New Chamberlain Garage Door Opener Problem

[billt460]

Go to the old opener and install led bulbs? Just make sure the bulbs are compatible....some led's apparently would also jam the opener signals.

I had this happen to mine with LED's. The opener would not work at all with the remote. Only with the hard wired button on the wall. If the light was off the remote would open it. But it wouldn't close it until the light cycled off. (About 2 minutes). I put incandescent bulbs in, and everything was fine. Mine are older openers. One is a Chamberlain, the other is a Genie.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Hey Guys, I have an update for all of you. Well I tried the Ferrite Core installations as Alarm Guy suggested....no changes. I spoke with my neighbor and he said that the installing door company (local provider to Home Depot) said that they are going to replace the newer model with an older "proven" Chamberlain model that does not have LED lighting. He said this is the only way they know how to cure the current problems he is having.

He also said the installer told him that they have no less than 8 different customers that are seeing this same problem / behavior with this model.

My thanks to Alarm Guy, your suggestion was was worth a shot. I did find the attached article though and wanted to post it here for anyone to comment on. Although this article goes back to 2013, I am wondering if it is affecting things now more than ever since the whole radio ionosphere has become even more crowded.

https://www.fortgordonnews.com/arti...ystem-may-interfere-with-garage-door-openers/

I know that Chamberlain is a leading player in this industry, but I was not aware that they also owned the Liftmaster brand too. It appears this industry like so many others has had it's share of consolidation.

https://www.chamberlain.com/

For those of you who might have a newer working model opener that is NOT A Chamberlain or Liftmaster, please reply and let me know what brand / model it is. I am keeping my old Craftsman alive via bailing wire and chewing gum and given my neighbor's most recent experience, I cannot see a modern replacement Chamberlain model in my future.

P.S. Yes, I am aware my Craftsman opener was in fact manufactured by Chamberlain.....LOL. THANKS, and I look forward to your replies.

 

[350Rocket]

Hello,

My neighbor bought, and had installed, two new Chamberlain garage door openers, I am not sure of the model number, but it is the new one that has LED lighting.

From what he told me, I think it may be this model.....

https://www.chamberlain.com/corner-...et-battery-backup-garage-door-opener/p/B6713T

After the openers were first installed last week, the two openers worked flawlessly. He then said after a few days, the range on the remotes seem to start degrading.

He would have to pull right up to the door when using the remote from his car. He called the company whom did the install and they cited possible RF interference. They told him that his only choice would be to downgrade to an older opener that uses a different RF frequency system, and that they had seen this problem before that was the only "fix" that was successful. He is not opposed to this, but the opener model they are recommending does not have the LED lighting which is a feature that he really wants.

Has anyone else here on BITOG heard of this phenomenon? I was under the impression that these digital RF radio chip sets were somewhat immune to interference and that the door opener claim to fame for security was the capability of these newer models to have an infinite number of combinations of transceiver channels.

I am hoping someone else might be able to elaborate on this situation, and also possibly offer another solution other than to change out the openers.

Maybe you can call Chamberlain. I had a great experience with their customer service. We had a 1993 Sears (made by Chamberlain) opener and my fiancee bought a new keypad opener for it for $30 off Amazon. We got it working but the garage would randomly open up on its own. So I emailed Chamberlain asking if they knew of a solution..they had someone call me. This person escalated it to a higher person who called me back and said "no we can't fix it so we're going to send you a brand new garage door opener with WiFi etc"
I'm thinking he must be mistaken. This is a 27 year old garage door opener. But nope, it was the last year they didn't have sensors, so as soon as they heard that it was operating by itself they gave me a brand new one free. Some kind of silent recall I guess, because people were killed by them in the past.
I gave him our address and we received it in 2 days no charge. They have my business for life.

 

[alarmguy]

Hey Guys, I have an update for all of you. Well I tried the Ferrite Core installations as Alarm Guy suggested....no changes. I spoke with my neighbor and he said that the installing door company (local provider to Home Depot) said that they are going to replace the newer model with an older "proven" Chamberlain model that does not have LED lighting. He said this is the only way they know how to cure the current problems he is having.

He also said the installer told him that they have no less than 8 different customers that are seeing this same problem / behavior with this model.

My thanks to Alarm Guy, your suggestion was was worth a shot. I did find the attached article though and wanted to post it here for anyone to comment on. Although this article goes back to 2013, I am wondering if it is affecting things now more than ever since the whole radio ionosphere has become even more crowded.

https://www.fortgordonnews.com/arti...ystem-may-interfere-with-garage-door-openers/

I know that Chamberlain is a leading player in this industry, but I was not aware that they also owned the Liftmaster brand too. It appears this industry like so many others has had it's share of consolidation.

https://www.chamberlain.com/

For those of you who might have a newer working model opener that is NOT A Chamberlain or Liftmaster, please reply and let me know what brand / model it is. I am keeping my old Craftsman alive via bailing wire and chewing gum and given my neighbor's most recent experience, I cannot see a modern replacement Chamberlain model in my future.

P.S. Yes, I am aware my Craftsman opener was in fact manufactured by Chamberlain.....LOL. THANKS, and I look forward to your replies.

Rats! I was hoping, thanks for the update, its always good to hear back.
With that said, I got thrown off by your post, just out of interest. Your Name says you are in MO, Fort Gordon is in GA.
I suspect you are now is GA which is kind of cool for another reason that you have mentioned.

This is a TRUE story but have never been able to confirm it, yet, Ok, read on.
I serviced/troubleshoot, repaired, replaced, installed all kinds of security systems and every type of WiFi device that hooks up to the services. I Was pretty well known in my company for getting things fixed right and sent out after repeated attempts by other people in my company.

So here it goes whenever a LTE/GSM/CDMA radio unit in a security system started going wacky for no explainable reason at all, except for some reason it was always the middle of the night for the customer, almost all the time it was near a military base and wow, I did a lot of work around Fort Gordon and many military families homes. Another big problem area was Fort Jackson and Shaw AFB.

I ALWAYS wondered if it was military transmission related and I suspect it was because it only happened around them guessing, in 90% of the instances. In fact I knew it had to be, sometimes there would be clusters ALWAYS all around the same time at night and other times just sporadic. Always clueless what to do about it and over time it would just go away for that customer and/or replace the unit.
Other times it could be blamed on a cell tower going down but almost all the time it was around a base.

But what do I know, a constant problem with a garage door opener and not intermittent ?... Im clueless now.
Ps, put those devices on all power leads into your wifi equipment ect ect ... dont let them go to waste.

 

[Duffyjr]

H I am keeping my old Craftsman alive via bailing wire and chewing gum and given my neighbor's most recent experience, I cannot see a modern replacement Chamberlain model in my future.

When the gum and baling wire give out you may not have a choice but to replace it. I have no issues with my new older style Chamberlain. I have a cheap HF LED shop light in my garage and LED's in the opener and they do not interfere. In fact the remotes work even better than the old Craftsman as far as distance. The new one has WiFi and a DC motor so it's not like it's dated just because it looks like the older ones.

https://www.menards.com/main/doors-...6-c-12367.htm?tid=-3757262696802388815&ipos=2

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Thinking outside the box... Put a coax extension on the antenna element, to outside, with an amp in series. Amp eats maybe a watt phantom power. This is strictly DIY, the installers aren't going to be trained to do this.

sounds like a neat idea. do you think just extending the antenna wire would affect it without the added amp? I guess it will just take tests due to each house having different interference. I do recall having some issues similar when new and they told me it could be from our home wireless connection interference. They also shot me what I thought was a joke. Something about it taking time to "learn frequency" and yet after about a month (I do not recall doing anything) all the problems went away.

 

[SHOZ]

I was reading Genie came up with some special LEDs that did not cause the issue.

https://store.geniecompany.com/collections/light-bulb

Common LED and CFL bulbs can emit interference that limits the range of garage door opener remotes. The Genie LED lighting is specifically designed for use in garages and with garage door openers. The garage door opener bulb is also made to withstand the harsher environment of the garage. Garage door openers are known to vibrate during normal operation. This vibration can potentially shorten the life of normal light bulbs used in them. These LED bulbs are vibration/ shatter resistant, and cold weather tested. Eliminate or reduce garage door opener remote interference with this exclusive radio frequency friendly Genie LED light bulb!

 

[Dave9]

^ Yeah but that would only be shortly after the door is open so the light is on, not timed out and off. Bulb not on, isn't going to interfere with the remote. I suppose there could be exceptions, poor designs that don't suppress it otherwise considering once in a while I see bulbs that glow dimly or flicker even when off but the average major brand bulb shouldn't cause interference when not on.

 

[Dave9]

sounds like a neat idea. do you think just extending the antenna wire would affect it without the added amp? I guess it will just take tests due to each house having different interference. I do recall having some issues similar when new and they told me it could be from our home wireless connection interference. They also shot me what I thought was a joke. Something about it taking time to "learn frequency" and yet after about a month (I do not recall doing anything) all the problems went away.

The loss from an extension will depend on the (cost) cable type used. You might get away with it with inexpensive RG8X for a short run like 15'-ish feet from opener to exterior. It would help to know the frequency it uses, not just for antenna (element, not coax cable) length but also potential sources of interference.

 

[SHOZ]

^ Yeah but that would only be shortly after the door is open so the light is on, not timed out and off. Bulb not on, isn't going to interfere with the remote. I suppose there could be exceptions, poor designs that don't suppress it otherwise considering once in a while I see bulbs that glow dimly or flicker even when off but the average major brand bulb shouldn't cause interference when not on.

Well isn't that the problem? Once the LEDs are lit the remote no worky?

 

[Dave9]

Well isn't that the problem? Once the LEDs are lit the remote no worky?

Was it? Without re-reading the entire topic, the opening posts reads "He would have to pull right up to the door when using the remote from his car." which suggests to me the fault is present with door shut, light off.

 

[alarmguy]

^ Yeah but that would only be shortly after the door is open so the light is on, not timed out and off. Bulb not on, isn't going to interfere with the remote. I suppose there could be exceptions, poor designs that don't suppress it otherwise considering once in a while I see bulbs that glow dimly or flicker even when off but the average major brand bulb shouldn't cause interference when not on.

Another thought which I know is valid would be to try replacing the LED bulbs with anything from Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot ect and make sure the ones you buy are "dimmable"
The bulbs would be higher quality and less subject to voltage fluctuations/flickering ... Im not thinking to much about this post but is a fleeting thought.
I wouldnt be the least bit concerned about vibrations ruining the bulb.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Hi Gents,

Final comment. The LEDs in his garage seem to have no affect whatsoever....on or off or dimmable non dimmable. Both openers have now since been replaced by older Chamberlain models that do not have built-in LED lights. New door operators seem to be working as expected. My gut tells me that the newer model Chamberlain is more subject to RF interference....not sure why, but since Chamberlain admits this is a known problem, they need to get their RF engineers on it toot sweet and come up with a fix.

Very frustrating for customer to have to go back to older model of opener, because the newer model seems to have issues or RF bugs.

 

[Dave9]

^ Are the newer ones capable of a smart link, like maybe they shifted to using a wifi band frequency so naturally there's going to be more *noise* on that band?

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Hi Dave, Yes you could be correct. The newer (previously installed) model opener could be used with a wifi enabled smart phone app. I am not sure aboutt he older model that is presently installed.

 

[1004ron]

Old thread - but for the benefit of those that land here using the search feature, here's what worked for me.

The latest sleek looking models have the yellow antenna wire tucked away out of sight inside the unit - 4 screws to get access to it, and leave it outside the unit.

 

[blupupher]

Old thread - but for the benefit of those that land here using the search feature, here's what worked for me.

The latest sleek looking models have the yellow antenna wire tucked away out of sight inside the unit - 4 screws to get access to it, and leave it outside the unit.

Weird, just installed a Chamberlin for my sister and her yellow wire was already hanging out.