Garage door opens sporadically. Is there a phantom lurking nearby?

[OCMD]

I figure one of you will know the issue as this is becoming a pain in my ass. My garage opens randomly. The internet fixes are not helping, i.e. the sensor is out of alignment - no it is not; the power is surging - no it is not; the door control where you punch in a code is old - no it is not it is brand new; the remotes are sticking - do not appear to be; batteries dying in remote - well I just replaced one of the batteries on one of the remotes as it was dead - no wife continuing to push the button 1000 times is not going to open the door let's change the battery! So maybe this is the issue time will tell. Could this be? I replaced the battery 5 days ago and it hasn't randomly opened since...hoping!

I figure my neighbor was setting it off as we share a driveway but we took their garage door opener and pushed it and it didn't open my door. But damn I still think that may be the culprit as on occasion the door would open when their kid took off for work and was shutting his garage door. Not everytime, but occasionally. But we did try his opener several times and of course it didn't move his doors, nor my opener on his.

Maybe it was a dead remote battery? But how would this afffect anything and has anyone who had this issue replaced a battery in a remote and the phantom stopped opening the door? Thanks!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I figure one of you will know the issue as this is becoming a pain in my ass. My garage opens randomly. The internet fixes are not helping, i.e. the sensor is out of alignment - no it is not; the power is surging - no it is not; the door control where you punch in a code is old - no it is not it is brand new; the remotes are sticking - do not appear to be; batteries dying in remote - well I just replaced one of the batteries on one of the remotes as it was dead - no wife continuing to push the button 1000 times is not going to open the door let's change the battery! So maybe this is the issue time will tell. Could this be? I replaced the battery 5 days ago and it hasn't randomly opened since...hoping!

I figure my neighbor was setting it off as we share a driveway but we took their garage door opener and pushed it and it didn't open my door. But damn I still think that may be the culprit as on occasion the door would open when their kid took off for work and was shutting his garage door. Not everytime, but occasionally. But we did try his opener several times and of course it didn't move his doors, nor my opener on his.

Maybe it was a dead remote battery? But how would this afffect anything and has anyone who had this issue replaced a battery in a remote and the phantom stopped opening the door? Thanks!

Change the dip switch settings in the opener and the remote.

 

[adrianp89]

I had this issue, reset all units and reprogrammed my cars buttons and had no more issues.

 

[h2oskierfl95]

Most newer openers use a rolling code system similar to the way car remotes work. This makes it more secure as it doesn't transmit the same code each time making it harder for someone to duplicate. If you have the same brand as a neighbor, there is a possibility that the codes are matching at certain times. There are also devices on the market used for "deliberate mischief" like this. The Flipper zero has gotten alot of attention lately, even though devices like this have been around for a long time. Flipper Zero Garage Door Remote

 

[Julian]

I had the opposite issue and my remotes wouldnt work at all. Turned out some replacement LED bulbs I put in were interfering with the opener.....long shot, but any new LEDs put in recently?

 

[OCMD]

No LED's and what the heck is a dip switch?

 

[sastocky]

No LED's and what the heck is a dip switch?

This is a bank of dip switches.

Your garage door may, or may not have them

 

[Murf'n'surf]

You say this is a newer system, what is the manufacturer? I have had problems and a recall with Liftmaster recently. The wall button that has many functions and a circuit board went bad and randomly opened the door. Other thing that I would check are the wire connections at the wall buttons and the wire connections at the opener -- look for loose connection and or a stray conductor making occasional contact with the other trigger wire, thus giving the open command.

 

[Coult45]

Don't eliminate the neighbor as a possible culprit yet. Does the son use his car's internal system that he has programmed for their door, or a button that came with the system? I have found our car transmitters are more powerful (and function a little differently, probably) than the openers that come with the system. Test his car, since you eliminated the other buttons. And Julian is right...none of mine work with my garage LED lights on, so make sure you test the neighbor's buttons with your garage lights and theirs off, to make sure that doesn't impact your test.

 

[OCMD]

Working on on. Thanks. I did replace the battery in the old lady's transmitter - no pushing it a million times isn't going to make it work, why didn't you tell me it wasn't working geez. And since a new battery was installed, no phantom openings in 3 days. Yet.