Craftsman Garage Door Opener Motor Not Working, Clicking Sound

hammerlane

Have a chain drive 1/2 HP Crafstman Garage door opener. This afternoon the door went up then down properly for my son. Then 30 minutes later when I arrived home the door only opened about 1 foot and stopped.

I went in thru man door with remote in hand and when I would push the remote, I'd hear a clicking sound from the unit for about 3 to 5 seconds but the motor was not turning.

I took unit apart, checked for power which was present and with remote in hand tried operating but again no motor movement and the clicking sound remained for 3 -5 seconds. This clicking sound, when I first heard it thought it was coming from the motor, but after taking unit apart the sound did not appear to come from the motor but from the circuit board area. I did notice there was an indicator light on the unit that kept blinking even when the unit was not clicking.

Thought maybe something was wrong with safety sensors but they were not blocked and had a green light.

Funny part is, I unplugged the unit for about 5 minutes and when I plugged it back in everything works fine now.

Any ideas on what could of been the issue?

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firehawkmph

That's a strange one Hammer.
When that light was blinking and you heard the clicking, the amount of blinking refers to a trouble code. I have never had one correct itself just by unplugging and replugging like you did. Did you have a solid green light on both eyes? I have had plenty of service calls with misaligned eyes or dirty lenses causing the eyes not to see each other. The other thing that happens occasionally had to due with a bright sunny day on a fresh blanket of snow with a door that faces south. The bright sunlight reflects off the snow and washes out the eyes. Moving the eyes back inside the opening takes care of that. Well, if it's working for now, keep and eye on it, no pun intended and see if it acts up again and get back to us.
Mike Hawkins

gregzoll

Go get the Bicycle bearing grease in the green tube from your local bike shop, and apply to the two gears inside the housing (The worm and sprocket). The clicking is usually the gear teeth slipping also.

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hammerlane

Yes solid green on both eyes. No snow on ground yesterday, weather here in Ohio has been unseasonably warm.

As much as I can recall, I believe that indicator light was blinking constantly. I did not notice any pattern. But I wouldnt bet the farm on that as far as my memory goes.

What is the red button directly to the left of the indicator light for? When I would push that in, the blinking would stop momentarily, but then would it(the blinking) would start again.

Maybe this had nothing to do with it but when I was in driveway and hit "OPEN" button on the remote, I think as door was starting to open I may have hit the button to the right of the "OPEN" button on the remote.

ANyway I had to show others in the house how to disconnect and lift the door in case this happens again when someone is trying to leave.

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hammerlane

Greg...the clicking sound was not coming from any gear teeth slipping because the motor was not working at all during this period of time.

Before I took the cover off the opener, I assumed it was the motor clicking. But as I stated in the first post, after removing the cover, the clicking sound appeared to be coming from the circuit board area.

gregzoll

Regardless, it still appears that there is not any grease on the gears, I would still grease them to keep them from wearing prematurely.

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hammerlane

Gotcha.

ddawg16

That clicking is the relay for the lights....it is 'trying' to tell you that something is blocking the photo eyes.

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hammerlane

Nothing was blocking the sensors. I had green lights on both of them.

In the past when the sensors(photo eyes) were obstructed while the door was opening or closing, yes the clicking sound would be heard but also the 60 watt light bulbs on the opener unit would flash.

Yesterday the light bulbs were not flashing while the clicking noise was sounding.

I knew it was a shot in the dark posing this scenario on a forum.

Thanks for suggestions

fixrite

I had that exact same problem with mine. I had to take both of mine down to do an overhaul on the shop. When they were put back in place and that clicking sound happened with no lights flashing I found it was still an obstruction, actually it was a bug on the lens, which just happen to catch my eye as it crawled away. Could be the same problem you had, just a suggestion. It was frustrating as I did not want to leave until I was sure it was fixed.

firehawkmph

Ham,
that red button is the learn code button for programming the remotes. If you had a new remote or one that needed to be programmed, you press the red button, the little led next to it starts to blink. Press the button on your remote and the opener should reply with a couple of clicks and light blinks. Then when you press the remote button again, the door should operate. If you want to clear the codes in the opener and start over again, press and hold the red button till the opener clicks and blinks once. Then go ahead and program your remotes.
Mike Hawkins

hammerlane

I found a manual online. Thanks for that info.

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hammerlane

I have to restart this thread because now...about a month later....my opener is again not functioning. I've unplugged it like before, waited 10 minutes and plugged it back in and nothing. Not a sound from the motor just what I believe is a relay clicking when I push either the remote control or the wall mounted control.

The safety sensors for the garage door are not blocked...have a steady green light on both.

The amber indicator light shown in post #4 is blinking 5 five times, stops blinking and then repeats for 5 more times stops blinking, blinks five more times...etc. When I push the remote control or wall mounted control to operate the opener, you hear a clicking sound from the unit. I believe the clicking is the relay. But the motor will not work.

I posted a video on youtube showing the clicking sound from the unit when I push the remote control and the amber indicator light.

Starting to believe it is the logic board and its time for a new opener.

Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvXJd-tYCJ0

firehawkmph

Time for a new one Hammer. Liftmaster makes the craftsmen openers. They cheapen them up for Sears to be able to sell them at the price points that they do. Get a liftmaster this time. Ideally see if you can get one from a local garage door wholesaler. The steel rails are one piece. Better openers than what they make for the big box stores. I hang a lot of their Elite series, 3/4hp belt drives. Very quiet and smooth running.
Mike Hawkins

joecaption

Have you relieced the e handle and check to see if the door opens and closes easy without the motor?