Although ours was purchased only about three years ago, it was in fact a
5-yr old one, according to the Date of Manufacture label: 0903.

I know that at some point during those two years they changed the
light-activation mechanism from infra-red to radio-frequency. Also the
wall-mounted control gained some new features: e.g., the lock-out switch.

Perhaps during those five years they have made mechanical improvements
as well and the replacement will last us for many years.

Perce


On 01/09/09 11:28 pm Art wrote:

I had a IDrive installed in my parent's home 5 years ago with an IDrive door
and it works well still. Just had 3 installed in my garage. 2 needed a
special adjustment because the factory hadn't matched the gears right but so
far all a working well and are significantly improved over the 5 year old
one. In particular I like the way it slows down just as the door closes so
it closes it gently.

We have had a Wayne-Dalton "iDrive for torsion springs" opener for a
little over three years. We had problems with it initially, but W-D
sent a replacement controller board and light unit.

Other than the unit having forgotten its settings a couple of times
and having to be "re-trained," it's worked OK.

Right before Christmas it started giving trouble, first merely buzzing
without moving the door, later starting to move the door but then
making a "ratcheting" noise without moving the door any further.

snip

I managed to get in touch again with the company that was in the midst of
a merger/takeover when I called before, told my story, and within 10
minutes got a call back to say that W-D was shipping them a complete new
iDrive for me.