Lift Master 8500 Questions

[td_05]

Greetings, I did a fair bit of searching and found 1-2 complaints re the 8500 but nothing too scary. I am debating between the 8500 and 8165 for my new detached garage with two 12x10 doors.

The salesperson I spoke with said that since it doesn't have the door arm / pull cable assembly that in driving wind rain some precipitation can occasionally get thru, that was her concern with the 8500. That said the majority of storms we get come from the West and the garage doors will be on East side of the structure.

I might at some point get a lift but I really doubt it. The main reason I am considering the 8500 is for aesthetics and a bit of a cleaner look.

Does anyone have any regrets or input with the 8500?

Thank You,
TD

 

[allinon72]

I guess I'm not understanding what the opener has to do with rain getting in?

 

[Yankeefarmer]

I have two 8500’s, each on a 10’w x 9’h door. I have not noticed any difference in sealing with the doors vs. before I installed the openers. I have never noticed wind-driven rain getting past the bottom seal. My slab was poured level for a lift, and my concrete guy pitched the area just outside the door downward for drainage.

 

[aggie113]

No regrets with my Chamberlain (same difference) unit. Making adjustments and changes can be fun as it now requires getting 16ft up on the ladder

 

[flan]

My 3 8500s are a few years old now with no complaints. They got past the mystery door openings with a release of a new style controller.

 

[rburke65]

Sorry...no help here as my 8500 opener was just installed 5/2/21, but I am not real clear what exactly your asking.....the opener has no relation with rain entering the build.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

I have two 8500’s on my 10x9 doors and all the operator does is open and close the doors....... The operators have nothing to do with sealing against weather.
Make sure your seals are in good condition and seating well against the door then you should be good to go....... You can always add "spring tension hinges" www.greenhingesystem.com to the door buy they are costly and NOT needed if the door is a "quality door" has been installed properly.

 

[Viper98912]

I think what her point may have been is that the traditional opener "arm" pushes the top section of the door against the wall frame also helps push the door down. When you install the opener, you do need to re-align the top rollers to push the door more against the frame for a nice seal. For the bottom of the door, you just set the door to stop at the bottom.

Sounds like they recently got a complaint on a new install and didn't really know how to handle it, so that's the new baseline for them.

 

[Walkers]

I have had mine for many years, no complaints.

 

[PhantomEB]

Nothing but good things to say about mine. 18x9. Next garage WILL have it as well, no doubt.

several of my brothers and friends are waiting for their chain drives to fail next....I simply ask why bother!

 

[jeremybarnes]

I have two, one each on each of my 10x12 doors. Both connected to the web which I love because I'm too cheap to buy more remotes but I can open the door when I drive up on my mower or Ranger directly from my phone, and I have both doors set to alert me when either is opened or left open for more than an hour.

They're near silent and work fast, i'll likely replace the one in the main house garage with a similar unit if/when it finally fails.

 

[frankd]

I've had mine for a few years now and love it. no regrets whatsoever. I dont understand the rain thing. Maybe if you dont have any weatherstripping and there is a big gap between the door and frame, some water could get in but since the 8500 is relatively high on the wall, I cant see it getting wet from wind driven rain

 

[dcg9381]

No regrets with my Chamberlain (same difference) unit. Making adjustments and changes can be fun as it now requires getting 16ft up on the ladder

I have the same unit... It's been great and I like hearing the solid "thump" of the locking mechanism. I have not connected it to internet (yet)

 

[Paycheck]

I just had two 8500’s installed with new doors. Love ‘em.

 

[CraigStu]

The 8500 in our previous house was just fine in every way for 5 years until we moved away.

 

[jacks2000]

I have 5 (2 on 8 x 10 and 3 on 12 x 12) that are 5 years old on a shop/house with metal siding & roof.. My complaints are that they are slow, not a big deal, and the remotes are weak. I have to be within 10 feet or so of the door to get them to open. Some time you have to hit the button 5 times to get the door to open.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

I have 5 (2 on 8 x 10 and 3 on 12 x 12) that are 5 years old on a shop/house with metal siding & roof.. My complaints are that they are slow, not a big deal, and the remotes are weak. I have to be within 10 feet or so of the door to get them to open. Some time you have to hit the button 5 times to get the door to open.

I don’t think the “weakness” problem is the remotes.

 

[flan]

Run an outdoor antenna

 

[dcg9381]

I have 5 (2 on 8 x 10 and 3 on 12 x 12) that are 5 years old on a shop/house with metal siding & roof.. My complaints are that they are slow, not a big deal, and the remotes are weak. I have to be within 10 feet or so of the door to get them to open. Some time you have to hit the button 5 times to get the door to open.

I found that my 2.4 GHZ wifi was impacting the ability of my garage door receivers. It was just at one end of the spectrum - shifting wifi up (if I remember right) made a huge difference. To check this, kill your wifi router and see if it changes anything.

The other thing I've read is if the openers have LED lights, those can cause problems (there are non-interference LED lights you can get).

Perhaps the "other" solution is to enable opening / closing via wifi options.

 

[DevinJ]

If you are worried about rain getting in past the seal, then look into a company called ThermoTraks. They replace the track and push the door into their seal.

 

[MotorCityBear]

I had 3 8500’s installed last year and really like them. No issues and no mystery openings. I really like the automatic deadbolt lock and the WiFi access.