OT: Garage door ... openers

[djg]

With all the garage door commentary on the board I thought I'd take a shot at seeking out garage door opener expertise.

Our old garage door opener has given up the ghost and needs to be replaced. There don't seem to be tons of choices on the market around here, but I'm wondering whether folks have any clear preferences as to brand or type (the chain drive models seem to be gone, I'm seeing belt and direct-drive screw drive models). Also, is this something that more-or-less anybody can install him- or herselt in an hour (or, let's say anybody who can install front and rear mechs on a bike) or is it more complicated than that?

Thanks folks.

[William]

...but you need one of these:

http://www.trektoy.com/images/Garage%20door%20opener.gif

:D

http://forums.filefront.com/images/smilies/banana.gif
William

[H.Frank Beshear]

belt drive/Whisper drive would be my first choice. They make the Sears opener as well as numurous other brands. If you are a do it yourselfer look for a package deal that has 2 controls and an outside key pad. We offer the Liftmaster (made by Chamberlin) on our buildings and the doors we install. My company (http://taylorgarages.com/) , we've installed one or two of them in the last 15 years :D . Fwiw my installer gets 75$ for installing a pre purchased opener. Good luck with it. Frank

[CNY rider]

With all the garage door commentary on the board I thought I'd take a shot at seeking out garage door opener expertise.

Our old garage door opener has given up the ghost and needs to be replaced. There don't seem to be tons of choices on the market around here, but I'm wondering whether folks have any clear preferences as to brand or type (the chain drive models seem to be gone, I'm seeing belt and direct-drive screw drive models). Also, is this something that more-or-less anybody can install him- or herselt in an hour (or, let's say anybody who can install front and rear mechs on a bike) or is it more complicated than that?

Thanks folks.


I can build up a bike from scratch.

I couldn't install my own garage door opener without help from my more mechanically talented next door neighbor. Much of the difficulty was building a support from the apex of my barn-style garage, so if you already have the mounting site it might not be so bad.

I guarantee it will take more than an hour.

Good luck :beer:

[Bradford]

is this something that more-or-less anybody can install him- or herselt in an hour (or, let's say anybody who can install front and rear mechs on a bike) or is it more complicated than that?
I installed my last one. If you are replacing an existing unit, it isn't that tough to do yourself, but will take at least 2 or 3 hours.

All I had to do is lower the old one, put up the new one, and put some additional bracing on. But it does take a while.

And like many things, I just went to Sears and bought a Craftsman and it worked just fine.

[fierte_poser]

go top shelf: wayne-dalton iDrive.

[Ozz]

I replaced our old one with a newer Genie (cheap) a couple years ago. If I can do it, anyone can.

That said, a pro can make sure everything is aligned properly and they usually offer a warranty on the install.

[woolly]

When ours died, I replaced it with a Genie Accelerator model. It raises the door much faster than most openers, and I've come to really like the extra speed.

Installed it myself with the help of a friend. Since I was replacing an existing unit, it was much easier, but since it was a different brand/model there was some tweaking involved. We weren't rushing, and it did take a couple of hours to complete the job. I was very happy to have the extra set of hands - it would have been quite cumbersome tackling the job alone.

I do, however, wonder if the extra speed will cause undue wear-and-tear on the door, rollers, or tracks. The speed is adjustable, and I've set it to be somewhere in the middle ground between "quick" and "violent" (and this thing WILL really fling the door up when dialed to the fastest setting). If it does cause things to wear faster, I guess I don't really care - this thing is cool (well, as cool as a garage door opener can get, I guess).

[H.Frank Beshear]

When ours died, I replaced it with a Genie Accelerator model. It raises the door much faster than most openers, and I've come to really like the extra speed.

Installed it myself with the help of a friend. Since I was replacing an existing unit, it was much easier, but since it was a different brand/model there was some tweaking involved. We weren't rushing, and it did take a couple of hours to complete the job. I was very happy to have the extra set of hands - it would have been quite cumbersome tackling the job alone.

I do, however, wonder if the extra speed will cause undue wear-and-tear on the door, rollers, or tracks. The speed is adjustable, and I've set it to be somewhere in the middle ground between "quick" and "violent" (and this thing WILL really fling the door up when dialed to the fastest setting). If it does cause things to wear faster, I guess I don't really care - this thing is cool (well, as cool as a garage door opener can get, I guess).

We've had to replace a few doors that accelerated the top panel into a V :D . Make sure you have a good strut on the top panel.

[Dekonick]

As others have mentioned, I have had issues with my garage door install job. The installer just used screws to hold the opener to the door - after a month they deformed the back of the door and pulled out. I just found some 1/8" steel, placed it IN the door, tapped it, and replaced with new machine screws. Now the door has a reinforced area that the opener is attached to - no more issues. You probably won't have the same problems I did. (it was easier to fix myself than call the installer and deal with them...)

[Lincoln]

When ours died, I replaced it with a Genie Accelerator model. It raises the door much faster than most openers, and I've come to really like the extra speed. <snip>

I put one of those in our garage when we built the house. Whenever one of the guys would come by I would show it to them. They all thought it was cool. My wife would make fun of us (fair enough). Then we had a power outage, the first cycle after a power cut it runs at regular speed. My wife came in and announced that she could no longer mock me about the garage door opener since it drove her nuts waiting for it :)

She still gets to tease me about the outboard motor that runs our garbage disposal.

[woolly]

Then we had a power outage, the first cycle after a power cut it runs at regular speed.

I know! Reminded me just how spoiled we had become.

[thejen12]

We got a Sears Craftman belt model a couple of years ago. It came with two remotes and a wireless keypad. Had it professionally installed for about $100. We couldn't be happier with it! It's pretty quiet, so now I never know when my husband gets home until he walks into the house (kinda weird, our old opener was very loud). The wireless keypad is super, after my friend saw it, she got a new garage door opener, too, just to get the wireless keypad!

I worried about the belt not being as durable as a chain, but it has a lifetime guarantee. There is also no maintenance involved, which is great because we never did maintenance (lube) on the old opener (probably why it failed, ha ha!), but it came with the house, and we'd been there for 14 years, so we probably got our money out of it, as it was probably over 25 years old.

Jenn