iDrive Torquemaster low headroom

[ivoryguy36]

Hi all,

I found this forum googling Wayne Dalton iDrive. I have a very low headroom Wayne Dalton 9000 series 16x7 door. I have a torquemaster spring, and I installed an iDrive Pro opener on it about 5 years ago. It's been working great up till this winter. This year, the floor got water under it that froze and heaved up, and caused the opener to think there was an obstruction and not stay down. When I tried to recalibrate, it didn't find the upper limit and kept winding the cable after the door was all the way up. The opener pulled the bottom section of the door off the track and jammed it against the torquetube. I got the door unjammed and got it to go down and called the local Wayne Dalton dealer. The tech that came out said I broke the spring and the clutch on the opener. He replaced the spring, removed the opener and installed a bracket so that I could at least open my door by hand. He then said idrives are obsolete, and I don't have room to install anything else.

I found a "new" idrive torquemaster on ebay (missing parts) but not the pro model (not sure what the difference was). I hate to think about throwing more good money after bad in the hopes of having an opener for a few years. Before I give up another $ 350, does anyone have any suggestions for a low headroom door? The old idrive was almost touching the ceiling when it was mounted over the door and there is no room for a trolley drive style opener. I'm really hoping I didn't just waste $ 250 having that torquemaster spring repaired.

 

[kramarj]

If you are going to spend money, at least invest in something that is worth it. I have never heard a single good thing about the Idrive. We have only ran into a few, but those few have been replaced multiple times, they just aren't good. The idea is there, but Wayne Dalton residential openers are less than good, the Idrive and their regular chain drive models.

I would recommend LiftMaster, they are by far the best brand out there as far as door operators. They have very good products and their accessories are very user friendly compared to others. We have been installing LiftMaster products for the better part of the last 15 years(we have installed thousands of them) and have had amazing luck with them.

We don't install these, but it is something to consider- https://www.liftmaster.com/For-Homes/Garage-Door-Openers/Elite-Series/model-8500 It is about your only option as far as a low headroom opener, as far as a residential operator, at least that I know of.

Or if you have enough room, a chain/belt drive opener will be your best option. There is no chance of the opener jumping the cables. You will have to look on LiftMaster's site, they have many different options to suit your needs.

 

[koditten]

I wish your door installer was more sharp. Most of the pro's remove the Tourquemaster tube/spring models and install a new bar with external spring. The torquemaster just never seem to hold up on a 16' door. 8' doors, they seem to do okey.

You do not want to go after a used Idrive. Those things were discontinued for a reason. Complete junk.

 

[upndown]

Can't use that Liftmaster with the torquemaster assy! Unfortunately you will need to convert to torsion.

Call the dipshit back that removed your opener and installed a handle. and tell them to make it right! Still going to cost you.

 

[kramarj]

Can't use that Liftmaster with the torquemaster assy! Unfortunately you will need to convert to torsion.

Call the dipshit back that removed your opener and installed a handle. and tell them to make it right! Still going to cost you.

My bad! For some reason I was thinking it was like the ez wind, but I guess even then that opener probably wouldn't even work. Thank you for pointing that out, I wasn't thinking.

 

[pattenp]

If the center of the torsion tube is no closer than 3.5" - 4" to the ceiling then a Liftmaster 8500 should work. Here a pic of one I have that's close to the ceiling. You will need to convert to a standard torsion tube.

View media item 20590

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I'm looking at this differently... Is Low Headroom Max's littler sister..



That'll take a few of us back... to the mid 80's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(character)

Sorry to distract from this serious matter.. But I couldn't resist.

Dennis

 

[AndyL]

Throw up some pictures - probably can resolve this fairly easily. If it truly was the only option - I've still got a few around.

Sadly your idrive was probably fine, just needed the door fixed properly. But finding someone capable these days - is difficult.

 

[911mike]

Cut your losses and replace that torquemaster spring with a standard external spring system and install a lift master 8500 or 9500. I have 2 16' WD doors and went through the exact problem 2 years ago. One of my I-Drives worked perfectly for over 10 years but the other was the opener from hell. I replaced the bad one with the new spring and a 8500 opener and it's been great. This summer I'm going to replace the other door before it starts to give me troubles.

Good luck

 

[NUTTSGT]

Throw up some pictures - probably can resolve this fairly easily. If it truly was the only option - I've still got a few around.

Sadly your idrive was probably fine, just needed the door fixed properly. But finding someone capable these days - is difficult.

Thanks for chiming in Andy, I was going suggest that the OP get ahold of you. I also need to send you a PM about a wall remote.

 

[AndyL]

Cut your losses and replace that torquemaster spring with a standard external spring system and install a lift master 8500 or 9500. I have 2 16' WD doors and went through the exact problem 2 years ago. One of my I-Drives worked perfectly for over 10 years but the other was the opener from hell. I replaced the bad one with the new spring and a 8500 opener and it's been great. This summer I'm going to replace the other door before it starts to give me troubles.

Good luck

911mike - same thing - idrive probably isn't the problem, it's 98% likely it's a door issue. Probably feels relatively ok - but it's there...

Nuttsgt - Let me know; running out of wall stations; seems like everyone and their dog had a battery rot/corrode out this winter. Try a new battery first (worst it'll do is prevent that issue ^^).

 

[ivoryguy36]

PattenP those pics and dimensions are VERY helpful, thanks! My install has even less headroom and a second track above for the top roller. I noticed that you have an idler roller to keep your lift cable in place. My torquemaster doesn't have that, and on the low headroom installation the cable actually follows the bottom roller when it gets to the top, and travels away from header so that it ends up at a 45 degree angle when the opener stops. Thats how the whole thing malfunctioned when I tried to recalibrate...not knowing when to stop, it just kept pulling on the cable until it bent the track and pulled the bottom rollers right off the track, and wound the door right up to the drums, broke the spring and the clutch on the motor.

The door is the problem. The opening is out of square, the tracks aren't plumb, and it's VERY low headroom. I've got a call in to the local Liftmaster dealer to come out and tell me if the 8500 will work. I'll try and post some pics later tonight.

I really appreciate this forum and all of your suggestions! I listened and cancelled my bid on the used iDrive opener.

 

[ovilla]

I had an idrive for a few months and it was junk. I've installed a good 50 or 60 openers and never had any issues setting them up. I just couldn't get the idrive to work for more than a week or so. I was using it with a non Wayne Dalton door (on a regular torsion bar set up) and it just could never work consistently.

I quickly replaced it with a Liftmaster, which has worked flawlessly. Anyway, if you still want to pursue the idrive set up just pay for shipping and I'll send you my old unit. I think I only threw away the light module and that the rest of it is still there. I was actually going to return it to Menards, but they had so many issues with them and had already stopped carrying them by the time I went to return mine.

 

[pattenp]

PattenP those pics and dimensions are VERY helpful, thanks! My install has even less headroom and a second track above for the top roller. I noticed that you have an idler roller to keep your lift cable in place.

That's not an idler roller to keep the cable in place. That is the slack cable monitor to shut off the opener if something goes wrong while closing the door. It stops the opener from unwinding the cable if the door hanges on the way down.

 

[ivoryguy36]

Well I got the company to come back out, take the torquemaster spring off, and install a new torsion spring for $60. I almost pulled the trigger on a liftmaster 8500 when I noticed this little disclaimer on the website: Not for low headroom doors. I downloaded the manual and it also says "cannot be used on low headroom doors."

It appears that when my door gets all the way up, that the cable must move away from the wall to allow the bottom of the door to travel far enough up the track, which would apparently set off the cable slack monitor and close the door.

I had another company come out and give me an estimate on installing a torsion spring and a jackshaft opener...is it possible they overlooked the low headroom tracks or is there some other opener that will work on my low headroom track?

 

[Zonker]

The Cable Tension Monitor only "trips" when the cable moves towards the wall. If you have issue(s), they would most-likely be: 1) Not having enough natural downward motion when the door begins to close - which could set-off the Cable Tension Monitor - although could be alleviated with the use of 'pusher springs' to start the downward motion of the door; 2) In order for the door to achieve enough clearance when open, the lift cables may be working against the rotation of the jack shaft opener, as it tries to achieve a full open position. That condition could easily be ruled-out if your door setup had a new 'conventional' torsion spring unit in place - then you could simply rotate the torsion tube by hand and see the maximum vertical height of the door before the cables are fighting with the door.

Also - Chamberlain (Liftmaster) sells an Alternate Mounting Kit (#480LM) which allows the 8500 to be mounted below the torsion tube. I'm betting once a conventional spring/tube is installed, an 8500 most-likely will work.

 

[ivoryguy36]

Hello and thanks to everyone who has replied. Still trying to find the right solution for my low headroom door. I had the torsion spring installed and it works well manually, but I would really like to have a little more open height. Has anyone used supersneaky.com products? Any other suggestions for possible modifications?

I've attached pics of the torsion spring install (this was a rental, and I intend to patch the ceiling and paint when this is resolved). As you can see in the pics, the low headroom plus the bulkhead prevent using a standard opener. From what I've gleaned, I think Liftmaster assumes that a low headroom double track installation has the drums mounted outside the track and turning the opposite of a normal install, and that's why they say it won't work. I think mine is a normal install?

As far as the cable monitor goes, Zonker stated the monitor only trips if the cable moves toward the wall. However, looking at the pics of Pattenp's install, it looks like the cable tension monitor would prevent the cable from moving away from the wall as it needs to in my installation (see pics of door open and cable at a 45 degree angle).

I only have about 9 inches from the top of the opening to the finished ceiling. The torsion spring shaft is about 2.5 inches from the finished ceiling, so I think I have room for the 8500 opener, I'm just confused about how to make the cable monitor work. I'm also wondering if any mods will help the opener installation while giving me a little more headroom. I'm looking at trucks and SUV's and I want to be able to put one in my garage. Thanks in advance.

Anthony

 

[pattenp]

The tension monitor will pivot away from the wall as the bottom of the door pulls the cable away from the wall. Looking at the pictures you may need to not use the monitor.

 

[Lawnboy65]

The emergency release cable on my idrive has broken inside the motor housing. Any ideas on how to replace it.

 

[DeliveryGuy]

I've seen an install where the tech just pinned the cable monitor open and screwed it to the wall away from the door, kinda like when guys just tape the photocells together and hang them from the machine to avoid using them.

I definitely would never recommend you do this to get around using the cable tension monitor on your low headroom door.

Although, you may actually have enough room for it if you tuck it up under the drum with the length of the device facing the ceiling.