Hi all,
Tldr; garage door won't open/close while outside of garage. Need troubleshooting tips/ideas.
I've been troubleshooting my garage door for three days now and don't seem to be making any progress. I've been in communication with Chamberlain C/S and they've been pretty helpful, however, they have already tried to brush me off once and claim it's a HomeLink issue. I feel like this may occur again so I wanted to come here and see if you good folks have any ideas.
Things to know:
Chamberlain Whisper Drive #WD822KD
House built in 2005, I believe this is the original garage door opener.
2 LED builds in the garage door opener since I bought the house in November of '15
Brief (30-60 sec.) power outage on 11/20
Magnetic Thermometer placed near opener button on 11/20
Problem noticed on 11/21
Problem: On 11/21 my wife noticed that the garage door wasn't activating using the HomeLink in her Mazda. Wouldn't open or close. Would work inside the garage but not outside the garage. Once we got back home after Thanksgiving I started troubleshooting and speaking with Chamberlain. Instruction from Chamberlain was to reprogram both the Alfa and Mazda using their instructions. I had trouble reprogramming the Alfa so I was told to clear all programs out of the main unit. I did and started reprogramming remotes and HomeLinks. I used a Chamberlain remote, not an aftermarket universal. Remote programmed fine, moved onto the Mazda and it programmed fine, moved onto the Alfa and it wouldn't program. Decided to call it a day on the Alfa and test out he remote and the Mazda. The remote worked from inside the garage, but it too wouldn't from outside. I did some proximity testing and discovered that the remote would only operate if it was within approximately 4 feet of the garage door opener. Moved onto the Mazda, it opened and closed the garage from the inside, pulled out into the driveway and all functions stopped. Now I'm thinking that we've definitely started to hone in on a proximity/reception issue. I share this with the C/S rep.
He gets back to me and tells me that it's apparent that the issue is a HomeLink problem and not a Chamberlain one. Nope, that's absolutely not apparent I tell him as the problem is also occurring with the Chamberlain report. He gives me some more testing to do, part of which includes LED bulb removal. I had no idea that LED bulbs can cause RF interference, but again, these bulbs have been in since I bought the place so it'd be odd that all of a sudden they'd be causing the issue. I troubleshoot anyway. Before I do though, I decide to attempt to program the Alfa using the Alfa instructions, boom, first try and it pairs perfectly. Garage door opens and closes from inside the garage, there's a good sign I think. So I move it to the driveway and start troubleshooting. First thing I do is remove the thermometer that I had recently placed near the button, who knows maybe that was causing a gremlin, but alas it didn't do anything (which I expected). So I moved onto the LED bulbs, removed the bulbs and tested the Alfa while in the driveway. It worked! Wow, I can't believe that it was these dumb bulbs causing the problem. I open and close several times and all works decent enough. I notice that closing the garage takes only one push but to open the garage it took two pushes of the HomeLink button.
Now I start bringing in the variables again. First thing is the thermometer being placed back to it's original location. Test the garage door, yup, still works. Now I go to replace the bulbs, I attempted to use CFLs but for some reason they wouldn't work in the garage door opener so instead I replaced with LEDs again (different brand), tested it again and success, everything still works! I put everything away and park the car for the night. Let Chamberlain know that it appears as though the problem might be resolved. This morning I go to leave, the garage door opens just fine from inside the garage. I pull into the driveway, closing the garage door took a few pushes of the button but it did in fact go down. Go out and run my errands. Come back and nothing. The garage door once again will not open. I go in through the front door and head straight to the garage. I move the thermometer, jump on the ladder and remove the bulbs. Go back out the front door and try to open the garage again, still no dice.
I'm at a loss right now, I have no idea what else I can do for troubleshooting or to remedy this. From the cars, it works while inside the garage but not externally. Using the Chamberlain remote, it works inside but within a close range of the opener. It has to be a reception issue on the unit itself, right?
Tldr; garage door won't open/close while outside of garage. Need troubleshooting tips/ideas.
I've been troubleshooting my garage door for three days now and don't seem to be making any progress. I've been in communication with Chamberlain C/S and they've been pretty helpful, however, they have already tried to brush me off once and claim it's a HomeLink issue. I feel like this may occur again so I wanted to come here and see if you good folks have any ideas.
Things to know:
Chamberlain Whisper Drive #WD822KD
House built in 2005, I believe this is the original garage door opener.
2 LED builds in the garage door opener since I bought the house in November of '15
Brief (30-60 sec.) power outage on 11/20
Magnetic Thermometer placed near opener button on 11/20
Problem noticed on 11/21
Problem: On 11/21 my wife noticed that the garage door wasn't activating using the HomeLink in her Mazda. Wouldn't open or close. Would work inside the garage but not outside the garage. Once we got back home after Thanksgiving I started troubleshooting and speaking with Chamberlain. Instruction from Chamberlain was to reprogram both the Alfa and Mazda using their instructions. I had trouble reprogramming the Alfa so I was told to clear all programs out of the main unit. I did and started reprogramming remotes and HomeLinks. I used a Chamberlain remote, not an aftermarket universal. Remote programmed fine, moved onto the Mazda and it programmed fine, moved onto the Alfa and it wouldn't program. Decided to call it a day on the Alfa and test out he remote and the Mazda. The remote worked from inside the garage, but it too wouldn't from outside. I did some proximity testing and discovered that the remote would only operate if it was within approximately 4 feet of the garage door opener. Moved onto the Mazda, it opened and closed the garage from the inside, pulled out into the driveway and all functions stopped. Now I'm thinking that we've definitely started to hone in on a proximity/reception issue. I share this with the C/S rep.
He gets back to me and tells me that it's apparent that the issue is a HomeLink problem and not a Chamberlain one. Nope, that's absolutely not apparent I tell him as the problem is also occurring with the Chamberlain report. He gives me some more testing to do, part of which includes LED bulb removal. I had no idea that LED bulbs can cause RF interference, but again, these bulbs have been in since I bought the place so it'd be odd that all of a sudden they'd be causing the issue. I troubleshoot anyway. Before I do though, I decide to attempt to program the Alfa using the Alfa instructions, boom, first try and it pairs perfectly. Garage door opens and closes from inside the garage, there's a good sign I think. So I move it to the driveway and start troubleshooting. First thing I do is remove the thermometer that I had recently placed near the button, who knows maybe that was causing a gremlin, but alas it didn't do anything (which I expected). So I moved onto the LED bulbs, removed the bulbs and tested the Alfa while in the driveway. It worked! Wow, I can't believe that it was these dumb bulbs causing the problem. I open and close several times and all works decent enough. I notice that closing the garage takes only one push but to open the garage it took two pushes of the HomeLink button.
Now I start bringing in the variables again. First thing is the thermometer being placed back to it's original location. Test the garage door, yup, still works. Now I go to replace the bulbs, I attempted to use CFLs but for some reason they wouldn't work in the garage door opener so instead I replaced with LEDs again (different brand), tested it again and success, everything still works! I put everything away and park the car for the night. Let Chamberlain know that it appears as though the problem might be resolved. This morning I go to leave, the garage door opens just fine from inside the garage. I pull into the driveway, closing the garage door took a few pushes of the button but it did in fact go down. Go out and run my errands. Come back and nothing. The garage door once again will not open. I go in through the front door and head straight to the garage. I move the thermometer, jump on the ladder and remove the bulbs. Go back out the front door and try to open the garage again, still no dice.
I'm at a loss right now, I have no idea what else I can do for troubleshooting or to remedy this. From the cars, it works while inside the garage but not externally. Using the Chamberlain remote, it works inside but within a close range of the opener. It has to be a reception issue on the unit itself, right?
