Good Garage Door Opener ?
 

I have a garage door opener from Craftsman, I don't know the model. It is
about 10 years old. It will open from the manual switch, but not from the
remotes. I know how to re-program them, but that has not helped. This has
been a problem for a while, it seems off and on as to whether the remotes
will work. I assume the receiver in the opener to be defective, and I doubt
it is replaceable. The mechanical part of the opener seems fine.

What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman? What
about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if the
belt driven types are better??

Thanks for any tips or advice !!

--James--

"James Nipper" wrote in message
...


I have a garage door opener from Craftsman, I don't know the model. It is
about 10 years old. It will open from the manual switch, but not from the
remotes. I know how to re-program them, but that has not helped. This
has
been a problem for a while, it seems off and on as to whether the remotes
will work. I assume the receiver in the opener to be defective, and I
doubt
it is replaceable. The mechanical part of the opener seems fine.

What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman? What
about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if the
belt driven types are better??

Thanks for any tips or advice !!

--James--



you can buy universal recievers for about $50. Cheaper than a whole new
opener. THey hook up to the push button wire (you say that works?).

See here for one.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Rem...es/Item/30020/
I think Genie also makes one.

THe universal receive is a good idea. I had to buy one because my car's
buttons were not compatible with my garage door opener. The universal
receiver from HD or Lowes did the trick.


"Jmagerl" wrote in message
...

"James Nipper" wrote in message
...


I have a garage door opener from Craftsman, I don't know the model. It
is
about 10 years old. It will open from the manual switch, but not from
the
remotes. I know how to re-program them, but that has not helped. This
has
been a problem for a while, it seems off and on as to whether the remotes
will work. I assume the receiver in the opener to be defective, and I
doubt
it is replaceable. The mechanical part of the opener seems fine.

What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman?
What
about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if the
belt driven types are better??

Thanks for any tips or advice !!

--James--



you can buy universal recievers for about $50. Cheaper than a whole new
opener. THey hook up to the push button wire (you say that works?).

See here for one.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Rem...es/Item/30020/
I think Genie also makes one.

James Nipper wrote:



I have a garage door opener from Craftsman, I don't know the model. It is
about 10 years old. It will open from the manual switch, but not from the
remotes. I know how to re-program them, but that has not helped. This
has been a problem for a while, it seems off and on as to whether the
remotes will work. I assume the receiver in the opener to be defective,
and I doubt
it is replaceable. The mechanical part of the opener seems fine.

What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman? What
about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if the
belt driven types are better??

Thanks for any tips or advice !!

--James--


Genie worm drive is a good unit. it's about $150-175. and you can get an
outside keypad to open from outside the garage. I'd stay away from
Crapsman.
Rich

I recently installed a new Chamberlain 1/2 hp belt-drive opener. It was
somewhat pricey but is absolutely silent when operating. You can hear the
sound the door makes on the tracks, etc. but no noise from the Chamberlain.

James Nipper wrote:

I have a garage door opener from Craftsman, I don't know the model. It is
about 10 years old. It will open from the manual switch, but not from the
remotes. I know how to re-program them, but that has not helped. This has
been a problem for a while, it seems off and on as to whether the remotes
will work. I assume the receiver in the opener to be defective, and I doubt
it is replaceable. The mechanical part of the opener seems fine.

What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman? What
about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if the
belt driven types are better??

I had a Craftsman chain drive in my last garage. It worked fine. I
forget now who makes them for Craftsman, but it may be Chamberlain.

I now have a screw drive from LiftMaster and it works fine as well. I
think it is a little quieter, but I can't say if it is really any better
than the chain drive. I've never owned a belt drive so I have no comment.

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
James Nipper wrote:



I had a Craftsman chain drive in my last garage. It worked fine. I
forget now who makes them for Craftsman, but it may be Chamberlain.

I now have a screw drive from LiftMaster and it works fine as well. I
think it is a little quieter, but I can't say if it is really any better
than the chain drive. I've never owned a belt drive so I have no comment.

Matt


I replaced my 15 year old craftsman with a new craftsman and like the
salesman said most the noise is from the door not the opener. Both craftsman
were made by chamberlain. Chamberlain also owns Liftmaster.

Yes the receiver is replaceable but it is built onto the main logic
board. However there's a good chance the receiver isn't the problem.
Usually receiver problems don't come & go. When they're bad, they stay
bad until they are replaced.

It sounds like it's an interference problem that comes & goes as
something is being turned on & off. The interference could be inside or
outside your home. Common causes are police scanners, ham radios, cell
phone towers, older large satellite dishes, and more recently military
radios. So changing the receiver or even replacing the opener may not
solve the problem if it is on the same 390 frequency that your opener
is currently on. Genie, Liftmaster, Chamberlain, Craftsman & others
have been using this freq for years in the US. The Liftmaster openers
that have just started to come out recently (last couple of months) are
now on the 315 freq (used in Central & South America for years) to get
away from the military radio interference problem. I do not know if the
other brands are on the new freq yet or not but some places may not
have ran out of the 390 freq units yet.

Unfortunately if the interference is outside of the home it can
sometimes be difficult for the average person to determine where the
problem is coming from. Do other people in your area have the same
problem or is it only your house? If you are the only one turn off
every breaker in your house except for the opener circuit & see if the
problem goes away. If so turn them back on one at a time & see what
circuit(s) causes the problem & then what is on the circuit.

You wouldn't be the first to spend money & then find out the money
spent didn't solve the problem.

A more drastic test is to take the opener down & take it to a different
area. Plug it in & see if the problem goes away.

Doordoc
www.DoorsAndOpeners.com

Regarding the type of drive,, If you are in an area of harsh Winters, go
with the chain.


"James Nipper" wrote in message
...
:
:
: I have a garage door opener from Craftsman, I don't know the model.
It is
: about 10 years old. It will open from the manual switch, but not from
the
: remotes. I know how to re-program them, but that has not helped.
This has
: been a problem for a while, it seems off and on as to whether the
remotes
: will work. I assume the receiver in the opener to be defective, and I
doubt
: it is replaceable. The mechanical part of the opener seems fine.
:
: What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman?
What
: about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if
the
: belt driven types are better??
:
: Thanks for any tips or advice !!
:
: --James--
:
:
:

Interference is an interesting possibility, as is an intermitent battery
connection.....as battery contacts corrode or otherwise make
inadequate coupling.
If you know a Ham nearby, or somehow can ask one for help,
a good resource might have a spectrum analyzer to survey the
RF band of interest and give you an idea if this is in fact the
issue. By taking a reading over a period of time, a ham could
clear this question up.
And remember, Hams love to help others with technical questions
like yours.

Les KA9GLW

PS..one trick to eliminate interference is to realign, or tune the antenna.
Sometime attenuating the signal works too. In your case, IF IT IS
interference, shortening the antenna might be the trick, as it prevents
overloading the front-end of the receiver. This reduces the performance
of the receiver as well, but increases the odds of near-field reception
which you seek. However, this is the theory. DON'T adjust the
antenna until you know for SURE that this is the reason.

Mellowed wrote:
Regarding the type of drive,, If you are in an area of harsh Winters, go
with the chain.



Why?

Matt

I really doubt it is interference related. It has gone for five weeks now
and not worked one single time. It works perfectly on the button,
hard-wired control.


It did this same thing about 3 months ago. Would not work for about a
week (three different remotes would not work) , and then it worked again
for 3 months until now.

The universal remote looks like a good idea. Did someone say they have them
at Lowe's or Home Depot ? If so, I wonder what department to look
in................

--James-

"James Nipper" wrote in message
...
I really doubt it is interference related. It has gone for five weeks now
and not worked one single time. It works perfectly on the button,
hard-wired control.


It did this same thing about 3 months ago. Would not work for about a
week (three different remotes would not work) , and then it worked again
for 3 months until now.

The universal remote looks like a good idea. Did someone say they have
them
at Lowe's or Home Depot ? If so, I wonder what department to look
in................


With the garage door openers p[erhaps??

--James-

we use promax . they can be had from shops that put up doors. a super
good opener . we had em put on our 10x16 insulated doors about 9 years
ago and they are used alot and still work fine.lucas

You may want to check out Wayne-Dalton's I-Drive an innovative design
that came out about 2 years ago, have it on mine 2 years and have had
no trouble. It installs above the garage door, and pulls the garage up
using wires that are wound around drums at the end of a rod. It does
away with the installation of a unit in the center of your garage and
looks a lot neater. However it does not use sensors, the motors are
designed to reverse if the doors encounter some resistance

You may want to check out Wayne-Dalton's I-Drive an innovative design
that came out about 2 years ago, have it on mine 2 years and have had
no trouble. It installs above the garage door, and pulls the garage up
using wires that are wound around drums at the end of a rod. It does
away with the installation of a unit in the center of your garage and
looks a lot neater. However it does not use sensors, the motors are
designed to reverse if the doors encounter some resistance

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 12:10:21 -0400, James Nipper wrote:
What is your recommendation on a new opener ?? Another Craftsman? What
about Genie ? The one I have is a chain driven type, and I wonder if the
belt driven types are better??

Put in a Genie Excelerator a few months ago to replace an old chain
drive opener-- installation was relatively straightforward and simple.
Would have been simpler if the guy who put up the first opener hadn't
torqued down the bolts so tightly... first time I've ever wrung the
post off a socket wrench. g The hardest part of the installation
was connecting the wiring to the terminals in the head of the opener;
they're pretty small to be easy, especially when working overhead.
And I have skinny fingers.

Anyhow, it's been quiet and opens very quickly.

Kay