Installed the new side mount Liftmaster

[nova65ss]

Alot of people have asked me about the new opener and I figured a new post with a little description would be easiest. Installed it over the weekend and it took me several hours mainly because the house wasn't wired for an opener on the side. Had to run a power cord and the sensor/ wall control wires over to the side as well. I bought some of the plastic racetrack you find at the depot and it doesn't look too bad.

Went in smooth, works very good overall great product. Not as quiet as my Zap on the detached garage but alot quieter than the chain drive that was there. The LM does have a light and photo eyes which is good when driving into a dark garage. Also comes with a remote lock that slides through the track to prevent the door from lifting by hand.



Any questions let me know,

Jimmy

 

[BoCRon]

Pics???

Annette

 

[DynoDave]

How is this LM compared to the ZAP on price?

 

[nova65ss]

How is this LM compared to the ZAP on price?

Hey Dave, the Residential Zap is about 150 more but it does not come with a light, photo sensors, or the lock/ light control wall switch like the LM. Here are a few pics. Forgot to mention the LM comes with a cable tension monitor that stops the opener in the event that the cable tension gets slack to keep the door from coming off track. It would not have been an easy install at the time so I disabled it, that is what you see mounted to the jamb above the opener if your wondering.

 

[kbs2244]

I am confused on how this thing works.
Is there a site that shows the concept?

 

[sd formula]

Alot of people have asked me about the new opener and I figured a new post with a little description would be easiest. Installed it over the weekend and it took me several hours mainly because the house wasn't wired for an opener on the side. Had to run a power cord and the sensor/ wall control wires over to the side as well. I bought some of the plastic racetrack you find at the depot and it doesn't look too bad.

Went in smooth, works very good overall great product. Not as quiet as my Zap on the detached garage but alot quieter than the chain drive that was there. The LM does have a light and photo eyes which is good when driving into a dark garage. Also comes with a remote lock that slides through the track to prevent the door from lifting by hand.



Any questions let me know,

Jimmy

Nova 65 SS, About a year ago I posted/requested information on doing a high lift on my 9'W 8'H Amarr 5 section garage door. I had raised the conventional opener (ceiling height 11' 4") & raised the horizontal track & extended the verticle track & added longer cables with the existing 5" drums & 1ea. red (code) coil spring. At the time I had intended on adding a sixth dummy panel above the existing door & making changes to the pulleys (If needed) & tighting (updating or adding springs) the spring to re-balance the door. Since then, my existing Allister door opener blew a circuit board. At this point adding a new opener seem to be the best choice. I have yet to balance the door or get the above mentioned dummy panel. Recent posts on this site seem to favor the Liftmaster 3800 for use in high lift door applications. I have just made the measurements as indicated in the LM 3800 online installation manual. Everything seems OK except the side dimensions, which might be a problem. By cutting the shaft extension back to the minimum of 1" (from 3") & moving the bearing, plate, & bracket in board by 1" to 1 1/2" I'm at just about the minimun of 8". If this isn't enough I will have to start chipping stucco & concrete. Questions: Will the existing red spring be capable of balancing the door as I have discribed (without the dummy panel) with the original 5" pulleys. If not what spring or springs do you recommend? If the 5" pulley is not correct, what do you recommend? Is there much room for error on the 8" dimention? If not can the LM assembly or cover be easily modified? If not could the spring tension be released, shaft pulled back, LM installed & shaft & coupler inserted, tightened, & spring rebalanced? Lastly, the best price I have seen for the LM 3800 is about $400 plus shipping. Is this as good as it gets??? Thanks in advance SS & anyone else with knowledge or experience with this new opener.

 

[nova65ss]

I'll try and answer the best I can. It sounds like you have raised your door but reused the original spring, drums, and added a dummy panel. With all of these changes it would be almost completely necessary to change drum size and the spring size. Most definitely if you plan on adding a 6th panel. Does the door balance well currently? For example can you lift the door around 1 ft, 2 ft, 3ft off the floor and it stay where it is or does it fall to the ground? It is very important for the doors to be balanced near perfect with side mount operators.


One thing to keep in mind is with the side mount operator dummy panels are not necessary, they are only added to build up a door to allow for a shorter arm on a conventional drawbar operator.

The L/M cover probably can't be altered in any way but you could go with a zap which is alot smaller an require very little room on the side of the shaft. In my opinion it is just as good if not better than the L/M. I have a video that BMWPower hosted in the thread below. Let me know if you have any questions.


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1441

 

[Sack]

Nova,
I'm getting new doors next week. You still happy w/ that opener? Thx.

 

[nova65ss]

Nova,
I'm getting new doors next week. You still happy w/ that opener? Thx.

Yessir, no problems at all with it.

 

[rgendusa]

I am building a two bay garage (40 X 28) and just got the walls up a couple of days ago. The rough openings (stud to stud and floor to header) are 12' 3" X 7' 5". I have read several posts trying to decide which doors/openers to go with. I saw Wayne-Dalton mentioned once or twice.

http://www.wayne-dalton.com/Openers.asp

I may go with the TorqueMaster for the "shop" side and the standard "center rail" for the other bay.
Anyone have experience with the idrive or Wayne-Dalton doors etc?

What are the pros/cons for belt vs. screw drive?

 

[Junkman]

I want to make sure that I am reading your diamentions correctly.... the door opening is 12'3" high and 7'5" wide????? Seems very high and narrow. If I am mistaken, and it is 12'3" wide, then why not make it 8 or 9 feet high. It is always better to have a higher door when building than to raise it later on. If you go with a higher door, you increase your options later on if you decide you want a 4 post lift, etc. Same for inside hight. Joists can be configured to give you additional ceiling hight, without changing the outside look.

 

[nova65ss]

I want to make sure that I am reading your diamentions correctly.... the door opening is 12'3" high and 7'5" wide????? Seems very high and narrow. If I am mistaken, and it is 12'3" wide, then why not make it 8 or 9 feet high. It is always better to have a higher door when building than to raise it later on. If you go with a higher door, you increase your options later on if you decide you want a 4 post lift, etc. Same for inside hight. Joists can be configured to give you additional ceiling hight, without changing the outside look.

When describing a door size the width always goes first x the height second. Sounds like it will be a 12 x 7 finished opening.