Garage door openers

[McLovin]

Ok, need to replace mine.
It’s been a couple decades since I replaced one.
The old one is a genie screw drive. Very old.
It seems like screw drive isn’t a thing any more.
Looks like belt drive is most popular (that’s what Lowe’s, HD, Costco etc seem to carry).
Is that the current best thinking?
If the belt breaks while lifting does the garage door fall??

[rfuerst911sc]

I recently installed two belt drive door openers in our parking garage . Bought from Home Depot they are Chamberlain brand. Install went as planned and both openers work fine and very quiet . Your garage springs will stop the door from slamming down ( I think ) if the belt breaks .

[porsche4life]

I would get one of the shaft drive openers that mounts at the side if you can. Frees up the ceiling space and makes it feel more open.

Get one of the smart ones too. We have the LiftMaster/chamberlain MyQ setup. Nice to be able to check the door from your phone, open it remotely to let someone drop something in the garage, and it has a 10 minute auto close timer so the kids don’t forget to close it. 🤣

[craigster59]

Like Sidney we have a Liftmaster belt drive opener with "My Q" and Amazon key. The My Q is great, haven't used the Amazon key because the Wife works from home and grabs the packages as soon as they are delivered.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Your garage springs will stop the door from slamming down ( I think ) if the belt breaks .

I 'think' the door should rest in the middle or lower 3/4 with proper spring tension, but not sure.
-too little and the motor drive is overworked.
-too much and the L/R balance will be off. plus premature wear. same result.

https://www.wikihow.com/Adjust-a-Garage-Door-Spring doesn't say

[T77911S]

i had the wayne Dalton that mounted in the center of the door on the wall.
it slid over the bar that had the springs in it.
it was excellent., as said no crap on the ceiling and just slide it over the bar. unfortunately they were bought out and the new company stopped making them. it was also faster at opening and closing my door than the new one. it did not have any of the wiring like the new ones, no "eyes" to wire in,. it was small too.

my new one is belt.

here one thing that gets me about the new one,
it has a clock on it. you can program it to close a certain amount of time after you open it, like I am too lazy to press the button. I wish it would close the door at a certain time at night as sometimes I forget to close it.

[craigster59]

I have to say, the thing I like about "My Q" app is sometimes I leave for work at 3:00 in the morning, foggy headed and trying to run the days projects through my mind.

I'll jump on the freeway and suddenly think "Did I remember to close the garage?" and I can look at the app and get my answer. If I've forgotten I just tap the button and the door closes. Also works If the kids come into town and we are out running errands I can open the door and they can come in through the garage.

[Skytrooper]

The door springs are supposed to balance the weight of the door. When properly adjusted the door should not drift up or down when each section is in the radius of the track.

The opener requires the door to balance reasonably well to prevent undue wear and fatigue of opener components.

Yes, the springs need to remain in place and wound to achieve balance.

The draw bar type openers (normal) versus Side Mount openers is a matter of preference. The thing to remember is if you need parts for a side mount opener, most stores do not stock any. You would need to order them and wait for delivery. Virtually every garage door company has parts in stock for draw bar openers. Even the big chains carry some basic parts.

I am not fond of the side mount openers for one reason. That reason is; The side mount opener does not push or pull the door, it turns the spring shaft. This is fine UNLESS your door sticks or does not want to roll out of the horizontal track on the down cycle. If that happens the opener will continue to turn the shaft and the cables will slack and come off the drums. Then you have a problem.

I am no rookie at this. I worked as a garage door installer/repairman for 10+ years doing both commercial and residential work.

[stevej37]

Two Wayne Daltons

[cabmandone]

My new favorite, since you can't get the Wayne Dalton I drive anymore, is the Liftmaster jackshaft opener. They're a bit pricey though.

[rfuerst911sc]

I have two side mount Lift master openers in my man cave . In my mind there is no doubt they are the best . Super quiet that's why I bought them for my man cave . For the parking garage I just didn't want to pay that much so went with the belt drive . They all make the door go up and down 😁

[Crowbob]

My research yielded two findings: 1) Liftmaster is the best for homeowner. 2) Liftmaster costs too much.

It also confirmed a prior finding: I’m so cheap I like paying 1/2 price twice.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

My research yielded two findings: 1) Liftmaster is the best for homeowner. 2) Liftmaster costs too much.

If it's reliable and lasts twice as long...it's half the price.

(actually less than half given inflation, plus property value added)

[porsche4life]

Break that cost down by cost per use over 10-20 years garage door openers get a ton of use and generally last a lonnnng time.

[OldSpool87]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Like Sidney we have a Liftmaster belt drive opener with "My Q" and Amazon key. The My Q is great, haven't used the Amazon key because the Wife works from home and grabs the packages as soon as they are delivered.

Look at the battery back up for these. I have a similar set up and there’s no cable release to open the door in event of power outage.

[john70t]

Give Amazon a master key to your garage? Your home?
That's nuts.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by john70t

Give Amazon a master key to your garage? Your home?
That's nuts.

It’s a feature you have to enable, not something you have to do. I haven’t set it up either. We don’t have that big of issue with things getting snagged off our porch, and we have a camera on the door.

[stevej37]

^^^ I have four cars that I keep in my garage. Two Porsches and two Hondas.
All four have the keys in the ignition at any time in the garage.

Also...my garage is never locked.

No theft in my area...if they did, the penalty is about the same as murder.
No reason to worry about Amazon.

[john70t]

Give us the exact address also (other than .exif GPS metadata in pics or ISP lookup) and the keypad combo.
geesh. erase that Steve.

[stevej37]

I have no keypad...just need to know how to turn the door knob.