Wayne Dalton Garage Door Opener Troubleshooting

The Wayne Dalton brand is one of the pioneer brands of garage doors, garage door openers, and accessories. They have been in business for well over thirty years. And for a company to still exist after three decades, you know they are definitely doing something right.

Although they don’t make garage door openers anymore, there are quite a lot of homeowners that still use them. And if you have used a garage door opener for that long, you have probably encountered a lot of problems. So, in this post, you will learn how to troubleshoot a Wayne Dalton garage door opener. This guide works for most opener models made by Wayne Dalton, including Quantum, Prodrive, Classic Drive, and iDrive series garage door openers. Let’s get into it

Garage Door Opener Not Working

This is not a common problem, but it does happen sometimes. If you Wayne Dalton garage door opener is not responding to command from the wall station or the remote control, a couple of things can be the cause.

Garage door opener has no power
Remote control or wall station is not programmed
The motor protector has tripped open due to excessive heat

Follow these troubleshooting steps if your garage door opener is not working.

Check the power supply to the garage door opener

Disconnect your Wayne Dalton opener from the socket-outlet and plug another device in the socket to see if it works. Also, check the power cable from the garage door opener for any signs of damage. When there is a break in the cable, your opener will not have power. Check the circuit breaker or fuse for the garage. If it has tripped open, then switch it back on.

Reprogram Remote Control or Wall Station/Keyless Entry

If the garage door opener is not responding to signal, then perhaps it is not receiving it in the first place. If the remote control or keyless entry is not programmed to work with the garage door opener, then it will not work. We have a guide on how to program Wayne Dalton garage door opener remotes and wall stations, and I recommend you read it here. See here.

Operate the garage door opener after 20 minutes

Wayne Dalton drives have a safety feature that protects the motor from damage. Whenever the motor gets overheated, the garage door opener trips open. When this happens, you need to allow the motor to cool down for about 20 minutes before you attempt to operate it.

Garage door opener works from wall control but not remote.

When your Wayne Dalton garage door opener works when it receives a command from the Wall Control but doesn’t work when using the remote, then the problem is with the remote transmitter. Here is what you need to do when this happens

Reprogram the remote

Just as mentioned earlier, reprogram the remote to work with the garage door opener. Read our guide on how to program Wayne Dalton remotes here.

Replace remote batteries

Remote batteries don’t last forever, and when they are dead, there is nothing you can do but to replace them with a new one. I always recommend the Duracell CR2032 3V Coin Battery (on Amazon) for garage door remotes. It’s that kind of battery that doesn’t only get the job done but lasts longer than most batteries in its price range.

Door does not open, and garage door opener light flashes.

This is a common problem with garage door openers in general, and not only Wayne Dalton openers. When your garage door doesn’t open and the opener light flashes, here are the troubleshooting steps you need to perform.

Check if the garage door is frozen

If we are in the winter, the first thing to check is whether the door is frozen to the floor. There is no way a garage door opener can lift a door that is stuck on the floor by ice.

If that’s the case, then first disconnect your Wayne Dalton garage door opener from the door by pulling the emergency cord. Now try lifting the door manually to see if that can break the ice. If that doesn’t work then try scraping the ice off the garage door bottom with an ice scraper, or melt the ice with water (preferably hot)

Check for any obstruction.

These are the two main things that can hinder your Wayne Dalton garage door opener from opening the door. These are seen as an obstruction.

Imbalanced garage door

Damaged garage door tracks or rollers

Now here is how to check for any obstruction in the door.

First, disconnect the garage door opener from the garage door by pulling the emergency cord.

Slowly lift the garage door manually and pay attention to the areas where the door binds or sticks
Inspect the garage door tracks and rollers where the door sticks for any signs of damage. Fix any dent on the tracks and replace any worn out if you can. Else call a garage door technician.
When the garage door gets opened about halfway, let it go

If it is properly balanced, the garage door should stay in that position without dropping. If that’s not the case, then the garage door needs to be balanced. Call a garage door technician to balance the door for you.

Adjust the open force settings

Due to changes in weather conditions that cause dampening on the garage door tracks and rollers over the years, as well as minor changes in these parts, it becomes a bit challenging for the garage door opener to open the door.

After you inspect the garage door for imbalance and any damage on the tracks and you found no problem, but your Wayne Dalton garage door opener still can’t open the door, you have to increase the open force settings.

Essentially, when you increase the open force settings, you are permitting the garage door opener to use more energy in lifting the garage door. But also keep in mind that too much force can cause problems. So here is how to do that.

Close the garage door
Place a step ladder under your Wayne Dalton garage door opener and climb it

Locate the PROGRAM button, usually on the side of the opener
Press the PROGRAM button three times. The STATUS LED and the overhead lamp will flash on and off. The blink rate, which corresponds to the force setting, will consist of 1 to 5 fast blinks followed with a long pause between blink sequences
The first time an attempt is made to increase the force, the setting will begin at the lightest setting (1 blink)

To increase the force, press and release the door up/down button on any control (The STATUS LED will remain lit during button press).
Press the PROGRAM button once to save settings

Now try opening the garage door again if it opens, great, however, if it doesn’t repeat the steps and increase the force once again till it opens.

Garage door does not open or close fully; no light flashes

When you operate your Wayne Dalton garage door opener, and the door doesn’t open or close fully, then you need to adjust the travel limits. Here is why.

The travel limit of a garage door opener refers to the distance the door has to travel to fully open or close. When the garage door does not fully close, and the light does not flash, it means the opener assumes the door is fully opened/closed, and no error was detected. This is why you have to increase the travel limit (distance) to fix the problem.

Here is how to increase the travel adjustment for Wayne Dalton drives:

To increase the close travel adjustment,

Using the remote or wall control, open the door to its fully open position
Turn the close adjustment clockwise with a flat screwdriver, to about ¼ turn

Close the door with the remote or wall control. The garage door should reach the floor with the bottom seal compressed a little
If the door reverses once it reaches the floor, reduce the travel limit.

At this point, you need to adjust it till it touches the floor and compresses the door seal without reversing.

To increase the open travel adjustment.

First, disconnect the garage door opener from the door
Manually open the garage door to its fully open position. Take note of the location where the garage door is fully opened

Reconnect the garage door to the opener
Adjust the open travel adjustment and then open the door with the remote.
Keep tweaking till the garage door fully opens.

Garage Door Closes and Reverses; Opener Light Flashes

Two things can cause your garage door to reverse when it fully closes. First, your Wayne Dalton opener close travel adjustment is set too high, and secondly, there is something in the way of the door. Fixing this problem is a simple task.

First, check for any obstruction that is in the way of the door. Maybe you mistakenly left an item in the doorway, like a suitcase or box after removing it from your trunk. Or perhaps there is a stone or a block of ice in the way. Remove it and try closing the door once again.

The next thing to if that doesn’t fix the problem is to reduce the close travel adjustment. Follow the same steps outlined on how to increase travel adjustment, but this time reduce it. That should fix the problem.

Garage Door Reverses while Closing; Opener Lights Flashes

Here is how to troubleshoot your Wayne Dalton garage door opener when the door reverses while closing.

Check Safety Sensors

If the safety sensors mounted on the sides of the garage door are blocked from seeing each other, it won’t permit the garage door to close. So, the first thing to check is if there is something underneath the door blocking the sensors. If that’s the case, remove it and try closing the door once again.

If that didn’t solve it, check if the sensors are misaligned. When the sensors are not properly aligned, it’s similar to an obstruction. Check that the sensors are facing each other, and all LEDs are turned on.

Also, a defective sensor won’t permit the garage door to close. Inspect the safety sensors for any sign of damage, first on the unit itself, and then the wires that connect to the garage door opener. If the cables or unit itself is damaged, you need to get it replaced. Check out our post all Wayne Dalton garage door parts to see original replacement parts for Wayne Dalton drives, including the safety sensors. See here.

Increase close force

If the garage door opener doesn’t have the required energy to push the door down, it will reverse while closing. So when this happens, you need to increase the force settings.

Just as described earlier, follow the same steps to increase the force settings, and tweak till the door gets to the floor without reversing.

Door fully opens; opener light flashes

When your Wayne Dalton garage door opener’s light flashes after the door reach the fully open position, it means the open travel adjustment is set too high, and you have to reduce.

Follow the steps outlined earlier on how to increase the open travel adjustment, but this time reduce it.