Garage door openers

[dink]

Is there anything else out there besides Genie and Sears garage door openers....preferably in a screw driven.....of course it would have to be a good quality

 

[jpkemp]

Chamberlain

I just ordered Chamberlain LiftMasters Estate Series- 2- belt driven/battery backup with wireless key entry(keypads), motion detect light sensors, in house monitors and a whole bunch of other stuff that I probably dont need. Th only reason I'm getting them with everything is the gent thats putting my garage doors bought a pallet of them.
In turn he can sell them cheaper....

I currently have a chain driven Craftsmen that is very noisy...

 

[dink]

I just ordered Chamberlain LiftMasters Estate Series- 2- belt driven/battery backup with wireless key entry(keypads), motion detect light sensors, in house monitors and a whole bunch of other stuff that I probably dont need. Th only reason I'm getting them with everything is the gent thats putting my garage doors bought a pallet of them.
In turn he can sell them cheaper....

I currently have a chain driven Craftsmen that is very noisy...

Yea that is why I want screw driven to keep it quiet

 

[nova65ss]

Beltdrive is the only way to go. Screwdrives are noisy and require lubrication once a year or so, which also makes them very messy. Liftmaster/ Chamberlain are best Craftsman is also made by the same company. Only difference is that the Liftmaster rail is one piece(professional line only sold by garage door dealers)
and the Chamberlain/ Craftsman rail comes in three pieces so it will fit in a box small enough for the DIY'er.

I can actually get them cheaper at Sears most of the time than I can buying an entire pallet directly from Liftmaster. The more you buy the cheaper they are and Sears buys them by the millions. If you have more than one door the Liftmaster keypad will work up to about 8 doors so don't let them try and sell you more than one.

 

[AdamMopar]

Beltdrive is the only way to go. Screwdrives are noisy and require lubrication once a year or so, which also makes them very messy. Liftmaster/ Chamberlain are best Craftsman is also made by the same company. Only difference is that the Liftmaster rail is one piece(professional line only sold by garage door dealers)
and the Chamberlain/ Craftsman rail comes in three pieces so it will fit in a box small enough for the DIY'er.

I can actually get them cheaper at Sears most of the time than I can buying an entire pallet directly from Liftmaster. The more you buy the cheaper they are and Sears buys them by the millions. If you have more than one door the Liftmaster keypad will work up to about 8 doors so don't let them try and sell you more than one.

I agree 100%. We installed a Screw Drive Genie when the house was first built. It eventually fried a circuit board. We went with a Liftmaster belt drive. Much quieter and much nicer in my opinion. Adam

 

[Rickster]

I have a scewdrive Genie and it's noisier than hell! My brother has the belt drive version and it is silent. I can't wait for mine to fail so I can get a belt drive unit.

 

[nova65ss]

I have a scewdrive Genie and it's noisier than hell!

Get you some Lithium grease or got to Lowes and in the garage door opener area Genie sells grease made for their screwdrive. Run a bead down the screw and run the door up and down a few times it will make a huge difference. What happens is the screw looses it's grease over the years and the screw rattles up against the rail, might want to get 2 tubes if it's real noisy. It will get you by until it needs to be replaced.
Jimmy

 

[Rickster]

Do that all the time. Quiets down for about two weeks and then its back to the noise again... and then I get to clean up goobs of greese off the floor and car.

 

[DynoDave]

I have an old Genie with Trac Drive. It's reasonably quiet, and has been very reliable.

For those that have them, how quiet are those I-Drives?

 

[ellsworb]

And here's a question i've always had. Say you have a garage with 8' doors (height) and 10-12' cielings. Can you adjust the track and belt to have the door move in and up closer to the cieling before it moves back towards the opener? Seems like a little bit of wasted space having them hang down 3-4'.

 

[nova65ss]

and then I get to clean up goobs of greese off the floor and car.

This is true, it shouldn't be falling though.

We just installed a new door for a customer that installed an I-drive on his old wood door. The unit was only 2 weeks old and the motor was burned up. Had to go over to his house this morning because the opener didn't stop at the ground and threw the cables off the door now the opener doesn't work at all. My advice stay away from the I-drive, and it's not very quiet.

You can install high lift tracks to make the door go within a few inches of the ceilings. Shouldn't cost more than a few hundred bucks to have someone come out and do it for you.

 

[Rickster]

And here's a question i've always had. Say you have a garage with 8' doors (height) and 10-12' cielings. Can you adjust the track and belt to have the door move in and up closer to the cieling before it moves back towards the opener? Seems like a little bit of wasted space having them hang down 3-4'.

I filled that gap with two storage bins I built on either side of the door opener track. They're suspended from the joists there and have flip-open front doors.

 

[logical]

If you want to go up along the wall and then alomng a high ceiling, you can't use a standard straight pull/track opener. You have to go either I-drive (I wouldn't...lotsa issues) or a jackshaft drive by Liftmaster which will be about twice what a regular opener runs. The high lift track is not the expensive part....it's the commercial style jackshaft opener that costs.

 

[nova65ss]

If you want to go up along the wall and then alomng a high ceiling, you can't use a standard straight pull/track opener.

Not true. Depending on how high you go it is quite easy. One way would be to extend the arm down to the top section or the best way is to add a dummy section or sections to allow the use of a shorter arm. I just finished up the garage doors on my new garage and used 32" radius track with dummy sections. They are both within 3 inches of the 12' ceiling. I'll get some pictures up tonight when I get home from work.

Jimmy

 

[DynoDave]

Not true. Depending on how high you go it is quite easy. One way would be to extend the arm down to the top section or the best way is to add a dummy section or sections to allow the use of a shorter arm. I just finished up the garage doors on my new garage and used 32" radius track with dummy sections. They are both within 3 inches of the 12' ceiling. I'll get some pictures up tonight when I get home from work.

Jimmy

I'd like to see this. I didn't think there would be any additional expense other than the rack.

So are these dummy sections basically extra door sections? If so, my door cost is going up accordingly, right?

 

[nova65ss]

Well anytime you go from normal to custom the price goes up. Depending on how high your going there are several things that will need to be changed along with the track. The drums that the cables roll up on, longer cables, and if you add extra sections the door gets heavier so the springs also get replaced. Alot of times you can get a good price on an extra section, we always use one that has a bad scratch or a dent and won't be used anyway. Here are some pics of my door hopefully they are not too big.

 

[krooser]

Nice doors...

 

[logical]

Never thought of dummy sections...great idea.

 

[Truck Guy]

I just had our old original chain drive opener replaced with a Liftmaster Formula I belt drive.

This thing is so quiet compared to the old opener it's incredible.

I needed to have the door rails raised 12" to accommodate a four post lift that's going in the
garage in a couple of weeks and had the opener replaced while the tech was already here working on the door.

 

[Roadster]

Not true. Depending on how high you go it is quite easy. One way would be to extend the arm down to the top section or the best way is to add a dummy section or sections to allow the use of a shorter arm. I just finished up the garage doors on my new garage and used 32" radius track with dummy sections. They are both within 3 inches of the 12' ceiling. I'll get some pictures up tonight when I get home from work.

nova65ss, you are absolutely correct. And since the dummy section is not visible from the outside of the house, the outside panel color doesn't have to be the same color as the other panels. (Most inside colors are white anyway.)

One other tip to consider, especially if you are raising the door to provide clearance for a lift, is you can install the opener off to the side of the door to provide more room above the vehicle on top of the lift.

See below for examples of the above implemented.

 

[DynoDave]

Thanks for the info on the extra sections guys. I didn't realize there was that much involved.

Roadster, I like the idea of the offset opener, but it looks like it would create binding with all the lifting force on one side. Does it?