Manchester Ward 3

Yet another Public Service Announcement - - I suppose since Sue and I moved in fairly early (March, 2015) we are some of the first to be "blessed" with issues related to twin home equipment.  Today's installment relates to the battery back-up on your garage door opener.  If you hear a "beep" or "chirp" in the garage, it just might be your door opener - - there is a 12 volt battery in there so you can open the door even if the main power is out.  A nice feature, but after a while the battery that provides the back-up wears out.

 

A step ladder and a Philips screw driver to remove the battery enclosure door are what you need.  After removing the battery this morning it registered about 8.5 volts, versus the 12 or so when it is new.  Pull the two spade connectors and then pull the battery.  You can get a new one at Menards (about $55 and a 10 to 14 day wait for delivery to the store) or other places, that might be cheaper.  The spade connectors are two different sizes, so you can't mess up the re-connection.  The battery I took out was installed in 2014, so it lasted about 8 years, which I feel is pretty good.  Since the opener functions just fine using normall power while you wait for a new battery, there is no big rush.  However, if you do need to open the garage door and the power is out, the back-up is a nice feature - - of course you can always do the old pull the rope release and manually push up the door, then wedge it with a step ladder or something like it, but that is a bit of a pain.

 

If you have questions or comments, let me know.  Dave Anderson

 

 

Thanks for this info. For us snowbirds, the chirping could go on for weeks/months!

Dave,

Wow! What a great PSA. I didn't realize that there even was a battery backup for the opener. Is there a way to check to ensure one's opener is similar to yours and indeed has that feature?

Like many of you perhaps, I was disappointed that MOE's subcontractors often installed items in the townhomes but instead of collecting and reserving the owner's or instruction manuals, they simply tossed them in the trash. I was able to retrieve a few for my thermostats, light fixtures, ceiling fans, smoke/co detectors, etc., but not all of them. Alas, I do not have a manual for my garage door opener.

I'm going to go online and see if I can locate the manual for my opener. That is often possible.

Thanks for the heads up.

Andy Eisenzimmer

This happened to me last summer, and my kind neighbor, Mark Reker, replaced it for me.  I bought the new one on Amazon.