Shopsmith Forums

Today, as soon as the sun passed over, the garage door opener again became fully functional.

I am convinced (think I said this before) that the sun shining onto the receiver sensor is the root cause of my problem.

This image shows the sensor in shade shortly after noon. An hour before the door would not come down except by holding the master switch closed.

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Just curious..... did you replace the battery in the remote??

scooters wrote:Just curious..... did you replace the battery in the remote??

Both remotes aways work after noon.

Dusty
While I'm reasonably sure the problem is in the obstruction sensors. There is no telling what the problem may be. It could be something as far out as having your truck parked a certain way that mirror is reflecting the sun on to the sensory, in effect giving it sun blindness.
Or heating it up or whatever.

I could be almost anything something in your yard, across the street at the neighbor, who knows.

What I would do is adjust both the transmitter and the receiver insuring the light beam is focused on the center of the receiver. I think doing this will change both orientation enough that the problem will go away.

However if it is something as wild as a reflection relocating the sensor may just change the time of day the thing works and fails.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Dusty
While I'm reasonably sure the problem is in the obstruction sensors. There is no telling what the problem may be. It could be something as far out as having your truck parked a certain way that mirror is reflecting the sun on to the sensory, in effect giving it sun blindness.
Or heating it up or whatever.

I could be almost anything something in your yard, across the street at the neighbor, who knows.

What I would do is adjust both the transmitter and the receiver insuring the light beam is focused on the center of the receiver. I think doing this will change both orientation enough that the problem will go away.

However if it is something as wild as a reflection relocating the sensor may just change the time of day the thing works and fails.

I agree with probably everything that you have said.

I am certainly convinced that the problem is somehow related to the obstruction sensors.

Before I pursue a replacement of the sensors I am gong to do some more testing. The testing that I have in mind will include another test of mid-day operation to determine of the problem goes away as the sun moves to the west of my house.

Keep in mind that I have had this garage door opener for about ten (10) years and this is a new problem. The sun has not previously been a factor.

My thanks to everyone who has participated in trying to resolve this phenomena.

dusty wrote:I agree with probably everything that you have said.

I am certainly convinced that the problem is somehow related to the obstruction sensors.

Before I pursue a replacement of the sensors I am gong to do some more testing. The testing that I have in mind will include another test of mid-day operation to determine of the problem goes away as the sun moves to the west of my house.

Keep in mind that I have had this garage door opener for about ten (10) years and this is a new problem. The sun has not previously been a factor.

My thanks to everyone who has participated in trying to resolve this phenomena.

I totally agree and that is why i'm thinking of things that could have changed recently.
First the sensors are mounted to the track has it loosened?
Or is it reflection problem. Something that wasn't there before is now reflecting light onto the sensor.
We are slightly warmer could it be heat expansion that is moving the sensor just enough to break the beam of light?
Could it be something as simple as dust on the lens that refracting the light differently?
Any chance of an insect invasion?

Ed in Tampa wrote:I totally agree and that is why i'm thinking of things that could have changed recently.
First the sensors are mounted to the track has it loosened?
Or is it reflection problem. Something that wasn't there before is now reflecting light onto the sensor.
We are slightly warmer could it be heat expansion that is moving the sensor just enough to break the beam of light?
Could it be something as simple as dust on the lens that refracting the light differently?
Any chance of an insect invasion?

All of those suggestions are viable causes.

However, I have changed the scope of this discussion just a little bit.

I made a knee jerk decision just a few minutes ago. I cut the wires to the obstruction sensors and swamped them around. The receiving sensor is more shaded than it was. The beam is now being transmitted east to west where it was west to east.

After making the swap, the door works with both the master and the two remote controls.

Possible Critical Observation: The receiver has a lens. The transmitter has no lens. It appears to be missing. The housing looks as though it should be holding something that is not there (the lens).

This "lens" could be some sort of filter.

If swapping the locations does not solve the problem I may be forced to spend $40 and buy new obstruction sensors.



Maybe I could make a lens.

dusty wrote:All of those suggestions are viable causes.

However, I have changed the scope of this discussion just a little bit.

I made a knee jerk decision just a few minutes ago. I cut the wires to the obstruction sensors and swamped them around. The receiving sensor is more shaded than it was. The beam is now being transmitted east to west where it was west to east.

After making the swap, the door works with both the master and the two remote controls.

Possible Critical Observation: The receiver has a lens. The transmitter has no lens. It appears to be missing. The housing looks as though it should be holding something that is not there (the lens).

This "lens" could be some sort of filter.

If swapping the locations does not solve the problem I may be forced to spend $40 and buy new obstruction sensors.



Maybe I could make a lens.

Are both housings the same? No lens may be normal for the light source.

I still think a tube shield for the receiver is worth trying if swapping does not fix things. A Paper towel or toilet paper core would be easy to try.

JPG40504 wrote:I still think a tube shield for the receiver is worth trying if swapping does not fix things. A Paper towel or toilet paper core would be easy to try.

That reminds me of the time I installed a dusk to dawn porch light for my Mom. She called later saying the light wood go off and on repeatedly. So what I finally figured out was, that the sensor sensed dark and wood come on. Then it wood sense the street light out front and turn off. Repeat last 2 sentences over and over. Solution was to put a short length of heater hose over the sensor, problem solved.

beeg wrote:That reminds me of the time I installed a dusk to dawn porch light for my Mom. She called later saying the light wood go off and on repeatedly. So what I finally figured out was, that the sensor sensed dark and wood come on. Then it wood sense the street light out front and turn off. Repeat last 2 sentences over and over. Solution was to put a short length of heater hose over the sensor, problem solved.

Thanks, Beeg.

That reminds me of another small problem I have. The security lights on my back porch do not work exactly like they should.

Sometimes it senses motion on the patio and other times it does not. Further, I should be able to turn it on or off from either of two switches but sometimes I can and other times I cannot.

I hope that I can catch up on all these little problems I am being reminded of.