Replacing LiftMaster with Chamberlain

[BruceMc]

I'm looking at replacing a LiftMaster with a Chamberlain RJ070 to gain some headroom under my lift. I already have the Chamberlain still sitting in it's box. This is going on a 10'x10' from OverHead Door. I was talking to someone at the company that installed it about another issue, and he suggested the Chamberlain may not have the grunt to completely close the door. It's tight in the last couple of feet of travel (which is what I was talking to him about). Anyone have similar experience? I searched some of the other threads and didn't really see anything about down pressure.

 

[nadogail]

Will the dealer who sold you the opener install it and grantee the installation?

If not it’s still in the box and unopened, it should be exchanged for a more appropriate opener.

 

[nadogail]

I stripped off the fuel tank on old Margaret, aka my C750 from above. I needed to inspect, clean and hopefully seal up some rust pin holes under the tank straps. Turns out they are not much like pin holes, but more like gaping large holes. Oopsie...

.

 

[nadogail]

sorry my error in posting

 

[BruceMc]

Will the dealer who sold you the opener install it and grantee the installation?

If not it’s still in the box and unopened, it should be exchanged for a more appropriate opener.

I bought it from Lowes when they had a clearance sale on it last winter. It fell pretty far down on my to-do list at the time (like a lot of things). As an alternative, he suggested they could come out and move the current LiftMaster opener over towards the edge of the door.

 

[FstEdde]

Subscribed. My LiftMaster 8500 arrived last week and I’ll be installing it soon. Curious if the wall-mounts are worth the extra $$

 

[Skooterj]

Isn't the Chamberlain RJ070 basically the same thing as the Liftmaster 8500? I'm assuming you want to replace a standard opener with a jackshaft opener. If your garage door spring is properly adjusted, any opener should work. 10x10 isn't even very big. I love my Liftmaster 8500s.

 

[racecougar]

...and he suggested the Chamberlain may not have the grunt to completely close the door. It's tight in the last couple of feet of travel (which is what I was talking to him about). Anyone have similar experience? I searched some of the other threads and didn't really see anything about down pressure.

A side mount opener doesn't exert any "down pressure" when closing the door. If it did, it would just unspool the cables from the drums. The weight of the door provides the "down pressure"; the door needs to be properly balanced.

 

[jstroede]

Exactly. Need to take about half a turn off the springs probably and life will be good.

 

[Cairo94507]

I have had jackshaft openers on my last 2 homes and love them. Quite, gets the ceiling nice and clean and they have the security bolt when closed.

 

[ludakris04]

I am confused, Chamberlain and Liftmaster are the same company. What is the difference in the openers? Would it need grunt to close the door? isn't that just gravity?
I would think just about any door opener could handle a 10x10.

 

[BruceMc]

I should have made that clearer. The current opener is a chain drive, mounted to the ceiling. It cuts down my max lift height by about a foot. The Chamberlain is a jackshaft opener, mounted on the wall to the side of the door. TBH, the Chamberlain was mostly a spur of the moment buy. They had them on clearance at Lowes for something like 50% off.

 

[Poolshark314]

I have Chamberlain RJ070s on both of my 10x10 doors and they have zero issue. AFAIK they are the same as LiftMaster 8500s

 

[like2wheel]

Um, that door probably weighs 150lbs or more. The RJ070 unwinds the tension of the springs & the door lowers to the floor by gravity. It does not exert any downpressure because that would be like pushing a rope (actually cable). But I'm pretty sure that 150+ lbs is quite a bit more then the chamberlain overhead would exert downward while the springs are still in play. The real issue is when the door is all the way up & horizontal, it needs to be able to start falling by itself, or will need pusher springs to get it started.
The Installer sounds clueless.
But why not fix the binding tracks anyway?

 

[allinon72]

I'd be concerned about a garage door representative saying something that ignorant. It suggests they either know nothing of how garage doors work or they aren't interested in installing your provided opener, they want to sell you one because of markups (most likely scenario).

 

[BruceMc]

But why not fix the binding tracks anyway?

I did - he let me in on their secret - buy a block of wax (canning wax), and wax the contact area between the door and wall frame.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I have a chain drive Chamberlin 3/4hp on my 18 x 7, it exerts down pressure. I have a belt drive Craftsman 1/2 hp on my 9 x 7 and it exerts down pressure. They are both reasonably quiet.

 

[Firebrick43]

I have a chain drive Chamberlin 3/4hp on my 18 x 7, it exerts down pressure. I have a belt drive Craftsman 1/2 hp on my 9 x 7 and it exerts down pressure. They are both reasonably quiet.

They are nothing like the OP is talking about, he has a jackshaft opener.

To the OP, Does the door stay in place(with opener disconnected) when its opened half way?

Does it mostly self close if you lower the door to 6 to 12" above the floor?

If so your opener will not have issues. If it doesn't do the above, you have issues with the track/rollers or your springs are misadjusted.

 

[drmarkr]

Firebricks nailed it. Adjust the springs (and get the drag out of the tracks) to the point that you can put the door at chest height and lift or lower it with a couple of fingers. The spring needs to be essentially balanced. When you do this, the jackshaft opener will work great. I have 6 of them on my house and shop, including a 14x14 RV door. They're awesome....quiet and smooth.