Liftmaster garage door opener troubleshooting 5 flashes

After opening the garage door just once yesterday it wouldn't close.

What I've tried w/o success:

1. Clearing obstructions.
2. Realigning sensors. I know its not sensors because when I purposely misalign them I see a different error code.
3. Releasing the garage door opener.
4. Clearing out contacts with an electrical cleaner spray and reseating them. Same with the logic board and RPM sensor.
5. Powered off the unit for 10 hours.
6. Tried the wall unit as well as the remote.

Observations:

1. The unit hums for about 2 seconds and I see 5 blinking lights. Here is a 15 sec clip https://imgur.com/a/RSf4XAH
2. The gears are intact and I don't see any shavings indicating wear.
3. The gears do not move at all..
4. The manual indicates 5 lights could be a faulty RPM sensor, overheating motor or faulty logic board.

What else can I do to fix this or eliminate possible issues?

brhans

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asked Mar 23 at 14:54

10

The manual indicates 5 lights could be a faulty RPM sensor, overheating motor or faulty logic board.

To me, that says, in short - it's stuck. Either:

1. The logic board is telling it to do the wrong thing (e.g. continue to open even though you're telling it to close, or something like that.)
2. The RPM sensor is malfunctioning, telling the logic board that it is not moving, so - continue to move, even though it's still trying.
3. The motor is overheating for 1 of two reasons:
   a) The motor is stuck (either mechanically, or because the logic board or RPM sensor are faulty). Hopefully it just got mechanically stuck for some reason.
   b) The motor is bad.

If you disengage the trolly and attempt to close the door, the motor should either spin freely, or the motor will continue to hum. If it continues to hum, then there's nothing mechanical keeping the motor from spinning freely, so it's either a bad motor or bad logic board or sensor(s). At that point, I'd test the motor.

If it spins freely, the motor is probably alright, and it's probably a sensor or logic board. At that point, I'd check the direction the motor is spinning, and move on from there.

FreeMan

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answered Mar 23 at 17:56

jgrantjgrant

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5

The manual indicates 5 lights could be a faulty RPM sensor, overheating motor or faulty logic board.

Therefore, I would suggest testing or replacing the:

• RPM sensor
• Motor
• Logic board

I would work in order of increasing expense since you're shooting in the dark since the manual isn't more specific.

You could probably test the motor by carefully putting your hand on it (don't wear anything loose fitting, be sure to avoid any/all moving parts, other general warnings about working on a ladder around moving parts) and see if it strikes you as being excessively hot in the few seconds it runs. It probably won't over heat that quickly, but may have overheated during yesterday's operation and now not be working.

I note that, based on the nice pic of the manufacturer plate (thanks for the nice clear picture!), your opener was built in 2008 - it's 14 years old now. You might consider that it may be more cost effective to buy a new one rather than replacing parts. I'd suggest looking at prices for replacement parts vs the cost of a new opener before heading down the road of replacing parts.

answered Mar 23 at 15:10

FreeManFreeMan

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1

This afternoon I resoldered some joints on the logic board as a last resort and reassmbled everything. To my surprise the opener started working again.

However, I think what did it was loosening the tension in the chain that freed the trolley because my solder job was pathetic.

In the old pic here https://imgur.com/a/hMVpEfT you can see the trolley is likely jammed against the nut (orange arrow).

After loosening it last month I was able to manually rotate the gears creating distance b/w the trolley's final stop and the nut before tightening it again. Now there are 5 inches b/w the two. This probably means the motor was mechanically stuck. Everything sounds and looks OK.

The opener is nearly 15 years old so I purchased a new one last week. I'll hold on to it for now. I took the opportunity to blow dust away and lubricate all moving parts with purpose built lubricant.

I can't pick a specific answer but jgrants' pointed me in the right direction.

answered Apr 23 at 22:55

eszedeszed

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In addition to the hardware testing, this could be a simple issue of adjusting two screws. Somewhere on the unit are two adjustable screws with slots. Turning them slightly affects the speed and how much the door(s) open/close. Find the manual for your unit and adjust the screws accordingly. Based on the pictures above, I'm betting on the two white nylon screws as being the adjusters. I have had to tweak mine from time to time.

Barring these adjustments, you'll have to troubleshoot the hardware, as others have suggested.

answered Mar 23 at 23:31

DASDAS

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1

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