The remote for my garage door opener is only working within 6" from the motor unit.

Jimmy K EXPERT March 06, 2009

When the garage door openers develop short range, it is usually from rf interference in the area. I suspect your problem is the second remote. Remotes will leak rf signal and confuse the logic board in the opener.

Remove the battery from the remote that is not working. Look at the led on the garage door opener, if it is blinking, it is receiving rf signal from somewhere. If removing the battery from the defective remote doesn't solve your problem, here are some suggestions for other possible causes of rf signal in the house.

Many things can put out the rf signal that confuses the logic board in the garage door opener.

Try disconnecting the portable phone, the aquarium, the water softener, any electronic item with a remote control. This can be done by turning the circuit breakers for the house off one at a time. Check the range on the remotes after turning each breaker off.

If you had a garage door opener before with remotes, look in all drawers and in the cushions of couches and chairs for an old remote and remove the batteries from that remote.

If none of this helps connect a 2 foot piece of small gauge wire to the small antenna wire hanging out of the rear of the motor unit. If that helps you can buy an antenna extender kit and install it.

The remotes and the logic board in the garage door opener are not adjustable. On some of our older openers you could fine tune the remotes. That feature is no longer available. They tell us the new technology doesn’t require it.

If there is rf signal coming from somewhere in the neighborhood, you can get a Sears technician to search for the signal with a special meter most Sears technicians have.