If you know anything about me, you know that I am persistent. I also do not like to let mechanical objects best me in competition. For those two reasons, I went back into the garage yesterday. That sensor was going to work or the whole garage door opener was going to meet the scrap dealer!
But before I tell you the outcome, let me tell you what life has been like without a working sensor: Every time someone uses that side of the garage, in order for the door to be closed, someone also has to come back to the wall switch and press and hold it until the door is all the way down. Not a problem if the person closing the door is not going out–just have one of the kids close it as the wife leaves. Inconvenient, yes, but not that bad as things go. But if I’m the only one home, I have to open both garage doors, back the car out, come in and close the “non-sensor” door, then go out and use the key pad to close the other door. ARRGH!
(Did I mention that I met Rupert from “Survivor” yesterday? He does a great “ARRGH!”)
So yesterday afternoon after my wife left for work, I decided to work on the door. As I finished sharpening and adjusting the clippers–you know, the non-electric things that you used to see people use years ago to trim bushes–I got down to the business of working on the door… literally. 
There I am on the floor, trying to figure out why the sensor doesn’t seem to get a signal from the other eye. I’ve gone back to the box on the ceiling and checked the connections… all good. Just to be sure, I get out the wire cutter and re-cut and strip new ends on the wires. After connecting everything back just right, I try it again. Nothing.
Next step: I try another sensor on the same wire leads… the sensor from the working side. Nothing. I try the beam side of the door with the old leads. Nothing. That’s when it dawned on me to follow the leads back from the sensor… and that’s when I found the break in the wire. Well, this would never work as long as there’s a break in the wire.
Fortunately, the wire cutter/stripper is right there on the ladder platform that I had used earlier so up I climbed to re-splice some wires. Ah, but first, where’s that electrical tape? Certainly not where I left it, nor in the other 3 or 4 places I checked. Fortunately, my duct tape is always right where I left it. The splicing done and taped, back down to test the sensor… and there is light!!! But the light is always on, even when not aligned to the beam.
Another 10 minutes of fighting with it and I seem to have it aligned with the beam and working properly… just in time for my wife to come home and see me sprawled across the garage floor.
Done! Time to test it out. As she pulls into the garage, I have her hit the car remote and down comes the door. I stick my leg across the beam and down comes the door! (Yes, I moved in time.) Looks like it needs another adjustment.
Ten minutes later, the door is done! Fixed! Working to specs!
So life is back to normal and I can go on to my next challenge… which involves an old 386 computer that hasn’t been run since at least 1995. I’m pretty sure it has Windows 3.1 on it. Anyone remember that? Well, I’m fresh off of a high from rebuilding and repairing another PC and installing Windows 95 on it… from floppy disks!
See, I like a challenge!!!
More:
Part 1: http://trebord.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/its-one-of-those-things/
Part 3: http://trebord.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/its-one-of-those-things-part-3/
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