When I was in the middle of swapping some Chamberlain style openers
around, I discovered that the rails were not completely compatable. If
you try to buy just the mechanism, verify that it will indeed work.

Keep in mind that the new units have much beter safety interlocks, infra
red sensor beam, floating codes on the openers, and a worm drive
replacement for the old 'V' belt. For the $125 or so on sale, I'd just
toss the 25 year old unit.

Doug White wrote:
I know there are a couple of experienced garage door opener experts in
the group. I have one ancient Sears one that ate its gears, and a twin
in the second garage that it headed for the same fate. They are about
25 years old, and replacment gears are no longer available, from Sears,
or Chamberlain, who made them.

There's quite a bit of perfectly useable hardware all set to go. What I
was wondering is if I have a good chance of being able to replace just
the main drive box, while keeping the rail & such in place. I looked at
some new ones at Sears, and the rail/carrier design doesn't appear to
have changed significantly. I could go cheap & just get another chain
system. The alternative (assuming they use compatible rails) would be to
go for a belt drive system to get something a bit quieter.

Is this a possibility, or am I pretty much stuck with replacing the whole
shebang? Any other suggestions or comments welcome.

Thanks!

Doug White