I have a craftsman 1 2 hp garage door opener from 1997 on one of my garage doors.
Garage door is opeing about six inches and stopping.
Often as a garage door ages its moving parts don t slip and slide as freely as they did when the unit was new.
The garage door can be operated manually by disconnecting the garage door opener from the door using the red pull cord.
Your garage door seems to get stuck while opening or closing.
Liftmaster provides a helpful resource that explains how to adjust a limit switch.
If it senses resistance stops.
However when connected the door only opens.
You have an open limit and a close limit on your garage door opener.
This can often be due to a problem with the tracks or rollers.
These limits set the distance the door will open or close before stopping.
Once i get the door up it will go down half way then stop and i have to do through the same process to get it down.
This helps you determine if the problem is related to the door or the motor.
It sounds like the limit settings need adjusting.
Garage door only travels a little way and then reverses does your garage door only travel a little way 6 inches or so and then reverse.
Recently it will only open the door 6 inches then stop.
This is a built in safety feature that is there in the event that something or someone gets in the way of the door.
If the door is working properly it should be easy to lift by hand.
If your garage door isn t staying open or staying closed you may need to adjust your limit switch which requires only a flathead screwdriver.
Try to operate the garage door manually.
I have to hit the button maybe 15 times to get it to go up all the way.
This requires a simple turn with a screwdriver to reset the limit so the garage door opens and closes all.