High lift ?

[cspcrx]

Called a local garage door company, the one that origianlly installed the doors and opener when the house was built, to get my door lifted. They quoted me a price then called back and said i would have to get a jackshaft type opener. I understand that to get it as tight to the ceiling as possible a jackshaft would be needed. Could it be done, lower so the regular opener would clear the ceiling and not have to use a jackshaft?

They said the jackshaft would be another $650 and i would need an electrician to come out and put in an outlet.

Thanks all.

 

[crooklyn]

The high lift keeps the door around 6" from the roof on the front to 8" on the back for clearance. There is no way that a normal opener would fit in there. Also if it couldthe angle of the pull would be to great for the motor to handle.

check my post out for pics of the door installed.
I have a LiftMaster door opener and I paid less then $400 Canadian for it.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=292256

 

[matt_i]

Will have it done, here, soon, minus the opener. I made a 7' tall door into an 8' tall door for clearance. I will move the driveshaft up as high as I need it, shorten the hanger legs. One change is that I have to make new longer ables for the drums, but that is found at McMaster Carr. I ordered a piece of straight track from amazon and have it to make up the difference, slight taper out from the drywall then fitted to the 90 degree curve.

Not sure the J-bar on the standard opener would work with a large move. The geometry and forces happening right at the close is compromising for the opener track.

 

[wssix99]

No. Look at your opener now. The center drive for the opener rums right to the top of the door. In a high lift situation, the bracket won't be able to attach down to the door when that drive moves closer to the ceiling.

 

[cspcrx]

Thanks all that was part of my concern, the openers ability to handle that. I may have to just wait and shop around for a jackshaft opener on sale. Then get the electrical run to the front of the garage. It was just a tough pill to swallow when total bill was just over $1000 for installation of the high lift kit, opener and opener install.

 

[stroked93]

Use your opener, turn it sideways and install a gear on the jackshaft

 

[cspcrx]

I ended up finding the open for 1/2 the price they wanted so I went ahead and had it done. WOW my garage feels bigger now and I can put the car all the way up and get no where near the door! I love it! Now I just need to fab a mount for by retractable extension cord, I had it mounted to the braces for the original opener.

 

[workhurts]

[/QUOTE]

That's not a horrible idea you have there for the scissor lift. A plastic liner and steel plates. Details on that and the ramps please.

 

[cspcrx]

It is actually race deck that is under the lift and some strips of steel for the wheels to roll on. The Race Deck acts as a stop for my Race Ramps so they are always the perfect width for the car. It also keeps the front of the lift from grinding into the concrete.

The reason I added the plates was because the Race Deck buckled as it reached max height. Just worked out that it did this right at a seam so the steel fixed that. It has not moved at all, which was a concern I had using it on the Race Deck.

 

[logical]

No. Look at your opener now. The center drive for the opener rums right to the top of the door. In a high lift situation, the bracket won't be able to attach down to the door when that drive moves closer to the ceiling.

I have 12'9" ceiling with 8' tall doors and one of my doors is high lift. It works perfectly fine with a conventional door opener, you just need a longer bar between the trolley and the door. Mine is screw drive and I did need an extensiin section of screw rail with the longer bar. The opener itself does of course drop down lower than the rail but I can still get a car high enough to stand upright under my lift with 6 inches of headroom to spare. If the door is sprung properly the opener isn't working that hard.

 

[gnpenning]

I have 12'9" ceiling with 8' tall doors and one of my doors is high lift. It works perfectly fine with a conventional door opener, you just need a longer bar between the trolley and the door. Mine is screw drive and I did need an extensiin section of screw rail with the longer bar. The opener itself does of course drop down lower than the rail but I can still get a car high enough to stand upright under my lift with 6 inches of headroom to spare. If the door is sprung properly the opener isn't working that hard.

How much of a high lift do you have?

Trolley openers pull straight back to open the door. With a standard lift track the doors only goes up a small amount before it starts to come back into the garage .

With a high lift the door has to go straight up for what ever distance before it can go back. If you are using a trolley opener, it is trying to pull the top panel straight back while the door wants to go up. This may work for awhile but eventual something is going to give. My bet is the carriage on the screw drive.

Very simple the opener needs to pull the door up before pulling it back. Trolley openers do not do this.

 

[Ironcrow]

Can't you just add a panel to the top of the door?

 

[gnpenning]

Can't you just add a panel to the top of the door?

Sure, as long as the panel height matches the high lift height and you can get what should have been the top panel to seal .

Getting the correct opener would be way cheaper and less hassle.

 

[logical]

Can't you just add a panel to the top of the door?

Yes, that's how it's done. Forgot about that. I have pictures I'll post tonight.

I don't disagree that a jackshaft opener is ideal but if you aren't starting from scratch and have the room a conventional opener works fine. The top of the extra panel is near the arc of the track just like a shorter door with lower track. My trolley on the other door actually wore out first but it sees more use.