Garage Door Openers Recall by Chamberlain Group NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ken Giles May 5, 1997 (301) 504-7052 Release # 97-116 CPSC, Chamberlain Group Announce Recall to Repair Garage Door Openers in Puerto Rico Washington, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), The Chamberlain Group Inc. of Elmhurst, Ill., is announcing a recall to inspect and repair about 6,000 Sears Craftsman garage door openers used on swinging or sliding garage doors in Puerto Rico that were not installed by a Sears authorized installer. If installed improperly, the garage door openers' safety reversal system may not operate properly, posing a potential entrapment hazard. The Chamberlain Group is aware of a 4-year old boy in Puerto Rico who died from being caught in a swinging door operated by a Sears Craftsman garage door opener when the safety reversing sensor did not operate. This inspection/repair program is limited to Puerto Rico, where swinging or sliding doors are used extensively. The program does not apply to overhead doors. The program is further limited to those swinging or sliding garage door openers that have not been installed by Sears authorized installers and, therefore, may have been installed improperly. When improperly installed, the swinging or sliding garage doors will not reverse when they hit an obstruction such as a car or a child. The garage door openers have model numbers beginning with 139.65XXX and 139.53XXX located on the right side panel of the opener chassis near the force adjustment controls. Sears stores throughout Puerto Rico sold the garage door openers from 1980 through 1993 for about $150 to $220. Sears is sending letters to all customers in Puerto Rico known to have purchased the garage door opener. Consumers who purchased these door openers for swinging or sliding doors, but did not have them ins