Garage door openers

[Grandville]

Newbie here...

I'm looking at getting a jack shaft opener and was wondering which is the best. I like the liftmaster but see a lot of bad reviews on Amazon about the motherboard going out or the door opening on its own.

The first time I heard of the Zap brand was yesterday but I don't see any reviews on it.

Per hands on experience, which do you recommend? Other brands welcomed. Thx.

8x16 and 8x10 doors.

Note: This may be posted somewhere but I'm looking for updated reviews as models change.

 

[ghnl]

I have three Liftmaster 8500's. No problems in 10 years of use.

 

[ITGuy1998]

I have an 8500, so its the older model. I had the first one for roughly 4 years and then lightning took out the board - so not Liftmaster's fault. Got a replacement - same model. It's now around 4 years old. I've had a couple issues. the cables came off the rollers a couple of times. I called a garage door company out to fix the first time. When it happened again, I figured it out myself. Also called liftmaster, and it ended up I had a faulty cable tensioner. They sent a warranty replacement, and its been fine ever since.

 

[MrSurly]

Someone satisfy my curiosity; I've never dealt with or owned a jackshaft type of opener but will be going that route at some point.
How exactly does this type of opener 'start' the door down from fully open? Just turning the spring shaft would seem to be a bad idea (obviously there are 'cable tensioners') but what is used to 'push' the door down?

 

[gentzel]

Gravity "pushes" the door down. In general, there has to be enough of the lower door section(s) hanging at least partially vertically to give the door the impetus to drop when the shaft starts turning. This can sometimes be a problem for low clearance installations, in which case you have two options: pusher springs or mounting the tracks with a slight slope.

This page has a nice summary of the issue and possible solutions.

 

[gtmedic]

I am looking into a similar option for my detached garage due to the lift. I know liftmaster is pricey (worth it, I’m sure). I need torsion bars installed as well. Just figuring out if the budget supports doing both doors or only one for now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[James-W]

I have a Chamberlain garage door opener, but it is a belt drive unit. I installed it a little over 5 years ago, no issues with it at all.

 

[jbwilkins]

Outside of LiftMaster/Chamberlain I’m not real sure who else makes a jack shaft opener.

 

[kbs2244]

Why the fixation on a jack shaft opener?
The regular ones have decades of problem solving behind them.
And it shows as thousands of no problem installs.

 

[Grandville]

Why the fixation on a jack shaft opener?
The regular ones have decades of problem solving behind them.
And it shows as thousands of no problem installs.

I have an 8' high door and I've seen a lot of people having problems with the extension pole.

 

[kbs2244]

I have a 8 foot door and a 10 year old CL regular style opener.
No problems with install or operation after 2 years.
Just follow the instructions.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

I have a regular liftmaster that came with our home and I installed a liftmaster 8500 jack shaft opener in our shop, the 8500 is like a benz and the old type like a chevette, The 8500 is so quiet, you dont know its there but be weary of the ones that have issues with the control panel and the phantom door opening that they report, mine has only been found opened one time and I think it was something to do w/power hit? But research this issue.

 

[Grandville]

I have a regular liftmaster that came with our home and I installed a liftmaster 8500 jack shaft opener in our shop, the 8500 is like a benz and the old type like a chevette, The 8500 is so quiet, you dont know its there but be weary of the ones that have issues with the control panel and the phantom door opening that they report, mine has only been found opened one time and I think it was something to do w/power hit? But research this issue.

The control board and the door opening on it's own is what's holding me back. Has that stopped with an updated model or is it just the luck of the draw?

 

[cajunfirehawk]

The control board and the door opening on it's own is what's holding me back. Has that stopped with an updated model or is it just the luck of the draw?

Some guys called liftmaster and they sent them new controllers w/new boards, seems when I was following that thread, one still had issues but I have not been on it in some time, you might want to check for updates, I got the app and now monitor my garages door via the liftmaster app on my phone. I will buy another liftmaster 8500 going forward.

 

[garage guy1of38]

Five 8500's here. Love them.

Four of them are operating 9x9 doors and one is operating a 16x9 door. They've been flawless so far.

 

[joeymjustice]

Why the fixation on a jack shaft opener?
The regular ones have decades of problem solving behind them.
And it shows as thousands of no problem installs.

The reason for my consideration is cleaning up the ceiling since I only have 8' ceilings.

 

[kj_mustang]

The reason for my consideration is cleaning up the ceiling since I only have 8' ceilings.

Better security. The auto locking feature is really nice. No way to easily break in via the emergency release like the others.

Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk

 

[dykstra]

I love my LM 8500!