To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Vibration Isolators

CTDan

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
24
Hi there.

The garage door and tracks are bolted directly to the framework of the house. This transmits all of the noise and vibrations to the floor above. Does anyone have a recommendation for isolation hangers I can use?

Thanks!

Dan
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

38Chevy454

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
4,036
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Change to a jackshaft style opener (Liftmaster 8500 for example) and much of your noise problem will go away. It's the opener and not the tracks making most of your noise.
 
OP
C

CTDan

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
24
Change to a jackshaft style opener (Liftmaster 8500 for example) and much of your noise problem will go away. It's the opener and not the tracks making most of your noise.

True, but severe overkill. A neoprene hanger runs maybe $10 each? My wife will have me by the you-know-whats if I propose a $300+ garage door opener for a fix that I can do for $50 or less.

Dan
 

toplessHO

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 20, 2014
Messages
14,007
Location
central florida
True, but severe overkill. A neoprene hanger runs maybe $10 each? My wife will have me by the you-know-whats if I propose a $300+ garage door opener for a fix that I can do for $50 or less.

Dan

how does she even know how much you spend on the garage?
 
OP
C

CTDan

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
24
Thanks for the suggestions.

Yes. My wife knows every penny I spend and gives me hell for it. I rebuilt the bathroom last summer, which required me to take down about 30% of the garage ceiling for access to the plumbing. The city inspector saw this, looked at me and said, "So, you are going to bring this drywall up to code, right??" :headscrat

****. Time to gut the garage, fire block everything, seal and insulate ductwork, insulate pipes, a new door, and type-x drywall. Thank you Mr. Inspector.
 

redmondjp

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
2,318
Location
Redmond, WA
You can simply hang the motor drive end of your garage door opener from some rubber straps - this will greatly reduce the vibration that is coupled into the structure of the house.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

redmondjp

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
2,318
Location
Redmond, WA
Have you done this? Can you post or pm me a pic ?
I've done it with other motors but not with a garage door opener. I have a ranch house - I have two piece of link chain holding up my opener since there are no bedrooms above it.

Just get a couple pieces of rubber strap - you can cut 1" wide strips off of old semi truck mudflaps, for example, and use one on each side.
 

ddawg16

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
21,005
Location
S. California
First off.....what kind of opener is it? Chain, screw or belt? I'm doubting belt....those are really quiet compared to the other two.

You will get 'some' relief using rubber where the opener hangs from the ceiling.

But.....

The shaft of the opener attaches to the garage header. This has to be a solid connection for both pulling and pushing. A lot of the vibration is going to be coupled at this connection and there is not much you can do about it.

First things first....find the major causes.

Uncouple the door from the opener and roll it up and down. Make sure all the sections are aligned properly so the wheels don't hit gaps....kinda like the noise a train makes going over the gap in the track.

Your door spring should be adjusted so it's easy to raise and lower. This means less work for the opener. Wheels should not make any noise. Are the nylon or metal?

Once you have the door going up and down with little to no noise, then work on the opener. Cycle it decoupled from the door. How much noise does it transmit to the house? Have you cleaned and lubed the chain/gear? Are all the parts tight? Loose part rattle.

Get the idea?

Me? I'm not doing **** to my opener. I want it to die.....so I can justify a Liftmaster 3800
 

ripperd

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
2,041
Location
Twin Cities, MN
I've done it with other motors but not with a garage door opener. I have a ranch house - I have two piece of link chain holding up my opener since there are no bedrooms above it.

Just get a couple pieces of rubber strap - you can cut 1" wide strips off of old semi truck mudflaps, for example, and use one on each side.

Might be able to use muffler hanger grommets as well. They are designed for the weight and flex nicely.
 

steve911

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Messages
49
Go to McMaster Carr. They have a huge selection of vibration mounts like the Lord ones in the picture.
 

sierradmax

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
461
Location
Rhode Island
First off.....what kind of opener is it? Chain, screw or belt? I'm doubting belt....those are really quiet compared to the other two.

You will get 'some' relief using rubber where the opener hangs from the ceiling.

But.....

The shaft of the opener attaches to the garage header. This has to be a solid connection for both pulling and pushing. A lot of the vibration is going to be coupled at this connection and there is not much you can do about it.

First things first....find the major causes.

Uncouple the door from the opener and roll it up and down. Make sure all the sections are aligned properly so the wheels don't hit gaps....kinda like the noise a train makes going over the gap in the track.

Your door spring should be adjusted so it's easy to raise and lower. This means less work for the opener. Wheels should not make any noise. Are the nylon or metal?

Once you have the door going up and down with little to no noise, then work on the opener. Cycle it decoupled from the door. How much noise does it transmit to the house? Have you cleaned and lubed the chain/gear? Are all the parts tight? Loose part rattle.

Get the idea?

Me? I'm not doing **** to my opener. I want it to die.....so I can justify a Liftmaster 3800

Follow this. I had two older Lynx chain drive openers under a walk-in closet adjacent to our master bedroom. I changed to Liftmaster belt drive units and they're significantly quieter.
 
OP
C

CTDan

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
24
Dan
How about a lord mount system, found this one on amazon, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0099BRJ1Y/?tag=atomicindus08-20

We used Lord mounts on Reciprocating Aircraft engines way back when, I haven't tried these on a garage door opener but might be worth a try.

Keith

use a spring isolator, look on line
Good luck!!

First off.....what kind of opener is it? Chain, screw or belt? I'm doubting belt....those are really quiet compared to the other two.

You will get 'some' relief using rubber where the opener hangs from the ceiling.

But.....

The shaft of the opener attaches to the garage header. This has to be a solid connection for both pulling and pushing. A lot of the vibration is going to be coupled at this connection and there is not much you can do about it.

First things first....find the major causes.

Uncouple the door from the opener and roll it up and down. Make sure all the sections are aligned properly so the wheels don't hit gaps....kinda like the noise a train makes going over the gap in the track.

Your door spring should be adjusted so it's easy to raise and lower. This means less work for the opener. Wheels should not make any noise. Are the nylon or metal?

Once you have the door going up and down with little to no noise, then work on the opener. Cycle it decoupled from the door. How much noise does it transmit to the house? Have you cleaned and lubed the chain/gear? Are all the parts tight? Loose part rattle.

Get the idea?

Me? I'm not doing **** to my opener. I want it to die.....so I can justify a Liftmaster 3800

Sorry for the delayed response. I have two sick kids and I now have what they have.... Oy.

The opener is a Wayne Dalton Pro Drive with a belt lift system. The door is a hefty fully insulated double door. Everything works pretty well and is kept lubed with PB Blaster Garage Door Lube (I am always open to suggestions for better products).

As I mentioned, The Man told me to gut the garage and bring it up to fire code. If I need to take down the opener and rails, I might as well put it back up with a little bit more isolation.
 

tacomabob

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
58
On an old episode of "Ask This Old House",Tom Silva made some isolation straps by cutting straps from a large truck mudflap and using them to hang Garage Door opener.It was in a raised ranch and reduced vibration and noise transmitted into the house.
 

redmondjp

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
2,318
Location
Redmond, WA
On an old episode of "Ask This Old House",Tom Silva made some isolation straps by cutting straps from a large truck mudflap and using them to hang Garage Door opener.It was in a raised ranch and reduced vibration and noise transmitted into the house.

Yes, exactly as I suggested above in Post #12. :)
 

metalmagpie

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 1, 2011
Messages
796
Location
Seattle
Start out by making sure every fastener is tight and that everything is lubricated. Then move on from there.

metalmagpie
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom