The Absent Uncle: Another gentle reminder

This past week I have been dealing with an aging garage door opener. It started with an occasional open that stalled about 18 inches up. Close it down and retry the open and it worked.

It must be one of the guides on either side of the door. I tried lubricating all of them and the problem went away. For a day. 

We use the garage door opener probably two or three times a day depending on whatever schedule we have going and just heading outside for a look around and/or a cup of coffee on the porch.

So, the problem worsened. I tried closely watching the guides – was one of them sticking or maybe starting to break and that slight misalignment was causing the sensors to shut down the lift. (A point here – all of the sensors are all about not coming “down” on a person or object – my problem was always going “up”)   

Another point to be introduced now. This was the original garage door opener installed at the house when built now almost 19 years ago. That is a lot of ups and downs. 

I was fortunate to have found a small businessperson (a one-man show) when I moved here and had one of the big springs that actually does most of the lifting of the door broke and called him to replace it. He turned out to be a marvelous fellow, and I enjoyed his work ethic and put his business card on the wall above the opener button. I’ve had him out a couple of times since and each time he did a bit extra to keep my system operating. 

But this time when I called and he took a look – it was terminal. The belt had deteriorated, gears worn and parts were nonexistent, time to replace it.

He gave me choices: buy a new opener and install it myself; buy a new opener and he would install it for me; he would provide the opener and install it. He provided clear pricing for all options. 

I have installed a number of garage door openers in my past. Both replacement and new install. A do-it-yourself kind of guy. This seemed a pretty cut and dry decision. But wait a minute. Two knee replacements, an admonition from Sherrill to stay off a ladder for a number of really good reasons … and you just had your 75th birthday. I told him I wanted to think about it and would call him later in the day with a decision.

Long story short, he provided the parts and installed a new garage door opener that I am so pleased with. It has features and requirements that I would have struggled with to make operable. It was a gentle reminder to know your limitations.