Recommend a residential door opener

[CARS]

I need to replace my garage door openers in my home garage. I have (had) 1/3hp Chamberland openers and I have had to put new gears in them a couple times. (the last couple winters were a little rough)

What brand would you recommend?

Do the 1/2hp units last longer or are they just for heavier doors??

 

[pattenp]

I believe the 1/2hp models have a higher cycle or durability rating, so in theory they should last longer. If you have torsion springs on your door I highly recommend the Liftmaster 3800 jack shaft style opener.

 

[CARS]

No tortion spring.

 

[twincam00]

Ive had no problems with our 1/2 and 1/3hp Chamberlains, there are faster openers out there tho

 

[jophus3]

I have used liftmasters for awhile with no issues. I like the belt driven ones because they seem to be quieter. Liftmasters are a bit pricey but worth it.

 

[jomobco]

I had a liftmaster in my 2008 purchased house. When we built a barn the guy who came out to install lift masters in my new doors upgraded the old unit with a new module so the wireless keypads and new remotes would work on it. It was nice to still have the older unit supported.

 

[mikec35]

I've used craftsman openers for years with great luck. If your gears are stripping make sure your door does not have any worn parts. If it is hard to open manually by hand then it will be hard on any opener and could wear out the gears prematurely. Belt drive is quieter than chain if you are in the market for a new unit.

 

[Justin C]

Chris i was happy with the Chamberlands we had in our old house. I dont remember the horse power but they were still working when we moved and they were about 6 years old. In my new (to us) house i had to replace an opener and i got a garage gennie from Menards. It does the job but the older chamberland does it faster. When ever i have to replace the older one i will more than likly use a Chamberland and deffiinatly a 1/2 horse. Justin

 

[Greatbear]

I have a pair of Chamberlain belt drives with battery backup. Quiet, fast to open and the backup battery has come in handy more than a few times.

 

[cavallino aficionado]

I have a pair of Chamberlain belt drives with battery backup. Quiet, fast to open and the backup battery has come in handy more than a few times.

I tossed my Genie that was in place when we bought our house. The Chamberlain is quick and quiet (1/2hp and belt drive). battery back-up has been great here for us. I don't have to worry about my wife needing to fiddle with an emergency release during power outages.

Liftmaster by the way is the professional line of Chamberlain... FWIW

 

[mixxmstrmike]

Tossed the Genie and went with a belt-drive Liftmaster. I've had it for several years now and it's been close to 100% perfect. The only issue I had was the readout on the wall switch would lose the display, i.e. clock, temp, etc. It eventually came back. Supposedly a known issue. Go figure

-Mike

 

[cowboyjosh]

I have 3/4 Liftmasters with a belt drive, DC motor, both have been in place 2+ years with no issues. When building homes for folks we always spec Liftmaters, but usually 1/2 hp chain drives just to save some $, but even at that we rarely have a callback for a garage door opener issue.

 

[bobcat]

I`m looking seriously at the Liftmaster 3800 Series as I can do away with all belt/chain/screw drives and there is nothing mounted overhead . It fastens directly to the torsion spring shaft and is a gear reduction drive . Also plan to get the battery backup as I`ve been locked out of my garage when the power failed when I was out . There is a guy on another forum I go to that had his overhead drive come down on one of his collector cars .... got my attention as I have two cars directly under the drive now .
I`v also been told it draws less current and is quieter than other units out there by a friend of mine who installed one last year .

 

[Finnish Knight]

I just installed two new Chamberlain 1/2 hp Whisper Drives in my new garage on a couple of Hormann doors. I have never had trouble with Chamberlain and the Whisper Drives are nice and quiet.

 

[Falcon67]

This is the one we have. In service a year now, no issues. Quiet and easy to adjust.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00953918000P?prdNo=13&blockNo=13&blockType=G13

 

[compman25]

This is the one we have. In service a year now, no issues. Quiet and easy to adjust.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00953918000P?prdNo=13&blockNo=13&blockType=G13

That's because it's a chamberlain.

 

[BigAl62]

Just for information purposes: Chamberlain makes Liftmaster and Craftsman door openers. If you have problems with one, you will have problems with all (they use the same parts). When my Craftsman opener fails, I'm NOT buying any Chamberlain products (it's a personal reason).

 

[tyjoja]

I have a 3 car garage, and have a craftsman, a genie, and a wayne dalton. they all have been problem free for 5 to 10 years. The wayne dalton is the fastest, and was the cheapest to purchase.

 

[jdaallen]

I`m looking seriously at the Liftmaster 3800 Series as I can do away with all belt/chain/screw drives and there is nothing mounted overhead . It fastens directly to the torsion spring shaft and is a gear reduction drive . Also plan to get the battery backup as I`ve been locked out of my garage when the power failed when I was out . There is a guy on another forum I go to that had his overhead drive come down on one of his collector cars .... got my attention as I have two cars directly under the drive now .
I`v also been told it draws less current and is quieter than other units out there by a friend of mine who installed one last year .

I have 4 of the Liftmaster 3800 and love them. You can't go wrong with them. They are powerfull, quiet, and come with all kinds of bells and whistles if you want. Check Ebay for the best prices. Local dealers wanted $500 and I got all mine on Ebay for $300 each with all the goodies.

 

[Joe69]

At my old house, I installed 2 Craftsman 1/2 hp openers. My only complaint, is the remotes are finicky. Sometimes I had to hit the button several times to get it to work. When they were new, I could open the doors from the street. After a year or 2, I had to be right in front of the door, and hit the button multiple times.

Joe

 

[TXSTGLIDE]

I read all the raving reviews on this site on the Liftmaster 3800 jack shaft opener, therefore, I went with it. It worked great for about 3 months. Then it lost it's settings. I reset all the settings and it worked for about a week. This went on for about a month. I then called in for tech support. They told me my garage door was not balanced. I then paid a local garage door company to come take a look. They stated that the garage door was balanced and that the settings were off. DUH. They reset the settings and it worked for about a week. I called back to tech support who said I needed a new module. They sent me the the wrong part the first time. Once I got the correct part, I put it in and reset all the settings. It worked for a week or so. I called back to tech support and they walked me through the settings on the phone with them this time. It worked for about a week. Called back to tech support whom then sent me another module and a secondary module up top near the gear. Same thing. It worked for a week or so. Called tech support and they sent me a new 3800. This one works fine with the exception of when the power goes off. If we loose power, the settings are lost. This only happens about twice a year which is a huge improvement, however, it still *****.

For what it's worth, when it is working, it works great. Nice and quiet. Would I buy another? Not if my life depended on it.