Partially opening garage door question

[harleyvet02]

I am planning 10' tall doors on my new garage/shop. The majority of the time I will not need a fully opened door for vehicle entry and exit. Are there any openers that can be programmed to open 7 or 8 feet for most applications and then fully opened when needed? I think I have seen commercial door openers that have this function.

Thanks,

George

 

[jstroede]

Liftmaster does make a unit with this functionality, but you probably won't like the price of it. It is the APT commercial trolley opener. I don't know a lot about the other brands, so someone else may make one, but I can almost guarantee they will only be full blown commercial type openers.

How often would you need it open to full height? Your best bet if you need it only rarely is to just set it to open to partial height and disconnect and manually open it to full height if you needed it.

John

 

[jstroede]

Another option would be to just manually stop the opener midway by pressing the button a second time, but if you don't it will continue to open all the way.

John

 

[Stuart in MN]

Will only partially opening the door provide any benefit? I'd say just let the door open all the way and not worry about it.

 

[harleyvet02]

I am probably over thinking the whole thing. The two main doors for my wife's car an my truck will be opened one or two times daily. Her minivan doesn't need 10' of head room and I can slip my truck in an 8' door but I wanted to put 10' doors on to keep life simple and give me options for entry. I thought not opening them fully would help with heat loss in the winter and general wear and tear on an opener.

 

[AndyL]

One of the off brand manufacturers offers a mid stop on residential openers... Can't remember who off hand.

I tend to stick to chamberlain / liftmaster - generally we solve the mid stop issue by installing a secondary open limit (usually a big Allen Bradley) and a switch to enable/disable it. If I recall some of the now H series offer a timer based mid stop feature.

Of course any commercial opener - one can just add a 3 button station and hit stop at the desired height.

 

[upndown]

Just let the thing open all the way, that extra 2' isn't going to add that much extra wear and tear to the opener. When opening a door you can stop it anywhere you want with either the transmitter or wall console.

 

[rlitman]

Are you talking about a conventional opener, or one that drives the torsion spring shaft?

On a linear opener, there is an upper and lower limit switch. The limit switches close when the track trolley makes contact with them.

You could add a magnetic reed switch anywhere along the track, and hook it into the upper limit switch connection, in parallel with the upper limit switch. Then stick a magnet on the trolley that touches the relay. This would then act as the new upper limit. If you put a switch in series with the reed switch, you could activate or deactivate the temporary limit. If the reed switch failed, the mechanical upper limit would still prevent damage.

 

[koditten]

You just push the button on the remote as it lifts, the door stops. Drive in and push button to close. Pretty much all openers work in this fashion. I do it all the time.

You might want to put some indecator marks on the frame so you will always have a good reverence point.

KO

 

[e-tek]

You just push the button on the remote as it lifts, the door stops. Drive in and push button to close. Pretty much all openers work in this fashion. I do it all the time.

You might want to put some indecator marks on the frame so you will always have a good reverence point.

KO

I don't think many work that way at all. They are programmed to open all the way aren't they? With mine you can stop them part way down, but it takes a couple pushes of the button.

There are limit switches on most openers though:

These need to be set for the "closed" stop as well as the "open" stop.

There should be a locking screw located on the limit switch mount.

Loosen and slide the limit switch to stop the door movement at the desired position, then tighten.

 

[lachinami]

I can almost guarantee they will only be full blown commercial type openers.

 

[harleyvet02]

Ok, I concede defeat. I was hoping there was a consistent and easy method with a residential opener. I guess opening all the way is my best option.

 

[upndown]

I don't think many work that way at all. They are programmed to open all the way aren't they? With mine you can stop them part way down, but it takes a couple pushes of the button.

There are limit switches on most openers though:

These need to be set for the "closed" stop as well as the "open" stop.

There should be a locking screw located on the limit switch mount.

Loosen and slide the limit switch to stop the door movement at the desired position, then tighten.

Just for the record all Residential Openers will stop in the up cycle!

Where they vary is the down cycle, Liftmaster, Chamberlain or Sears will stop momentarily, then go back up. to get it to close you need to hit the button to stop it, then hit the button again to close.

A Genie will stop in the down cycle, but then when the button is pressed it goes back up again. Also to my knowledge Genie is the only opener with an external adjustable limit switch, all others are internal.

Again all unnecessary wear and tear..Just let it open all the way.

 

[MustangRick]

You can add a second switch where you want the lower setting, and then wire both the switches to a 2way toggle switch. Some limit switches may not be designed to allow the trolley to return past it with out binding up the switch finger, so you may have to use a different type of limit switch.

 

[AMCguy]

If you ever forgot that the door was only opened part way and drove into it, you would kick yourself for ever considering this in the first place.

 

[BigGMC]

If you ever forgot that the door was only opened part way and drove into it, you would kick yourself for ever considering this in the first place.

This for the win!! beat me to it.

Easy to forget which height the door stopped at and easy to forget which vehicle you're in at the time.......

As mentioned, openers will stop at whatever hieght witha second click of the button. Never heard of one that didn't. People do it all the time for some freah air while limiting the number of bug/critters trying to get in.