Photo sensor bypass on Stanley Garage Door Opener
Ancil Bethelmy
The information I got about this read:
I had a similar problem with an opener and it turned out to be the
photoelectric sensors. There is a way to bypass and defeat this circuit for testing the operator by placing a resistor across its terminals but
I don't remember the exact particulars. Perhaps someone further
experienced with these may know.
Lenny Stein
cjt
Dave Brownell
by broken wires at the sensor. Most have mounts that bend just looking at
them.
"cjt" <chel...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:3D55F65F...@prodigy.net...
Ancil Bethelmy
They seem to cost about $46 to replace and resistors are much cheaper for
diagnostic purposes than replacing all the problem parts one by one.
Thanks for any info you can give
Bill Jeffrey
>
> I dunno what value resistor you'd need, but you can find out.
>
> Connect a multimeter across the photocell, shine a torch on it,
> measure, bingo!
>
I don't think it's that easy. The LED (at the transmitter) is pulsed on
and off at a specific rate, and the receiver looks for those pulses.
This is what helps it avoid falsing from sunlight, room light, etc.
I think you could fake it with a combination of diodes and resistors AT
THE POWERHEAD, but not at the photocell. But I have no idea how to do
this because I haven't any circuit diagrams.
As someone on this board suggested to me recently:
1. Clean the optics at both ends
2. Check the alignment of transmitter and receiver
3. Check continuity in the wires between the receiver and transmitter,
and between the receiver and the powerhead. A break in these wires will
disable the system.
4. Pull the red string to manually disconnect the door from the
traveler, and see if it the traveller goes up and down OK in that
situation. If so, then the mechanical jolt of starting to move of the
heavy door may be momentarily misaligning the optics.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? The symptoms?
Bill Jeffrey
Remove NOSPAM from my address before e-mailing a reply.
Ancil Bethelmy
functioning. I will try the continuity tests you suggest. I have had this
problem before. In the past I replaced the photo transmitter and the photo
receiver and was back in business.
As to the points you mentioned below. I have yet to check the continuity of
the wires. I doubt that is the problem but who knows. Only checking will
tell.
Thanks for your help Mr. Jeffrey.
Sincerely,
Ancil Bethelmy.
Ancil Bethelmy
functioning. I will try the continuity tests you suggest. I have had
this
problem before. In the past I replaced the photo transmitter and the
photo
receiver and was back in business.
As to the points you mentioned below. I have yet to check the continuity
of
the wires. I doubt that is the problem but who knows. Only checking will
tell.
Thanks for your help Mr. Jeffrey.
Sincerely,
Ancil Bethelmy.
Bill Jeffrey
>
> It probably is not that easy as you say. My photo sensor is not
> functioning. I will try the continuity tests you suggest. I have had this
> problem before. In the past I replaced the photo transmitter and the photo
> receiver and was back in business.
>
> As to the points you mentioned below. I have yet to check the continuity of
> the wires. I doubt that is the problem but who knows. Only checking will
> tell.
>
What makes you suspect that the receiver is bad? How do you know it is
not the transmitter? You should not have to replace both the tranmitter
AND receiver - if one has failed, then only that one needs to be
replaced. In fact, you should not have to replace either. Your opener is
only about 5 years old - these parts very seldom fail, and almost never
fail twice in 5 years.
There should be a red light on the receiver. And maybe a green one. What
is this light(s) doing? Is it off? Is it on steady? Is it blinking? If
it is blinking, what is the pattern of the blinks (one blink, pause, one
blink? Or two blinks, pause, two blinks, etc)? What does the light do if
you put your hand in front of the sensor?
Will the door open? Will it close? Does it close a little bit and then
stop? Does it close a little bit, then stop and go back up? Can you make
it close by holding down the wall button?
Have you visited the Stanley web site? They have a lot of
troubleshooting information.
See http://www.stanley-garage-opener.com/troub.html
The reason I suggest checking the wires is that I just had this problem
with my Genie opener. The little red light said everything was OK, but
the door wouldn't go down. When I looked carefully at the wires between
the transmitter and receiver, I found a small blue-green stain at one
point. Looking closer, I found that the installer had nicked the
insulation at that point, and the wire had corroded inside the
insulation. I cut out the bad piece, spliced in a new piece of wire, and
it works fine. The same thing would happen if someone tripped over the
wire and pulled it - the connectors are really flimsy.
I bet the solution is easier (and cheaper) than you think, but we need
some information!
Lizard Blizzard
Well, measure the voltage across the photocell with the beam shining on
it, then replace the photocell with a pot and adjust for the same
voltage. Measure the pot and replace with a fixed resistor value. Or
if you're lazy and have plenty of pots, just leave it in. Simple.
James Sweet
interference with ambient light.
"Lizard Blizzard" <NOS...@rsccd.org> wrote in message
news:3D57CAA5...@rsccd.org...
Robert L. Bass
from the operator's receiver circuit. A simple 0-10K pot across the leads
from the sensor should solve the problem in a few minutes.
Regards,
Robert L Bass
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"Ancil Bethelmy" <abet...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
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