Garage door opener hums wont open

lilbitaleah

I have a Genie screw drive garage opener about 8 years old. There was a short period where the door would start to open then reverse just a little and stop. I would have to hold down the wall button to open it all the way. Then it quit doing that.

Now it's just humming and not moving at all. I released the door from the screw drive. Door moves easily up and down and will hold in place. The safety sensors seem fine. One lights up red , one green. I can use both remote or wall button, same effect. The long screw/screw drive isn't moving.

Last night I took off the plastic casing just to see if there were broken parts or moving parts. I noticed at the back side of the metal box where the screw drive enters there is a black round plastic thing. When I moved it back and forth the screw moved , hard to explain but I had to wiggle it back and forth rather than forcefully turn. I turned on the opener and it actually worked for a second. Then it went back to humming. Defeated.

This morning, hoping for a miracle, I tested the opener and it worked! Then it didn't. Just hummed, even when disconnecting the door. Any suggestions?

I try to fix things that I can myself. Thinking I may just get a new opener rather than pay someone to get it working and it break down again, not sure of the expected life of a opener.

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Thurman

I hate to guess at this, but this is a guess: The round-ish black thing appears to be the cam which makes the little micro-switches just to the left of the black cam. This would tell the garage door when it is "fully open" or "fully closed" and this should stop the motion of the door. The black thing, if it is indeed a cam, appears to be off center radially. The black cam does not appear to be centered with the bolt in the middle. Maybe it should be off-center for all I know. You mentioned that you could move it back and forth, not move it around. This may be normal but someone with Genie experience would know.

djlandkpl

Release the door from the drive screw. Now try running the opener. Does the drive screw turn?

lilbitaleah

Yes,I did try it without the door attached.

djlandkpl

Did the drive screw turn?

lilbitaleah

It is centered but I think it's just the angle of the picture. I also was turning it. Im about to get a new one and call it a day.

lilbitaleah

No, it didn't. By disconnecting the door, do you mean pulling down on the rope that releases the door from moving but you can lift the door manually?

djlandkpl

Yes. I'm looking to see if the opener works without any weight on it. If it does work then it could be some adjustment that's off. If it doesn't turn, I would replace the unit.

PoleCat

Screw drives require regular cleaning and lubrication. If you have never done this then it is quite possible all you need to do is soak it down real good with WD-40, the entire length. Once you get it free enough for the motor to turn it (with the door release open it will run continuously) go ahead and flush it out real good with the WD-40. I put newspaper all along the drop zone to catch the black discharge. When it quits dripping WD-40 apply white lithium grease along the entire lenth. We had to do this every three to four years on ours or it would sieze up in cold weather.

lilbitaleah

That makes sense. It's worth trying. It's was a thought of mine too because it seemed to act up on the days that got really cold here then it just started to hum. I probably never gave it the proper maintenance attention and being in the desert we have a lot of blowing dirt and mixed with the grease. I appreciate the suggestion an will try it today. thanks

lilbitaleah

Omg, messy is an understatement lol. I had to put 4 foot wide plastic down! I got the Wd40 and the grease. I saturated the screw drive but havent put the grease on yet but not sure if it's going to help.

If you look at the picture the black round thing, in the middle there is a screw, I used a screw driver to turn it.clockwise a few times, it actually turns the whole screw drive. I've been trying to see if it gets easier to turn after I sprayed it down but it really isn't. What it does do is when I press the power button it will spin for 3 seconds then stop. When I try to press it again it will hum in reverse, pressed again it won't spin forward either. I almost want to take that metal housing off thinking something is broke or stripped. I was going to call genie tomorrow, maybe. I won't get a screw drive again I don't think. It was always pretty noisy. I will go back in there too try once I reset my optimism and determination lol

PoleCat

Bummer! If the screw is turning easy you have a real whammy going on in there. If you have to replace the whole unit I would look at getting a chain drive. They aren't bullet proof either but you won't have to worry about messy maintenance on them.

lilbitaleah

I called Genie this morning explained the situation. He said it sounded like my problem may have started with the capacitor but then the humming started and that could be a small coupling thatattaches to the screw mechanism. So we will see. capacitor will be easy but the coupling be a little work for me. I have my limit on what I take on lol. thank for your help. I'm glad I cleaned it causeitneeded it and can eliminate that now. it could have been part of what caused it to go bad. Iwill post the results!

lilbitaleah

make a longstory short, it made more sense to buy a new belt driven opener. It'sonly 100 toinstall and they do everything, so sorry nohelp here for others with my issue. thanks for the suggestions!

ImADIY

just had this problem... here's what i did.. i took off that black cap and rotated the center screw back and fourth (turn around a few times from left to right, vis versa). it solved the problem. it's weird

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