Garage Door Remote Conversion for Dummies

Opener motor wiring

We make fun here almost constantly of people trying to explain how to do something they themselves have never done, which we're pretty certain was the business model of eHow.com. That website's format demanded a short introduction before launching into "instructions," which is where the first evidence of cluelessness often appears. Few offenders, however, have been as uniformed about their topic as repeat DotD Greyson Ferguson, a film student whose ignorance of things DIY apparently knew no bounds. That's quite evident in his HomeSteady.com post, "How do I Install a Genie Conversion?"¹

We took a look at the Genie website Ferguson cited in his "references" to learn what this conversion might be. According to Genie, the purpose of the conversion is to improve security by implementing the company's Intellicode® system, which uses rolling codes, and to allow users to switch between two different frequencies in areas with RF interference. Greyson's rewrite of that purpose boils down to,

"If you are looking to use your garage door opener from a greater distance or with a different wireless frequency, you can install a Genie Conversion receiver onto the current garage door opener. This receiver allows you to fully extend the range of your wireless remote and even changes the wireless frequency, allowing you to use multiple remote controls with the equipment."

Someone equally ignorant might think that the conversion kit allows you to choose a frequency at random (not just one of two) and would be ignorant of the improved security features. We also opine that only someone who's never owned a garage door opener would think that "a greater distance" would be an important factor...

Of course, no DotD nomination for a DIY project would be complete without a glimpse of some of the more senseless instructions. In that vein, let's look at what Fergie had to say. We're thinking of such helpful information as,

• "Stretch out the two split wires. Each end of the two wires have two different smaller wires splitting off. "
• "Attach two of the free ends on the second wire onto the first and second openings on the garage door opener's motor head."
• "Place one of the free wire ends onto the 'Wall PB' port on the back of the radio control unit, then place the other end onto the 'CMN' connection. "

Ferguson's ignorance of electrical work notwithstanding, he did his readers a vast disservice by not performing due diligence: all he did was attempt to translate a drawing on the product page into words. Had our boy actually looked at the installation instructions for the Genie kit, he would have found these words in Step 1:

"Unplug, or open the breaker that supplies power to the garage door opener.. REMOVE batteries from all old remote controls."

Uhhh, yeah, Greyson: I don't see that step anywhere in your instructions... No wonder you've collected thirteen Dumbass of the Day awards already!

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_7940813_do-install-genie-conversion.html

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