Chamberlain gear broke

[barrysuperhawk]

OMG an actual GARAGE question. The year on my 23-year-old garage door opener broke. I see that there are a ton of replacements on Amazon, and that seems the fastest option but I have been burned before with them playing fast and loose with part number compatibility. Any words of advice on either getting parts into my little hand, precisely what parts I need as the kids seem to be very a bit, and any general advice on how to fix this thing without breaking anything else in the process?

 

[whateg01]

Amazon has a liberal return policy. I'd order a few that looked right and return the ones that don't work.

 

[BrandonV]

I'd just buy straight from Liftmaster unless you need this ASAP.

Should be the Liftmaster 041A4885-5 gear kit. You'll need to find the model number of the opener. The image above is just for the RF receiver.

 

[gba2331]

I got tired of dealing with my setup and bought a new one for $300. It may have been cheaper to repair but the new belt drive is so much smoother and quieter, I should have done this awhile ago

 

[BillK]

Last time I needed one I got it from a local garage door company. They had it in stock. Only way I would get one from Amazon would be if it was an OEM part.

 

[barrysuperhawk]

When my belt broke a couple years ago, my 2 local places were entirely unhelpful, and were only interested in selling me a new setup with installation. I just called one this morning and they told me they could order it, it'd be two weeks and I'd have to come in and prepay...

So I see that there are also aluminum kits for this, is this an upgrade or a bad idea?

 

[rlitman]

...So I see that there are also aluminum kits for this, is this an upgrade or a bad idea?

I see a plastic worm gear. How hard is it to change this gear? How hard is it to change (and source a replacement) worm? An aluminum gear is likely to wear the worm much faster, so there's that. Also, plastic gears are often used not just to be cheap, but also to be a weak link to sacrifice themselves before something else more expensive (or difficult to repair) breaks. Like a shear pin.

Is everything running smoothly on the tracks? Nothing was binding up before the gear broke? Still gotta dot those i's and cross those t's.

 

[CoogarXR]

When I bought my house the gear was broken in the opener (just like what is pictured). I think I bought a cheap replacement on ebay. It's been running just fine for almost 15 years now.

 

[barrysuperhawk]

Aluminum

Well if I got the aluminum kit it would give me both the worm gear and the big gear, but I'm worried about that exact problem, the aluminum being too strong and causing other parts to break. The original plastic gear lasted over 20 years so I think I'll just probably get that

 

[Jswain]

Know anyone with a 3d printer?

 

[Rst277]

Aluminum

Well if I got the aluminum kit it would give me both the worm gear and the big gear, but I'm worried about that exact problem, the aluminum being too strong and causing other parts to break. The original plastic gear lasted over 20 years so I think I'll just probably get that

Buy the plastic one off amazon, they work great, are easy to change and it's a good place for a failure. Kind of like the shear pin in your snow blower. They can last a long time but one too many lifts with the garage door frozen to the floor and pop it breaks.

 

[carlaisle]

After confirming fitment, order a second to keep on hand. There is no better way to guarantee something will not break than to have a spare already in your possession.

 

[barrysuperhawk]

Okay so I ordered the honest to God part from Chamberlain and spent an entire weekend putting it in. Actually I spent about 20 minutes installing it and the rest of the weekend ******* with it trying to get it to work right. You wouldn't think that one belt two gears and a couple of electric mechanical limit switches would be that big of a deal but my stupid garage door keeps losing track of where it's at. At first it kept trying to go the wrong way and I finally figured out how to reset it by mechanically taking the stupid belt off and letting it run and then putting the belt back on. Now I get everything set and it works great press the button and it opens press the button again and it closes and then after one or two more cycles all of a sudden it starts stopping halfway up or goes all the way down to the end and tries to keep going. I know how to adjust the limit switches, so I climb up on the ladder and screw with it again and get it running perfect that lasts two or three cycles and then **** it's out of whack again. I haven't been this frustrated in a long time.

 

[rct]

I did a similar repair on my near identical 2010 liftmaster unit when the top of thr shaft broke at the bushing. I think I paid 18 or 26 dollars for a well rated kit off Amazon. Had the shaft, bushings and all the plastic gears, about an hour swap, working well. There are several helpful videos online. Oem was available but pricey vs fast and free amazon shipping.

 

[gba2331]

Okay so I ordered the honest to God part from Chamberlain and spent an entire weekend putting it in. Actually I spent about 20 minutes installing it and the rest of the weekend ******* with it trying to get it to work right. You wouldn't think that one belt two gears and a couple of electric mechanical limit switches would be that big of a deal but my stupid garage door keeps losing track of where it's at. At first it kept trying to go the wrong way and I finally figured out how to reset it by mechanically taking the stupid belt off and letting it run and then putting the belt back on. Now I get everything set and it works great press the button and it opens press the button again and it closes and then after one or two more cycles all of a sudden it starts stopping halfway up or goes all the way down to the end and tries to keep going. I know how to adjust the limit switches, so I climb up on the ladder and screw with it again and get it running perfect that lasts two or three cycles and then **** it's out of whack again. I haven't been this frustrated in a long time.

That’s why I suggested just buying a new one. I went thru the same process.

 

[Jswain]

Okay so I ordered the honest to God part from Chamberlain and spent an entire weekend putting it in. Actually I spent about 20 minutes installing it and the rest of the weekend ******* with it trying to get it to work right. You wouldn't think that one belt two gears and a couple of electric mechanical limit switches would be that big of a deal but my stupid garage door keeps losing track of where it's at. At first it kept trying to go the wrong way and I finally figured out how to reset it by mechanically taking the stupid belt off and letting it run and then putting the belt back on. Now I get everything set and it works great press the button and it opens press the button again and it closes and then after one or two more cycles all of a sudden it starts stopping halfway up or goes all the way down to the end and tries to keep going. I know how to adjust the limit switches, so I climb up on the ladder and screw with it again and get it running perfect that lasts two or three cycles and then **** it's out of whack again. I haven't been this frustrated in a long time.

Is it losing track of where it is or is it pulling more weight then it's set for and kicking out?

Might be time to clean/lube the wheels? Adjust spring?

How is it to open/close the door with the automatic opener disconnected?

 

[barrysuperhawk]

Forgive my voice to text rambling...

Okay maybe I should have just spent the big bucks and bought all new everything rather than try to fix it. That's a valid point and I can't really argue it other than the fact that I chose to try to fix what I had.

As far as my problem, I get it adjusted right, as evidenced by the fact that it performs several up and down cycles perfectly exactly the way it's supposed to and then it randomly just stops halfway up, and it's the limit switch that stops it but the best that I can tell from having marked all of these little plastic gears and screws nothing has slipped out of place or jumped threads.

It's kind of comical because I push the button on the wall and then I have to run over and climb on my ladder to get up to where I can see what's going on. Anyway once whatever happens that causes it to only go halfway up happens if I hit the down it goes all the way down hits the ground and then acts like it just hit an obstacle like it was wanting to go 3 ft under my garage.

Unfortunately if I decide to start replacing big things, this is going to get really expensive really quickly because I don't want to just put back what I have I want to go all the way through to an insulated door and a new 45° path so the open door is much higher out of my way which would allow me to put in a two post lift and so on it goes...

But back to my problem I didn't have to mess with the springs, but I have had the belt off a couple of times trying to get everything adjusted. Quit screwing me up on this is I get everything adjusted and it works for a few times and then **** I'm back where I started and cussing.

 

[barrysuperhawk]

Double tap.

 

[whateg01]

It's kind of comical because I push the button on the wall and then I have to run over and climb on my ladder to get up to where I can see what's going on.

I don't know what's up with the behavior of the opener, but don't you have a car remote you can use to open/close the door while you stand on the ladder?

 

[gba2331]

Okay maybe I should have just spent the big bucks and bought all new everything rather than try to fix it. That's a valid point and I can't really argue it other than the fact that I chose to try to fix what I had.

Don’t get me wrong, I hated to give up on what seemed like a solvable problem. i got to the point where I’d rather do other stuff than climb this meaningless mountain.

 

[barrysuperhawk]

I don't know what's up with the behavior of the opener, but don't you have a car remote you can use to open/close the door while you stand on the ladder?

I went to great lengths to program my vehicles to work with my door so I wouldn't need standalone remotes... . I also have one mounted outside, but it's the same thing only with door sensors...

 

[BrandonV]

How is it to open/close the door with the automatic opener disconnected?

Did this get answered? If the spring lost tension an opener might be able to open/close for a short while or wipe out gears in the process.

 

[barrysuperhawk]

Terribly sorry for the delay, I've been working alot.

I have 2 big springs mounted on each side, not a torsion spring, and they seem equal and fine.

I have spent entirely too much time messing with this. I now think what my problem might be that the belt (gear?) mount might not be exactly right. I have noticed that occasionally there is a bump where the belt meshes with the gear like the notches in the belt don't quite fit. I thought I had it too loose and it was slipping, but then I tightened it up, eventually getting to tighter than it was before, and I still seem to have the problem. The belt is less than a year old and isn't showing any defects that I can see, but it "skipping" is the only plausible answer I can come up with.

AND in a simply spectacular piece of bad planning, I have already disposed of the original piece. I know, I know, I'm an idiot, but I can't fix that..

I have 3 local places that do garage doors, 2 are booked up past January, and the last one only wants to do commercial work so wanted almost the price of a new opener just to show up.

So, I need to make a decision. My current opener is over 20 years old and doesent have any of the cool doo-dads like a battery or an app or anything.

The cheapest option is to pay my stupid tax and try ordering the gear kit again, maybe with a belt this time. Maybe I could use some more or better advice this time...

It seems like I can get a brand hew unit with some or all of the new features for 250-400, but then I may have to upgrade other parts of the system, depending on how well old **** works with new ****. As a secondary question, how hard might it be to adapt my door to be much taller when it is up so I have more room to buy a 2 post lift?

The last option I can think of is to go whole hog and try to get a local place to swap my whole kit and kaboodle, new lighter insulated door, new spiffy opener, high lift rails to clear a car lift, the whole thing, since it seems silly to not go all the way if I am paying someone else. This option also means I am waiting potentially months so its both the most expensive AND the slowest...