Garage remote stolen - possible to reprogram receiver?
 

Craftsman unit. I can't find anything on their website but will keep looking. It's a horrible website, at least for support. Yes, I can call and/or read the manual, but I'm at work right now and don't know the model number.

Someone slim jimmed my wife's minivan last night and took the transmitter. They left the GPS, money, DVD player, expensive wireless headphones, etc. Filed a police report to ensure this gets tracked. I'm ticked because just a couple months ago I was thinking of putting a simple 1-wire alarm with flashing LED on it. Might have served as a deterrent - who knows.

Anyway, I don't want to replace the whole opener, it's only 5 years old. If it could just be reprogrammed that would be great. Meanwhile it is disconnected and the manual handle on the garage door itself is locked. We can use the door manually until this gets sorted out.

At least you were smart enough to manually lock it. I was wondering about that when I read you were at work.
Manuals should be easy to find. Check here,
http://homeappliance.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/craftsman/craftsman_garage_door_opener_product_list.html

Danny

Reprogramming is very easy, but yes you will need the manual for specific information. On our Raynor, it's just a matter of resetting some DIP switches on the receiver.

Most units are designed so that you can push a button on the unit to "reset" everything. That way, you have to re-sync the transmitters you currently have, and the stolen one is rendered useless.

If the opener is only 5 years old, it should be a standard rolling code setup. There should be a "learn" button somewhere on the opener head unit. It may be under the translucent plastic where the light bulb is located, so some disassembly may be required. Press and hold the learn button to erase all the remotes from its memory. At this point, none of the remotes - stolen or otherwise - should work.

Then start learning the remaining remotes. Press and release the learn button, then operate the remote. You will have to push the remote 2 or 3 times, then the opener should learn it and begin functioning.

Google brings up lots of hits on this topic, so have at it.

DIP switches are only used on very old units, very unlikely you have any.

Thanks for the tips. It's difficult to do anything since I'm at work. All I can do is sit here and wonder/worry. I'll take a further look when I get home.

this is how my craftsmans work. the button is unde rthe light cover. watch how you pull those off. the plastic cover gets brittle and the tabs that hold it are fragile

If you buy a replacement transmitter, have it with you when you resync, else you'll have to resync all of the remotes again when you attempt to enable the new remote.

I put in a Craftsman product at a client's house recently. The remote no longer worked, or maybe the receiver didn't, so instead of buying a universal remote, I bought the Craftsman kit of both remote and receiver. Works well.

Before that, I looked at a universal remote at Home Depot - it listed a website on the package for help in reprogramming. About $35.

Thanks for the link, unfortunately it couldn't find my manual. But I found another link elsewhere via Google and found my manual pretty quickly. I have model 139.5399211.

OK, so I followed the directions in the manual, held the smart button for 6 seconds until the light went out indicating that all memory was erased. Tried my remaining (unstolen) transmitter, and it wouldn't work. Good.

Pressed the smart button once until the light was illuminated. Entered a 4-digit code into the exterior keypad and hit enter. The overhead light flashed indicating the code is learned. Tried the code, it works. Good.

Now my dilemma. I have the remaining unstolen transmitter, which I could obviously program into the head unit, but I have no idea if it's matched with the stolen one. If it is, then I'm just granting access to the thief by reprogramming this remaining transmitter.

I've read and re-read the manual, and the language isn't very specific. It says the 2 transmitters are programmed to the receiver at the factory. To me, that opens up the possibility that the 2 transmitters are matched, eg. send the same signal. Yet part of me reasons that the new ones on the shelf at Sears aren't matched, so what's the likelyhood that the ones shipped with the receiver were matched?

I just plan on getting 2 new transmitters, but at $40 a pop they ain't cheep!

Nah, the two transmitters are completely separate. You can program in the remaining remote and the stolen remote will not function. All the manual is stating is that the factory performed the learning procedure for the two remotes that were originally included with the opener.

Thanks, I really do want to believe this, and may try it.

Update on the theft. Cops tell us at least 2 other vehicles were hit on the same night. In one vehicle, they left the lady's purse and all her belongings behind but took her cash. Meanwhile, a kid who was picked up for another crime and is currently in jail confessed to being a part of this. Apparently he ratted out the other 3 involved (there were 4 total). The cops were already familiar with 2 of the 3 and have issued warrants for their arrest. They asked if we wanted to press charges if and when the perps are caught. We said absolutely.

Don't make it harder than it is. Each transmitter has it's own security code.

You have wiped all the transmitters. Any programmed transmitter will stand on it's own. Assuming you did the wipe correctly, and I can't see that you haven't, all codes are now gone. The receiver is now paired with that transmitter you have in your hand. Any other ones are not part of the game anymore.

If you really want to know, each transmitter uses a pseudo-random rolling code algorithm with the unique serial number of the transmitter as the seed value. Try googling on "pseudo random rolling code garage door", or better yet, "KEELOQ", the name of the algorithm used in these things. With a little reading, ought to be able to convince yourself that 1) all openers have a unique serial number, and 2) it doesn't matter even if they don't, because the door opener learns where the pushbutton is in the rolling code sequence and only responds to the N next expected codes, where N is in the low hundreds.

Cheers.