Bolt roof blocking garage door opener signal.

[flamaest]

I'm not sure if others have noticed, but when I attach my garage door opener to the visor of my front seat, I have noticed that somehow the signal is being blocked, possibly by the roof of the bolt material, and so my bolt needs to be almost right at the garage door for the garage door to open when I come home.

That being said, if I remove the garage door opener from the visor and simply hold it in my hand, I can easily open the door from a longer distance as I approach my home.

I'm wondering if there is something in the roof material of the bolt which is blocking the signal from reaching the garage door opener.

 

[EldRick]

Try a fresh battery in the remote...

 

[desiv]

Yeah, I'd check the battery or maybe the remote is having issues..
I keep mine there and haven't had any problems...

desiv

 

[flamaest]

Thank you for the recommendation about replacing the battery. I've already tried this and no effect. The signal is consistently blocked when it is attached to the visor and if removed, I can easily open and close the garage door from a large distance.

 

[devbolt]

I have no trouble with the remote clipped to my visor. Works from a distance, and works closeup.

A while ago I had a problem with another car and remote, but it turned out to be a problem with the LED lightbulbs that I had installed in the openers. Apparently they had really noisy power supplies that were drowning out the signal from the remote. Replaced the bulbs with another brand and the problem went away.

 

[SeanNelson]

I clip mine to the rear edge of the centre overhead console and it works fine.

 

[ndberg]

A while ago I had a problem with another car and remote, but it turned out to be a problem with the LED lightbulbs that I had installed in the openers. Apparently they had really noisy power supplies that were drowning out the signal from the remote. Replaced the bulbs with another brand and the problem went away.

See http://support.chamberlain.com/articles/How_To/What-light-bulbs-can-I-use-in-my-garage-door-opener-1484145692747 for details.

 

[flamaest]

Very interesting, I will have to change the light bulb on my garage door opener. It is a CFL which is quite possibly much noisier than the bulb before.

 

[EldRick]

I've had no issues with fluorescent bulbs in the opener, or with a tiny remote.
My keychain remote is stuck on top of the rear-view mirror, and it's on the same battery for more than a year. Works perfectly.

 

[djhodny]

I have noticed similar signal issues with all my vehicles, not just my Bolt. And not just my garage door opener but also the gates in our community (opened by another button on the opener). It seems the opener signal is "weaker" or interfered with if it's close to the metal car roof like when the visor it's clipped to is up. I've gotten into the habit of pulling down the visor - moving the opener down and away from the roof a bit - before pressing the button.

I also put in an LED bulb in my garage door opener and found that when the light is on, it notably interferes with the remote signal. I added a length of small link chain to the opener's antenna wire basically doubling its length and that improved signal response. It's still not as good as it is with the light off but definitely better than without the extension.