I have two, 6 year old Overhead garage door openers. On about 5 occasions in the last couple of months, I have discovered one side has opened on its own. When this has happened, neither of the manual switches will function, but the RF openers will operate the door in either direction. I have checked the Safety Beam for obstructions and found none. Any ideas? I am thinking along the lines of an intermittent short in the circuit board of the opener but would welcome any thoughts or ideas.
Doors – Overhead garage door opening on its own
doorsgarage
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These look nice
You could probably build a simpler version pretty cheap.
Also if the doors are large enough, and you are ambitious enough you could put a smaller "man" door in one of the doors. That way when you go in and out you don't have to open the large doors, but you still have the large doors for getting large projects/lawn tractor in and out.
I am not absolutely sure, but I think that model may use a mechanical limit switch that is mounted on the trolley rail. The upper and lower limit switches are mounted on brackets that are adjustable on the rail to fine tune the travel of the door. It is not uncommon for these brackets to get loose and move. If this switch moves too far, then your door will strike the floor or top end of travel and stop, but the switch will not activate stopping the motor. Result is motor continues to run, but chain will not move, so there goes your gear drives. Check the location of these limit switches, test the switches themselves to assure they are working. (Turn off power, unplug and test switch with an OHM meter.)
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Best Answer
The fact that it's intermittent makes it hard to prove. I suspect the manual switches you refer to are the type with a separate up button and down button rather than a single button type control. If that is the case then I suspect the up button (or the wires from it) has made a connection (short). That would explain it not working when you push the down button because the up is still in effect pushed. It could also be as you say a short in the board giving the signal to open. Some openers have a push button on the board also. I would try disconnecting the wires at the opener going to the manual controls. If it works for a month or two without any problems then I would replace the switches.