Wall-mount opener for extension-spring garage door?

[Pete Gossett]

One of the openers on the house we just bought has an intermittent problem where it doesn't always go all the way down, often varying by 2"-3", while other times it goes past the upper-limit stop and locks up. The PO had been into it before(even warned me about the problem), and I've followed the adjustment procedures without any lasting change.

I've heard good things about the Liftmaster wall-mount openers both here and elsewhere, but it appears those require a torsion-spring garaged door, since they attach directly to the shaft above the door on the header. Unfortunately, my doors are extension-spring, as shown below. Are there any wall-mount openers that would work with a door like this? I've searched here & on Google, but not found an answer.

 

[upndown]

Sorry, nothing side mounted will work on an extension spring door.

Convert your door to torsion and be done with it. Ext spring doors ****!

 

[Jlbc212]

Sorry, nothing side mounted will work on an extension spring door.

Convert your door to torsion and be done with it. Ext spring doors ****!

or just replace the defective draw bar door opener with a new one. There are thousands of them on doors with extension springs that work well for years and years.

 

[Pete Gossett]

Thanks, that was the conclusion I was drawing from the lack of any other info, but good to know for sure.

I'll check out the cost/effort of converting to torsion vs. just putting up another cheap Craftsman.

 

[CNGsaves]

Sorry, nothing side mounted will work on an extension spring door.

Convert your door to torsion and be done with it. Ext spring doors ****!

^ ^ ^ This. Nothing can be MORE TRUE !!!!
Especially coming from garage door guru like UpNdown.

OP . . . just by looks of what is there . . .
. . . (extension springs, un-insulated door, and cheap chain drive openers)
. . . . . . . . . I'd be looking to upgrade EVERYTHING !!

Do all your rough electrical so that you are ready for Liftmaster opener. I'd also clean up wiring by putting the sensor and pad wiring inside the wall (easy to do since you have OSB that can be removed and re-installed with screws).

Plan your rough lighting so outlets/wiring are installed in ceiling while you are doing other rough electrical and lighting.

All this is especially important if you are planning to insulate and finish walls, along with insulating ceiling. Be sure to plan all your rough electrical and lighting first. Good luck.

 

[Pete Gossett]

The plan is to eventually remodel the garage, and insulate/drywall it, but I'm starting on the workshop first. The garage won't happen until at least next year.

So I'll probably spend $150 now to replace this opener, then budget for a torsion spring conversion & a pair of Liftmasters before I seal up the garage.

 

[CJ7VFR]

One of the openers on the house we just bought has an intermittent problem where it doesn't always go all the way down, often varying by 2"-3", while other times it goes past the upper-limit stop and locks up. The PO had been into it before(even warned me about the problem), and I've followed the adjustment procedures without any lasting change.

One of the garage door openers at my dads house was doing this a few months ago. He called me and said the door would not go all the way down, and that he tried to "adjust it".

After his "adjustments" the door would either go all the way down and then reverse back up, or stop about 2 or 3 inches from the bottom leaving the gap as you are also describing.

I went over to his house to check it out and what I found was that each pulley at the top edge of the door tracks was worn out. The bearings inside the pulleys were shot, and the pulleys were binding up.

Then, because of this, my dad tried to "adjust" the down force of door opener to try to compensate for the doors getting hung up 2 to 3 inches from closing.

I went to Home Depot, bought two new pulleys for him, and replaced the worn out pulleys with the new ones.

Problem solved! I had to re-adjust the down force of course, but that only took a few minutes and he was good to go.

Check the pulleys to see if the bearings are still good. You will be able to tell if you grab the edge of the pulley and try to move it back and forth. If you can, and they move, then they might be bad, and for about 10 bucks you can fix them and your door problem may go away like my dad's did!

I circled the pulleys that I am talking about in red in your picture. See if these are worn out. If they are, replacing them is cheap, and it just might solve your problem like it did for my dad.

Jim

 

[upndown]

If you're going to repair, replace the sheaves attached to the springs as well, start fresh!

Also important to make sure your rollers and hinges stay well lubricated, any resistance will cause jerky operation with ext spring doors or possible binding considering there are not struts on the top of either door. In your case, go easy on the down sensitivity or face the possibility of section replacement. Not a cheap repair!

 

[Pete Gossett]

Awesome, thanks for the advice upndown!

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

What's the average cost to convert draw spring to torsion type? I have no idea on the conversion and would be interested in doing it to the door I use the most.

 

[upndown]

Dan, your best bet would be get some quotes from local door Cos. There should be no charge for quotes, I never did.

I can tell you your gonna need..a shaft, springs, drums, end bearings, a center bearing and cables for your appropriate door and size. If you're doing this yourself, this should help you source parts locally or online.