Topic: MyQ Chamberlain Smart Garage Door Setup

[Blueprint]

Van is out of the garage, gave the Chamberlain a whack and it came back to life  .

I was able to read the exact part number and my board is 108$ from Chamberlain, but you have to be a "partner" to order from them. Found another source at 125$ CDN with free shipping, beats the 185$ from amazon.

Will do a quick check of connections after work before buying anything.

Undid all the connections, re-did them ... and it works fine now 

Whapping the side of it and then resetting the connections are usually the first steps in professional troubleshooting. 

It's on the fritz again. Three or four whaps with a floor mop brings it back to life, and when it works most of the times it goes into safety mode and requires one to hold the button for the door to close completely. So my options were:

1) buy a macro lens for my iPhone, inspect the welds, find the crack and repair - about $40 and an afternoon of my time

2) order a new circuit board - 125$ at a Canadian online retailer

3) buy a complete new kit - $279 - $900

Given the age of the overall components, we chose option 3. After looking at various promotions, I found out that different CTC stores had different prices on identical products, given that one or the other may "clear" certain products. So I found this kit on clearance for $389 at my local CTC, 1 box left, new and intact so not a return:

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/chamberlain-secure-view-ultra-bright-smart-garage-opener/1001588567



msrp is in the $600's. That generation is not current anymore on Chamberlain's own website, but as the ex-top shelf model, it comes with lifetime warranty on motor and belt, plus some extras like a battery backup, garage camera and others. The camera I won't probably use as it requires a monthly app fee - we'll see - but all the myQ content is there, with phone alerts and door activation. Spring project, I'll wait for better weather to arrive. Keeping the floor mop close meanwhile.

So the old one lasted 15 years before developping issues, and the new one 18 months. It started working really slowly, as if on the battery. Running the usual diagnostics - checking the door itself, lubing, unplugging etc. - did nothing. So I entered a chat session with Chamberlain support from the garage. They had me run a few tests, had me unplug the backup battery for a bit etc. - still slow.

Their diagnostic is a defective transformer, the free replacement unit arrived from Arizona in 5 days only. It's a plug-in type, with connectors, from what I can see and Chamberlain has installation videos whose links were sent to me. So a little project later today!

[Blueprint]

Turns out they had no videos for replacing the transfo, and neither did anyone else. So I winged it. Not too complex, just that you're up on ladders working inside a box with room for an 8 y.o.'s hands. removed both side covers, unclipped the lights, removed the circuit board, unclipped the old transfo - had to cut some tiny ty-wraps, unscrewed the transfo (suspended in the box, to make things simple) and restart in opposite order with the new transformer.

Took about an hour and it now works as good as new!

[Firm]

Nice work! Doesn't look too complex inside actually, but yeah, working up on the ladder always sucks, lol. Glad you got it sorted and that Chamberlain supported it with a free replacement part.

[Blueprint]

Nice work! Doesn't look too complex inside actually, but yeah, working up on the ladder always sucks, lol. Glad you got it sorted and that Chamberlain supported it with a free replacement part.

Thanks! Motor and belt have lifetime warranties, the rest is 5 years IIRC. I like that their products have a lot of interchangeable parts and that they don't change designs for the sake of changing. The bracing, track, door attachments and belt are actually the prior ones, and I don't even think I installed the new sensors that came with the kit - so I have a bunch of spares  .

[Hannibalsmith]

Nice work! Doesn't look too complex inside actually, but yeah, working up on the ladder always sucks, lol. Glad you got it sorted and that Chamberlain supported it with a free replacement part.

Thanks! Motor and belt have lifetime warranties, the rest is 5 years IIRC. I like that their products have a lot of interchangeable parts and that they don't change designs for the sake of changing. The bracing, track, door attachments and belt are actually the prior ones, and I don't even think I installed the new sensors that came with the kit - so I have a bunch of spares  .

I replaced 2 X  ~30 year old Mastercraft or something openers with two new Chamberlains this year. Lot's of bracketry and parts were the same. It's a proven design with really the only stuff changing is guts and computers.

Hope they last!

[bridgecity]

Bought a Sky Link smart garage door controller today from Ctire. On sale currently for $50. Easy install and works well. The Chamberlain controller is not compatible with my Linear opener so this was an option. I’m guessing the install is little more involved than the Chamberlain(wire from unit to opener and sensor on door with 3m tape or screws) but simple enough.