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garage door opener

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chrismunn

Jan 24, 2016
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Hi everybody. I was wondering if anybody here can explain to me how to completely bypass the circuit board on an old garage door opener I have? I'll take some pics and give some specs in a bit.
 

chrismunn

Jan 24, 2016
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So all I want to do is get rid of all the circuitry and operate the motor with a single on\off switch. Reckon I have to keep the starting capacitor, but I'm not sure which wires to hook up where?
 

chrismunn

Jan 24, 2016
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Alright, I went poking around and managed to get this thing running without the circuitry and awesomely, it turns on in the same rotational direction every time! But, what do you think the duty cycle time is on one of these motors? I ran it for close to 1 minute straight and it got pretty hot, and this was under no load. I'm repurposing this motor for use in a grain mill and adding some pulleys for rpm reduction but I'm questioning if it'll be able to run under load for an extended period of up to 10 minutes straight? Being a garage opener in its former life I'm sure it can handle the moderate load of grinding wheat and corn, but for how long at a time?
 

chrismunn

Jan 24, 2016
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20160124_190126.jpg
Oh man, I wish I knew what any of that drawing meant? I'm sure it's something awesome! I did this, literally don't know what I did, but it worked! I'm all electronics dumb and stuff.
 

chrismunn

Jan 24, 2016
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Oh, lol! It's not a garage door opener anymore. Right now it's just a motor, but the motor runs when I plug in the power source. The circuitry caused it to run clockwise for 25 seconds, and then reverse rotational direction and run counter clockwise for 25 more seconds before turning off. I need it to run in one direction continuously without turning off. I'm going to add a pully to the motor and attach it to my grain grinder with a v belt. Automatic grain grinder!

Was trying get to get rid of the circuit board but keep the motor in working order. Wasn't sure how to do it because I have no idea what all the wires do with the capacitor and whatever. But, somehow I plugged some things here, cut some things there, and now it works
 

hevans1944

Hop - AC8NS
Jun 21, 2012
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... Oh man, I wish I knew what any of that drawing meant? I'm sure it's something awesome! I did this, literally don't know what I did, but it worked! I'm all electronics dumb and stuff.
If the ladder diagram offered by @Tha fios agaibh does not make any sense to you, then you are totally unqualified to re-purpose your garage door opener. Seek the services of a licensed electrician before you set something on fire.

Given your statements that (1) the motor turns in one direction only, and (2) that it "got pretty hot" after running for one minute, leads me to believe that this particular motor is either wired wrong by you, or it is unsuitable for use to drive a grain mill, with or without reduction pulleys.

Garage doors go up or down, requiring some mechanism to reverse the direction when fully raised or fully lowered, or when an obstruction is encountered.. This is usually done by reversing the motor direction. If your motor does not run in two directions, it is either wired incorrectly or damaged... maybe both. That may account for why it "got pretty hot" after running for one minute.

Garage door motors are designed for intermittent duty. One does not normally spend endless periods of time opening and closing garage doors. One minute (or less) ON followed by at least a minute of OFF time for motor cooling is reasonable. Running the motor continuously for ten minutes is probably outside the design specifications for that motor.

Here is yet another example of a newbie posting a solution (re-purpose a motor salvaged from a garage door opener) instead of asking for help to solve a problem (how do I select a motor to operate my grain mill?). It may turn out that your garage door motor could work fine, although perhaps with a cooling fan attached to its shaft for prolonged operation. But you would need to run the motor under an actual load and measure the temperature rise and the rate of temperature rise to determine if it is suitable.

somehow I plugged some things here, cut some things there, and now it works
If that's the way you solve electrical problems, you don't need any help from anyone here. Go forth and set the world on fire with your unique paradigm. Or maybe start a career as a plastic surgeon.:eek:
 

chrismunn

Jan 24, 2016
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I fly by the seat of my pants!

I can't possibly rely on having a college degree in every field that I have interest. No, I don't know what any of that stuff in the drawing means. Yes I'm aware I could possible burn my house down. But I can't let a little think like a house fire stand in the way of a perfectly good "random project".

Lol, I can only imagine how boring life would be if I let a lack of qualification stand in the way of everything I did.

If the thing burns then it burns. I'll be standing close enough by to make sure it doesn't get too out of hand. I'm not building rocket motors in the garage, sheesh. And I'm also not going to spend hundreds of dollars buying legitimate parts to build a stupid grain mill!
 

Tha fios agaibh

Aug 11, 2014
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Oops, I first thought you were trying to repair the opener.
I can only imagine how boring life would be if I let a lack of qualification stand in the way of everything I did.
Boring trumps the excitement of the paramedics trying to save you, and the firemen trying to save your house.

(Squinting my eyes)
"A mans got to know his limitations" Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry.
 

hevans1944

Hop - AC8NS
Jun 21, 2012
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... (Squinting my eyes)
"A mans got to know his limitations" Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry.
"Do you feel lucky?"
not going to spend hundreds of dollars buying legitimate parts to build a stupid grain mill!
Ah! The pioneering spirit that made this country great lives on! No degrees necessary to participate and learn here. Experimentation encouraged.

Your garage door motor has a largeish non-polaraized electrolytic capacitor labeled "motor starting capacitor" which terminology may be misleading. The motor appears to have three wires, red, blue and white, with the red and blue permanently connected across the capacitor terminals. Those wires are then continued to the electronics board you are discarding. The usual configuration is to apply mains power between either the white wire (neutral) and the blue wire (hot) to run the motor in one direction. To reverse the direction of the motor, the mains power is applied between the white wire (neutral) and the red wire (hot). It appears you may have discovered this connection scheme already. So, pick a direction and add a switch to turn it on and off.

This type of motor and phase-shifting capacitor is common in antenna rotators. The most simple version uses a three-position rocker switch with a center-off position to connect power to either the red wire or the blue wire. The rest of the wiring is "just details" and CYA circuits to limit how far the motor will turn when an obstruction is reached. Probably not needed for a grain grinder. Might not need to reverse the motor either for that application, so a single-pole, single-throw toggle switch might serve to operate the grain mill.

Why not go ahead and assemble the reduction pulleys for your grain grinder and see how it works? If it appears to get too hot, you can adjust your grinding time to allow the motor to cool off. Or break out that moth-filled wallet and liberate some big bux (three or four Benjamins will do it) for a Vitamix.

The little disk do-dad mounted across the power wires appears to be a metal-oxide varistor, commonly used to prevent power line surges from getting into and damaging electronics. You can safely eliminate it since you won't have any electronics.
 
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Minder

Apr 24, 2015
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The post in #11 shows the correct way to connect the windings, being identical windings either stator winding act as start and run winding just by alternatively placing the start capacitor in series with either winding with the other connected directly across the mains.
I don't see it as a good choice for a grain mill.
Typically you would need around 1/2hp to 1 hp. IMO.
M.
 
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