Anyone know anything about garage door openers?

[vi5]

I have a 2 car garage and both have 1/2 HP Craftsman garage door openers that were there when we moved in. After a pretty bad lightning storm a few months ago, both of them started acting up. When you hit the button to lower or raise them, they go a little and then go back. I tried replacing the pc/electrical board in one but that didn't help. So at this point I'm thinking about getting new ones anyway.

But can they use the same metal bracket/pully set up and just install new base unit and remotes/switches? Or would they have to re-install everything from scratch?

[veteran_for_peace]

1. Do they have the photo eyes?

[vi5]

2. You mean the things that check if someone is under the door?

Yeah, both of them have photo eyes. I thought that might have been the problem but after checking it out, it's not.

[blueknight]

3. sensors

my neighbor had the same problem, the garage door guy told her the sensors were bad. he replaced them and the door works fine

[BlueJazz]

4. If you haven't already.....

undo the clip/part that connects the screw/chain to the motor.
That way if the motor goes through the cycle OK, you know it's mechanical.

On Edit: Or as blueknight points out, the sensors.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Did You Check The Springs?

That's what happened to me. One of the springs on the door snapped. The 1/2HP motor isn't strong enough to lift the door without the springs assisting the lift. (We have a heavy, R-48 door because two of the bedrooms are directly over the garage. Without a highly insulated door, the bedrooms would get really cold in the winter.)

New spring on the one side, and problem was solved. You probably already checked that, but just in case.
The Professor

[truthspeaker]

6. try adjusting the open & close stop positions

Should be screw or knob you turn to adjust how far up it opens before it stops and another one that tells it how far down to go. An electrical surge could have thrown them out of whack.