Have an old Sears H.P. 1/3 Garage Door. Remote Stopped working. See below?

Question

First, I changed the battery in the remote which didn't help. Then, I wondered if I may have bumped the code on the remote and changed it. When I look into the motor, there is now numbered code to match that of the remote. What do I do?

Answer 1

The receiver on the opener might have gone bad. Or the transmitter in the remote might have gone bad. In this case, you can get repair parts to swap out the circuit boards. But, it might be worth just getting a new opener.

I had a Lift Master that would not work by either the remote or the keypad. I suspected the outlet it's plugged into might be bad. But, when I unplugged the unit and plugged back in, it worked. But, 5 minutes later it wouldn't work anymore.

I called out a repair service and the technician said that he could repair the unit. But, that didn't mean other things wouldn't start going wrong with it. So, I just had him replace it. He put in a very quiet belt-drive unit that operates a whole lot smoother. It cost a few hundred dollars to have it installed. But, I think it was well worth the money.

Answer 2

I'm trusting that when you typed "there is now numbered code" that you meant there is "no" numbered code...if so, then this may help. On some older Chamberlain units (sold by Sears) there was a period of a sort of "hybrid" model between the old analog coding systems and the new digital systems. With these models you would have a remote which had dip switches inside of it for coding while the receiving unit did not. Instead, the receiver only had a "learn" button located near the wire terminals. With these units you place the switches wherever you like, press the learn button, then press and hold the remote button until you here a faint click in the receiver - the signal that the remote has been successfully programmed. This process only takes about five seconds to complete.

If this isn't your case then it may be that the receiver or remote has just gone bad and needs to be replaced. Depending on your particular unit's age you may find that for just a little bit more money you can get a whole new opener rather than fixing up an old one.

One final note referring to the gentleman's post above:
Be sure and check the reputation of any service-oriented business you deal with. Sadly, we have heard many stories such as the one above in the garage door industry. From his description it sounds like his unit merely had a faulty logic board (which may have been covered by the factory warranty - depending on the age) and was not a unit truly needing replacement. Unplugging a LiftMaster opener for about five seconds resets the logic board - this is why it would begin working again after being unplugged. Then when the board re-heated the problem occurred again. Some technicians (definitely not all) will unfortunately take advantage of such situations to (a) make a little money or (b) avoid filing the necessary warranty reimbursements.