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This is a followup to the thread here, since problem resurfaced: garage door usually won't close - even trolley without door won't move much

Hopefully with better details and some attached pictures.

My garage door will not shut all the way. The trolley will move partway down the track (sometimes only a little all the way up to halfway or more), but at some point, it will stop, and re-open by itself, and the lights will flash 10 times.

The opener: Lift Master Forumla I Whisper Drive, 1/2 HP model 1280LM

When I try to close the garage, the lights on the sensors do not go out (solid green the whole day).

Also, if I detach the door and just run the trolley, I get the same behavior.

Based on advice on the previous thread, I opened it up and looked at all the wiring, gear, belt -- nothing I could immediately see that was wrong (but pics attached).

I did notice, on the bottom side of the trolley (pic below), there is a metal plate that sits between the trolley and the track, and has two teeth that hook it on to the trolley (through the bottom) on either end. You'll notice the picture below only has teeth on one side. I compared to my other openers, and they both have teeth on both sides (4 teeth in all), The end of the metal sheet without the teeth can pivot fairly freely to either side. (I tried rolling up some duct tape and jamming it in there to keep it from moving, but that didn't seem to help.)

I've tried tightening bolts everywhere (where the opener attaches to the roof), and I tried tightening and loosening the belt), but none of that seemed to help.

The sensors near the floor do not seem to move at all when the garage is moving, and they are mounted directly to the wall.

Appreciate any help in fixing this.

motor

trolley

gear

belt

another motor view

sensor1

sensor2

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  • sometimes only a little all the way up to halfway or more ??????? .... missing punctuation maybe? – jsotola May 8 '18 at 0:46
  • Call LiftMaster customer service. They will help you diagnose over the phone. If you just need to reprogram limits they will walk you through. – Tyson May 8 '18 at 1:01
  • I meant that sometimes it moves very little, and other times it goes further. – Ferris Jones May 8 '18 at 1:24
  • What happens if you disconnect the opener drive and operate the garage door manually? Trying to understand if it's a door problem or an opener problem. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 8 '18 at 1:26
  • The door moves fine by itself. And when it is detached, I still have the same problem with just the trolley — it won’t move al the way to the end. – Ferris Jones May 8 '18 at 1:28
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So, I called LiftMaster customer service as recommended above. They said that the sensor just needed to be "realigned" (I think they meant reset). Anyway, they had me take the ground sensor (the one with the green light) off the mounting and point it at the ground for 20 seconds, and then remount. They said this helps reset things. And, sure enough, so far today, at least, the door seems to be shutting fine. (I'll post back here if the problem reappears.) –

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