays.
There's something in the RF spectrum at a convenience store I frequent that turns on my truck A/C.
There's something in the RF spectrum at a convenience store I frequent that turns on my truck A/C.Posted on 4/21/16 at 8:57 am to mack the knife
Do you have LED light bulbs anywhere in the garage?
I had the EXACT same thing happening to me. It was a Cree LED 40W bulb in the opener that must have been causing interference. Changed it to an old school bulb and everything works fine now.
Good luck.
I had the EXACT same thing happening to me. It was a Cree LED 40W bulb in the opener that must have been causing interference. Changed it to an old school bulb and everything works fine now.
Good luck.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 9:01 am to mack the knife
I just found this on the internet. May help, or may not.
quote:
Limited range of your remote controls could be related to radio frequency interference that comes from something in your home or in the surrounding environment. Certain electrical devices can radiate interference; this could be almost anything that is plugged into an electrical outlet.
Please keep in mind that the device can be brand new, or can be an item that has been in use for quite a while. Also, the item may continue to function properly as far as you are able to tell. The only problem with the item may be that it has started to broadcast the interference, with no other symptoms noted.
Some devices are more likely to generate interference than others. This includes TV cable, cable amplifiers, surge protectors, fluorescent lights, battery charging devices (power tools, golf carts, etc.), anything that utilizes a timer (sprinkler systems, lights, alarm systems, etc.), and a myriad of others. If the problem seems sporadic, we can safely assume that the device responsible for the interference is only being operated during these times. Again, please keep in mind that the age of the device does not determine if it is capable of broadcasting unwanted interference. Any electrical device can be the source of the problem.
To isolate potential sources of interference, turn the circuit breaker off to the garage and plug the garage door opener into an extension cord from another room. If the range improves, then the interference is coming from a device in the garage. If no improvement is seen follow the same procedure, this time turning off the circuit breakers to your home, with the exception of the garage and test the remote controls. If improvement is noted, turn the circuit breakers back on, one by one, until the range problem resurfaces. This will allow you to narrow down what room the problem device is in. You will have to go from there to isolate it further, by unplugging and re-plugging the items in that room.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 9:07 am to mack the knife
always do the simple first
1. Install new battery in remote
2.Check the antenna wire- make sure it is securely connected and has not been shortened ( you may need to install a remote antenna outside the garage but let's wait on this.)
3. check connections on garage door opener- all tight and clean? no corrosion?
4. Is the breaker box for the house in the garage? If so you could be getting a back feed through house wiring.
--turn off all breakers except garage door and see if problem goes away- if it does- then turn on one breaker at a time until you find the one causing interference- check everything on that circuit
1. Install new battery in remote
2.Check the antenna wire- make sure it is securely connected and has not been shortened ( you may need to install a remote antenna outside the garage but let's wait on this.)
3. check connections on garage door opener- all tight and clean? no corrosion?
4. Is the breaker box for the house in the garage? If so you could be getting a back feed through house wiring.
--turn off all breakers except garage door and see if problem goes away- if it does- then turn on one breaker at a time until you find the one causing interference- check everything on that circuit
Posted on 4/21/16 at 9:23 am to 756
quote:
1. Install new battery in remote
done
quote:
2.Check the antenna wire- make sure it is securely connected and has not been shortened
done
quote:
3. check connections on garage door opener- all tight and clean? no corrosion?
not done, but the wall button that is hard wired to the operator works fine
quote:
Is the breaker box for the house in the garage?
yes.
rest of the story: problem has been happening VERY intermittently for 1.5-2 yrs for less than a week per episode and would "fix itself" resulting in no problems for several months. this time the problem will not go away and its been 3 weeks.
quote:
turn off all breakers except garage door and see if problem goes away- if it does- then turn on one breaker at a time until you find the one causing interference- check everything on that circuit
done, no luck
Posted on 4/21/16 at 9:34 am to mack the knife
Should be in the instructions a way to change channels like on a router.
I think mine has the ability and its just a basic cookie cutter opener.
I think mine has the ability and its just a basic cookie cutter opener.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 9:34 am to mack the knife
Do you have a clicker connected to a vehicle? If so, you could see if that works and the remotes don't
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:07 am to Hammertime
quote:
Do you have a clicker connected to a vehicle?
ms mack's suburban has one built in. that was the first remote to not work and it never has worked since the first episode of this issue. i've tried "re-learning" her built in remote w/o luck.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:15 am to mack the knife
Damn. Seems like an antenna/receiver issue with the main unit. Either it's not getting the signal (antenna issue), or it's getting it and not converting the signal properly. I'd go with the former since it works when you're closer.
Does it still have a warranty?
Does it still have a warranty?
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:15 am to mack the knife
If you don't have LEDs in your device then I would think your receiver is giving you trouble.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:21 am to Hammertime
quote:
Does it still have a warranty?
nope
regarding LED on back of the operator: it blinks intermittently w/o one of our remotes being activated. therefor i know its receiving some sort of signal interference.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:40 am to kengel2
Posted on 4/21/16 at 11:32 am to kengel2
quote:
kengel2
tried that as well. however, i'm going to pick up a new generic remote and try that
Posted on 4/21/16 at 11:49 am to mack the knife
Occam's Razor says maybe the garage door opener is just bad.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 12:05 pm to DeoreDX
This is my next vote.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 12:35 pm to DeoreDX
Service tech said its all OK and narrowed it down to intrrference
Posted on 4/21/16 at 2:11 pm to mack the knife
Do you have anything new plugged into an outlet in or near the garage. The GF plugged in a fan and I couldn't open the damn garage. Tested the remote and it wouldn't work outside of a few feet of the operator. Unplugged the fan and all is good again. Can open my garage from the street. What may seem like something trivial can throw things off.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 2:37 pm to mack the knife
Two ways you could possibly trouble shoot it. Turn off every breaker in the house except the one that goes to your garage door opener. See if it work. If it does work then something in your house is generating the EMI. One by one turn breakers back on testing the garage door after each breaker is flipped back on.
An old AM radio also make for a poor man's EMI sniffer. Tune it to a channel between radio stations. You should hear white noise. when you get close to something broadcasting EMI the tone will change from white noise to the more steady pitch of EMI. If you've ever had your cell phone beside a speaker and hear the noise coming from the speaker when your cell receives a text message you will have a good idea what the noise will sound like.
Found a video of someone using an AM radio as a EMI sniffer.
LINK
An old AM radio also make for a poor man's EMI sniffer. Tune it to a channel between radio stations. You should hear white noise. when you get close to something broadcasting EMI the tone will change from white noise to the more steady pitch of EMI. If you've ever had your cell phone beside a speaker and hear the noise coming from the speaker when your cell receives a text message you will have a good idea what the noise will sound like.
Found a video of someone using an AM radio as a EMI sniffer.
LINK
This post was edited on 4/21/16 at 2:38 pm
Posted on 4/21/16 at 3:00 pm to DeoreDX
quote:
DeoreDX
quote:
An old AM radio also make for a poor man's EMI sniffer.
good idea, thanks. i'm going to try it this evening.
i did pick up a new universal remote that i tried when i was home for lunch - no luck.
puck, i've tried isolating the circuit w/o luck, but thanks.
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