The procedure to disable the feature is discussed in the Chamberlain thread a little below this one. It's also in the manual, if you have that. They are available on-line.

To have your lights come on automatically when you walk into an open garage, you must START with the lights ON. If you don't want that feature and you want to turn it off, you must START with the lights OFF.

To turn the feature on, turn the lights on manually with the wall switch, then press and hold the LIGHT button for about 10 seconds until the motor unit light bulbs flash. Now, if the light bulbs are on, manually turn them out and then walk out through the open door. The light bulbs should come on.

To disable this feature, start with the light bulbs OFF and everything else is the same.

Sounds like you guys know more than Sears. I stopped at Sears in my travels and was told this feature cannot be disabled. I know they are wrong. Wouldnt make sense to have a feature where the lights are constantly coming on and off if you have kids or pets. When I get home I will try the above advice.

Only other option is to move the reversing sensors up to about a height of 7 feet so they are not tripped. But with this you lose the safety feature if someone walks under the door when it is closing.

I feel confident the above advice will work.

THANKS

don 1 2006: I see you posted the same instructions in the "Chamberlain WD832KD garage door opener" thread.

These instructions will work for Craftsman also?

THANKS

Yes they will. The Craftsman opener is made by Chamberlain.

You guys were correct. With the light turned off, I held in the light button for about 10 seconds and now no light comes on when you pass the sensors with the door open.

One more question. I have read posts that to limit the amount of time the light stays on you hold in the "LOCK" button for 10 seconds until the green LED on the wall control blinks once. This single blink of the green LED meand the timer is reset to 1.5 minutes instead of 4.5 You can repeat this procedure and the green LED will blink twice meaning 2.5 minutes. You can repeat this procedure up to 4 times until you get 4 blinks and that means 4.5 minutes that the light will stay on.

Well I tried this and when I hold in the "LOCK" button the green LED just flashes repeatedly very fast. There is no single flash of it. This I take it locks the remotes out so that they do not activate the opener.

Is there another way to limit the amount of time the light stays lit on the model I have.

Thanks again for your help with the other issue.

"Well I tried this and when I hold in the "LOCK" button the green LED just flashes repeatedly very fast. There is no single flash of it. This I take it locks the remotes out so that they do not activate the opener.

This is a very dangerous so-called feature, because it does not lock all wireless remotes out. The wireless keypads that are typically screwed to the wall outside the garage are NOT disabled.

Someday, someone is going to get killed because they think all remotes are disabled by the "lock" button and feel it is safe to get up on a ladder in the path of the door. Then some family member is going to come along and punch in the code on the keypad. The door will open and nothing will stop it from hitting the person on the ladder.

What a stupid, stupid design decision.

creekside: thanks for the note on the keypad still being able to activate the GDO but I do not have a keypad on the outside of the garage.

Anyway Is there another way to limit the amount of time the light stays lit on the model I have.

See my other post on this topic if you'd like:

Recently bought a house with a Craftsman 1/2 HP Garage Door Opener(GDO) model 139.53662SRT2. Manufacture date is 1997. The wall control is a Craftsman Premium Controle Console(with 3 buttons:Light, Lock & open button with the green LED light)
I'd like to know if there is a way to adjust the length of time the GDO light stays on.

I have searched and found the following on this site:
"It can only be done with the premium, 3 function wall switch. The 4.5 minute light timer can be changed to, 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 minute intervals. Press and hold the Lock Button for about 10 seconds and the green light on the wall switch will flash once. A single blink will indicate the timer is reset to 1.5 minutes. Repeat the procedure and the light will blink twice, indicating it's set for 2.5 minutes. Repeat again for 3.5 minutes etc. etc. etc. up to a maximum of 4 blinks for the factory setting of 4.5 minutes."

These instructions are found on August 5, 2005 at: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/repair/msg0415415521076.html

I tried theses directions with my control console and they do not work. Further searching I found a manual with these instructions but the instructions applied for the Craftsman Motion Detecting Controle Console as pictured here: http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_12602_00953939000P

Scroll down 1/2 and there is a pdf of the instruction manual and on page 31, the above instructions are similarily listed.

So my question is: is there a way to adjust the length of time with the model I have or is it too old? here is a picture of the control console I have: http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/showPart.pd?partNumber=53687&productGroupId=0009&supplierId=009&pathTaken=partSearch&blt=14

Creekside the reason the lock button doesn't disable the keypad is because it is commonly used when someone is going to be away from home for awhile and when they return they have a way to enter their garage. You have to be standing in front of the garage to use the keypad and I don't understand why you would consider that dangerous. It is far more dangerous when people press their remotes to close the garage door and then drive away.

Because the button on the inside control says "Lock" when it does no such thing. If the door were truly locked, it couldn't be opened by any means short of unlocking it.

The average reasonable person will assume that the door is locked electrically and cannot be opened without pushing the lock button again. If someone relies on the door being "locked" when it isn't, the potential for an accident, possibly fatal, is very real indeed.

I spent a large chunk of my life working on and around lethal equipment. I know when a control is dangerously labeled, and this is one of them.

As to why it is dangerous, consider this scenario. A homeowner stores things in the rafters of his detached garage or workshop above the door track area. He goes to get something down and is careful to press the lock button before setting up a ladder in the door area. He then climbs the ladder to retrieve some items from the rafters.

A family member, not realizing anyone is in the garage or shop walks up to the door and keys in the code on the keypad. The door, despite being "locked," starts up and strikes the homeowner on the ladder, knocking him down onto the concrete below. The fall results in his death or serious injury.

Why did this happen? Because the control said "Lock" when it had no capacity to actually lock the door.

There is no doubt in my mind that this has already happened or will happen. I would bet on it having already happened. Chamberlain/Sears is lucky not to have been sued, or maybe they have already settled one or two cases. We have no way of knowing. I just know the system should be changed, or the button should be labeled accurately with something like "Disable Vehicle Remotes."

BTW, I'm the homeowner in the forgoing scenario, and the door was ten foot high. I just got lucky, and no one happened to use the keypad while I was up the ladder. I thought the opener was locked, I really did. I was stunned to find out it really wasn't.

The current situation is absolutely appalling and needs to be changed.

As to getting in when returning from vacation, get out of the car and unlock the pedestrian door.

creek side: I think Sears has that base covered.
In the operation of your door section of the owners manual the following is stated,
"The lock feature is designed to prevent operation of the door from remote controls. However, the door will open and close from the Door Control, the Outdoor Key Switch and the Keyless Entry Accessories."

I think the feature is useless myself. When going away for extended periods of time I just unplug the opener

They don't have it covered. Just because they mention it in an obscure spot in the manual does not relieve them of the responsibility to label the button correctly. I can guarantee that the "Its in the manual." defense would not hold up in a lawsuit.

It's easy to miss that mention in the manual, or forget it over time. I did. But the word "Lock" is always right there on that button that does not actually lock anything.

Killing the power to the opener is right thing to do if you go away for awhile. It's also what I now do if I need to get up on a ladder in the path of the door.

I figured that what someone's response would be but would you say the cover page to the instruction manual is an obscure place?

CAUTION: Read and follow all safety rules and operating instructions before first use of this product. Fasten the manual near the garage door after installation."

After a person was knocked off the ladder because a person thought the GDO was inoperable because they depresssed the "lock" button which only prevents operation of the door from remote controls and after you recovered from your injury/injuries you would be in the setting of a civil trial.
While in a civil trial you would definitely be asked if you had a basic knowledge of the English language either written or spoken. Then you'd be asked if you graduated grade school, high school, college etc. Then you'd be asked if you touched, read or looked at the instruction manual. Then from there no matter which way you answered a person would be made to look foolish.

I could find no instance of any litigation being brought forward due to the circumstances we have been discussing. If you know of any please list it here, I would be interested. Maybe instead of "LOCK" there should be the word "REMOTE" with a slash thru it.
I'm not poking fun at any misfortune you almost had. I do appreciate the help you guys gave me with disabling the light from illuminating when the reversing sensor is breached while the door is open.

I'm glad you're not poking fun, because someday someone will be killed or seriously injured because of that mislabeling.

It's a mislabeled safety control, plain and simple. Putting generic safety warning boilerplate on the cover of the manual doesn't excuse that.

That button has been called 'Lock' since this opener was first introduced longer ago that I can remember but I think in the early 1980's. Creekside why don't you google Chamberlain Mfg. Co. and send your complaint to them. They will welcome it.

After purchasing and installing the premium control console you would at some point notice the "Lock" button on it.

I am assuming that not many people would initialy know the function of that button but it should raise the question, "What does it lock?"

Well you could press the Lock button and see what happens.

Did your car door lock, did your front door lock, did the safety lock on the garage door magically slide and lock. After noticing none of this happened one should deduce to look in the instruction manual.

Which is where you would find
"The lock feature is designed to prevent operation of the door from remote controls. However, the door will open and close from the Door Control, the Outdoor Key Switch and the Keyless Entry Accessories"

Once reading this hopefully one would understand that the door opener will still operate while "locked" dependent on the mode of activation.

The above was my scenario. I did not know what the lock feature was for so I looked at the manual.

I guess this whole off topic issue comes down to the meaning of "lock" which is above my pay grade. But just to be safe unplug the GDO when working in its path.