The plastic gears in my Sears chain drive opener failed again, so I
chose to replace the opener with a new Genie screw drive opener.
After assembling the new opener and taking measurements, I
discovered there would be insufficient clearance between the rail
and the door as it opened, even if I mounted everything as high as
the ceiling (my ceiling is 8 ft. and my door is 7 ft.).

Upon contacting Genie customer service, the agent said I would
have to purchase a "low headroom kit". Anybody had this experience?

Any suggestions?

If there is room for the old opener, then there should be room for the
new opener without doing anything, The two rails should be close enough
to thr same size.

Doordoc

nucleus wrote:
The plastic gears in my Sears chain drive opener failed again, so I
chose to replace the opener with a new Genie screw drive opener.
After assembling the new opener and taking measurements, I
discovered there would be insufficient clearance between the rail
and the door as it opened, even if I mounted everything as high as
the ceiling (my ceiling is 8 ft. and my door is 7 ft.).

Upon contacting Genie customer service, the agent said I would
have to purchase a "low headroom kit". Anybody had this experience?

Any suggestions?

I agree with Doordoc. Are you mounting the new hardware at about the same
location as the old Sears?

I have a one piece door with headroom less than that - 7' door with 7'-4"
clear. The only time that I need a low headroom kid is when I change to a
sectional door.

the Sears chain drive has the chain coming at the extreme top of
head, whereas the Genie screw drive has the screw coming out
at about the middle of the head, that costs several inches of
clearance. my garage door is a sectional door and the door
the clearance on the 8 ft. finished ceiling is only about 2 inches
at the beginning of opening and 3.5 inches when fully open.

i contacted several local garage door dealers and most wanted
me to change the door rails. wish i had not purchased the
Genie screw drive opener!

On Jan 23, 4:23 pm, "# Fred #" wrote:
I agree with Doordoc. Are you mounting the new hardware at about the same
location as the old Sears?

identical location and as high as it would mount. still would not fit.

I have a one piece door with headroom less than that - 7' door with 7'-4"
clear. The only time that I need a low headroom kid is when I change to a
sectional door.

"nucleus" wrote in message
oups.com...
the Sears chain drive has the chain coming at the extreme top of
head, whereas the Genie screw drive has the screw coming out
at about the middle of the head, that costs several inches of
clearance. my garage door is a sectional door and the door
the clearance on the 8 ft. finished ceiling is only about 2 inches
at the beginning of opening and 3.5 inches when fully open.

i contacted several local garage door dealers and most wanted
me to change the door rails. wish i had not purchased the
Genie screw drive opener!


I have both the Genie screw and the Sears chain drive openers and surprised
the clearance difference is several inches. The beam on the my screw drive
is 2-1/4" while the tube on my chain drive is 1-1/2" so the difference is
more like 3/4" so your almost home free unless the mounting bracket on the
door side somehow lower the Genie much more than that or something I failed
to see.

On another house I have an 8'-1" at he highest point on my belt drive (that
is top of the tube, the same mounting configuration as the chain drive) with
a 7' sectional door and looks like I have about 3" minimum clearance at any
point of the opening. Looks like 8' ceiling is tight but doable. Top of my
door rail is at 7'-6" - is yours 3" higher?

In article .com,
says...

The plastic gears in my Sears chain drive opener failed again, so I
chose to replace the opener with a new Genie screw drive opener.
After assembling the new opener and taking measurements, I
discovered there would be insufficient clearance between the rail
and the door as it opened, even if I mounted everything as high as
the ceiling (my ceiling is 8 ft. and my door is 7 ft.).

Upon contacting Genie customer service, the agent said I would
have to purchase a "low headroom kit". Anybody had this experience?

Any suggestions?


I replaced my 20 year old Genie screw drive with a new one and encountered the
same problem. I was able to gain enough space by making my own mounting
brackets to hold the new opener tight to the ceiling. The bracket as supplied
mounted the drive unit down an inch or two. I just used a piece of aluminum
angle and drilled the proper holes.

If you do use a low headroom kit, this will have to come from the door
manufacturer. Home Depot carries them for their Clopay doors at a very
reasonable price and they will possibly fit other door tracks. If the only
point the door hits the screw drive is right where it turns at the highest
point, you may be able to get away with just using 'quick turn' upper hinges.


--
Dennis