I'm shoppin for a garage door opener


 
Lynn Dollar

Lynn Dollar

TVWBB Emerald Member
My old Craftsman bit the dust. The remotes no longer work. I unplug the unit, plug it back in, it works a few times and then doesn't work.

I've gotten by with 1/2 hp for a lot of years, see no reason to increase that. I'm down to either Chamberlain or Craftsman. Can't seem to find much diff between the two.

And whether to go chain or belt drive. They say belt drive is quiet, but the noise really does not bother me.

And whether to install this myself or pay someone. I've always done it myself, but I was not 68 yo and I really don't remember how hard it was.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
My old Craftsman bit the dust. The remotes no longer work. I unplug the unit, plug it back in, it works a few times and then doesn't work.

I've gotten by with 1/2 hp for a lot of years, see no reason to increase that. I'm down to either Chamberlain or Craftsman. Can't seem to find much diff between the two.

And whether to go chain or belt drive. They say belt drive is quiet, but the noise really does not bother me.

And whether to install this myself or pay someone. I've always done it myself, but I was not 68 yo and I really don't remember how hard it was.
Click to expand...
Lynn, I had a 1/2 hp Chamberlain put in last year, a chain drive, have been pleased with it. Have a double wide garage door. Not as quite as my neighbors belt drive but not overly loud. I am the same age as you and this time "I paid the man" and had it installed.
 
I generally specify LiftMaster for my residential projects. May be worth looking into.
I have not done a house project in a number of years... but we alwas callout belt drive only for the noise factor. I recall at one time there was a screw drive type... not sure if that is passe now or not.

 
Can't really help you on the brand as I replaced only one in my life time. But we did have a house with the master bedroom partially over the garage.
That's the one I replaced, went from a chain drive to a belt drive and that made a big difference in the noise and vibration in the bedroom. But that's the only difference I could tell.
 
Frank in Colorado said:
I generally specify LiftMaster for my residential projects. May be worth looking into.
I have not done a house project in a number of years... but we alwas callout belt drive only for the noise factor. I recall at one time there was a screw drive type... not sure if that is passe now or not.

Click to expand...
I've got a 24 year old Genie screwdrive that still runs well. Needs to be relubed every couple of years. Only issue we ever had was to burnish the contacts on the light relay which would stick in the on position. Our son has a Chamberlain on his two doors and they are noisy as hell. Just turned 70 so the next install with be done by the contractor.
 
My Genie has been in use here since we bought the house 30 years ago, it had been In my wife’s grandmothers garage for twenty years before that, replaced the torsion spring two years ago. Other than lube, nothing else has been needed.
Screwdrive has proven pretty reliable.
 
Personally....... I probably would not purchase anything with the Craftsman name on it any more.

All of the above names appear to be fairly reputable. Last spring, our 1/2hp Chamberlain (double wide door) sheared the gear drive mechanism. To keep the g/f happy, I went and picked up the modern equivalent and installed it the next day. All I had to do was bolt the head in place, using the existing track, chain and wiring. I ordered the replacement parts for the old opener, and now have an opener ready to mount in the back garage.
 
JKalchik said:
Personally....... I probably would not purchase anything with the Craftsman name on it any more.

All of the above names appear to be fairly reputable. Last spring, our 1/2hp Chamberlain (double wide door) sheared the gear drive mechanism. To keep the g/f happy, I went and picked up the modern equivalent and installed it the next day. All I had to do was bolt the head in place, using the existing track, chain and wiring. I ordered the replacement parts for the old opener, and now have an opener ready to mount in the back garage.
Click to expand...
I did the same years ago, mostly because in the original installation I had to shorten the track and the chain to fit because of a heating duct that was in the way. It's easier than removing the existing track and installing a new one.
 
We had Genie screw drives at old house. Wish I had them here. Very quite, never had a problem. just lube screw ever couple years.
 
Might as well have someone check the balance, springs, rollers and quote you a price on an install.
I had a liftmaster installed with a new 16' door back in 03.
 
The Crapsmen is actually a Chamberlain. Liftmaster is also made by Chamberlain. BTW the difference between Liftmaster and Chamberlain is Liftmaster uses a 1 piece rail. Chamberlain is made for the homeowner DIY and it uses a multi piece rail allowing them to package it easily for big box stored.
Genie is a brand unto itself and everything for them is "captive" meaning no other product will work with theirs. A good friend has one and I have done some work on it for him. I honestly don't like them. They're also incredibly noisy. Which seems at odds but they are
As for belt or chain. I now have a belt drive and LOVE it. Will never go back to the chain type. I don't miss the noise. Another thing I would recommend is going with the MyQ type opener from Chamberlain. I added MyQ to my current opener. I love the control and peace of mind. Some examples. I can program a time into it that the door will close automatically. In summer I tend to leave the door up and allow the extra ventilation into the house. It's nice to know I won't forget it. You can also operate the door from a phone app. Cannot tell you how many times that has helped me out. For a couple reasons. A while back I had to leave and damn if an ammo shipment wasn't delivered. I was able to call my neighbor, open the door, he put it in the garage and I closed the door after (I have a cam as well in there). Also Amazon has MyQ delievery. When the delivery person comes they get a one time use code that interacts with MyQ and it allows them to open the door, leave the package away from prying eyes and pirates. Another great factor on the new Chamberlain MyQ doors is battery backup. Very handy indeed. So after many years of experience with both types I highly recommend Chamberlain with MyQ, belt drive and battery backup. It'll cost you about $300 plus labor.
One other thing about the new Chamberlain belt drive doors I love is they have soft start stop thanks to using a DC motor. It allows them to open/close much quicker without "slamming"
 
LMichaels said:
The Crapsmen is actually a Chamberlain. Liftmaster is also made by Chamberlain. BTW the difference between Liftmaster and Chamberlain is Liftmaster uses a 1 piece rail. Chamberlain is made for the homeowner DIY and it uses a multi piece rail allowing them to package it easily for big box stored.
Genie is a brand unto itself and everything for them is "captive" meaning no other product will work with theirs. A good friend has one and I have done some work on it for him. I honestly don't like them. They're also incredibly noisy. Which seems at odds but they are
As for belt or chain. I now have a belt drive and LOVE it. Will never go back to the chain type. I don't miss the noise. Another thing I would recommend is going with the MyQ type opener from Chamberlain. I added MyQ to my current opener. I love the control and peace of mind. Some examples. I can program a time into it that the door will close automatically. In summer I tend to leave the door up and allow the extra ventilation into the house. It's nice to know I won't forget it. You can also operate the door from a phone app. Cannot tell you how many times that has helped me out. For a couple reasons. A while back I had to leave and damn if an ammo shipment wasn't delivered. I was able to call my neighbor, open the door, he put it in the garage and I closed the door after (I have a cam as well in there). Also Amazon has MyQ delievery. When the delivery person comes they get a one time use code that interacts with MyQ and it allows them to open the door, leave the package away from prying eyes and pirates. Another great factor on the new Chamberlain MyQ doors is battery backup. Very handy indeed. So after many years of experience with both types I highly recommend Chamberlain with MyQ, belt drive and battery backup. It'll cost you about $300 plus labor.
One other thing about the new Chamberlain belt drive doors I love is they have soft start stop thanks to using a DC motor. It allows them to open/close much quicker without "slamming"
Click to expand...

Well, this makes my decision much easier. Thanks !

I have the MyQ currently. I got it from Amazon on sale for $16. Its a good thing to have, especially as absentminded as I am these days.
 
With the new crop of openers from Chamberlain, the MyQ is built in. BTW their new line of MyQ chain drive openers also use the higher power and MUCH faster/quieter DC motor as well. I put one recently in at my dad's house. The difference is amazing. The belt drive just adds that much more quiet. Of course when I did my dad's I also put in the high quality ball bearing rollers with sealded bearings and nylon rollers. Really smoothed out the door.
Another side benefit of belt drive is their much cleaner to operate. With chain drive you have to lube the chain which is a very dirty job. And then you don't want the cars in there for awhile as the chain will fling off little drips of oil on the car for a couple days. Only reason I did not install belt drive on my dad's is he's a bit on the "cheap" side and he was complaining pretty loudly about the one I did install LOL. But he's happy now that he's been living with it.
Honestly the only thing on them I don't do myself is mess with the spring(s) or cables. I have found I can do pretty much everything else myself.
 
I think you can retro fit MyQ to openers that don’t have it. I’m thinking of doing this for mine. My opener is by Marantec. It is very quiet as it’s belt driven. I had it installed by the garage door company back in 2005 for $300 each. Very happy with it.
 
You can retrofit it. It's what I did to my Chamberlain Whisper Drive. It was like a $40 item. But I did not feel like tearing down a perfectly good opener for it. However they only work on units made by Chamberlain. They won't interface with ones from Genie and the like. I tried for a friend. Since Chamberlain makes almost every brand of opener though it's not a hard retrofit at all
 
G Schafer said:
Liftmaster has a jackshaft mounter garage door opener
Wall Mount Garage Door Opener Install - Chamberlain RJO70 - YouTube

I don't have much experience with them other than my mom had to get one because there wasn't enough room in her garage for a traditional type.
I do know that it is very quiet.
I know that people with car lifts in the garage like them because it gives more room to lift a car.
Gerry
Click to expand...
I've seen them on commercial jobs with high ceilings but didn't know they made a residential version.
I like that, no track, chain or belt.
 
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