Garage Door Opener Questions
 

My garage door is acting strange, and it's about 14 years old, so I plan to
replace it. Can someone help with the following questions?

1. What brands do you recommend?
2. Where's the best place to buy (Cosco, Home Depot, Sears, etc)?
3. How many horsepower do I need?

I have a 2-car garage, with a door that rolls up, sheet metal, no insulation.

In case anybody recommends fixing a 14 year old garage door rather than
replacing, here's the symptoms (it's a Stanley brand opener with chain drive):

A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

thanks!
Paul

Krystonia5 wrote:
My garage door is acting strange, and it's about 14 years old, so I plan to
replace it. Can someone help with the following questions?

1. What brands do you recommend?
2. Where's the best place to buy (Cosco, Home Depot, Sears, etc)?
3. How many horsepower do I need?

I have a 2-car garage, with a door that rolls up, sheet metal, no insulation.

In case anybody recommends fixing a 14 year old garage door rather than
replacing, here's the symptoms (it's a Stanley brand opener with chain drive):

A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

thanks!
Paul
Hi,
over the 14 years, have you done anything?
Limit switches, chain streches over time, lubrication, etc.
Also check the sprockets, and springs.
Tony

I reccomend Sears unless you have a lift master
dealer nearby, both made by chamberlain but the dealer models are 1 pc
rails and upgraded noise suppression and heavier angle iron make it an
even smoother operator.a 1/2 hp is normally used for a doublewide door
- the "steel belted" drive systems are really quiet.

A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened too far...

1st guess: the inconsistent closed door position is normally the
mounting system above the door is pulling free. typical scenario is
2x4 above door for opener mounting bracket is nailed in with too few
or too small nails and it starts pulling free (i use 5/16 x 3.5" lag
bolts) - dont be surprised to find opener only held in place by
ceiling mounts and free to move forward or backward opposite motion of
your door -this will shorten or lengthen the usable portion of rail
and change both endpoints.
2nd guess. open cover -look at proportional sensors - the open close
position dials set a stationary elec contact for each and a worm gear
taps off main drive with a moving contactor that rides back and forth
between the stationary contacts -look to see if some of the white
grease from gears has gotten on the contacts and clean off - test
while open should see door stop in current direction when the moving
contact touches the stationary.

I have opener problem faq here
http://home.comcast.net/~froarty572/openfaq.htm

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided you have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly. He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in all models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:

On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair

A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email

Danny wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided you have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly. He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in all models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:



On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair



A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.


Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email





Hmmm,
My screw drive opener is 11 years old and still going strong. Never
needed repair.
Just spraying liquid wrench on the drive screw twice a year.
Tony

Some people put them in and forget them.
The noise they make as their lubrication fails reminds them that routine
lube is a good thing.
Might also apply to their sex life too.

"Danny" wrote in message
...
He didn't like Genie in particular in all models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as
they aged.

But doesn't the liquid wrench sling onto the exterior of the door,I'll bet
it does leave a grease trail on the door.

Tom


"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
news:7pp1e.808108$8l.721793@pd7tw1no...
Danny wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other
names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the
same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided you
have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly.
He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it
is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in all
models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as
they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:


On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair


A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The
first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened
beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it
before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple
re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an
unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email



Hmmm,
My screw drive opener is 11 years old and still going strong. Never
needed repair.
Just spraying liquid wrench on the drive screw twice a year.
Tony

He said he puts the Liquid Wrench on the screw drive. Nowhere close to the
door.
I use lithium grease in exactly the same fashion, and I give a squirt into
the outside locks at the same time.

"twfsa" wrote in message
news:7Qz1e.13080$%d7.220@lakeread03...
But doesn't the liquid wrench sling onto the exterior of the door,I'll
bet
it does leave a grease trail on the door.

Tom


"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
news:7pp1e.808108$8l.721793@pd7tw1no...
Danny wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other
names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the
same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided
you
have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly.
He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it
is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in
all
models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as
they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:


On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair


A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The
first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I
was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it
opened
beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped
it
before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple
re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an
unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email



Hmmm,
My screw drive opener is 11 years old and still going strong. Never
needed repair.
Just spraying liquid wrench on the drive screw twice a year.
Tony

Our 7 year screw drive Genie works well but I found Genie lube in
small tube at HD. Annual application sparingly.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 03:04:35 GMT, Tony Hwang wrote:

Danny wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided you have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly. He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in all models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:



On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair



A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.


Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email





Hmmm,
My screw drive opener is 11 years old and still going strong. Never
needed repair.
Just spraying liquid wrench on the drive screw twice a year.
Tony

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 20:56:12 -0500, Danny
wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided you have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly. He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in all models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:

On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair

A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email

Faced with the same situation a few years ago I opted to go with
OverHead Door's "Phantom" units (perhaps owned/made by Alliance).
These units are the belt drive units and I can honestly say they are
the quietes door openers I've ever heard. Our doors are located
directly under the master bedroom and I can actually sneak out in the
early AM without waking my spouse.

"Bob_M" wrote in message
...

Faced with the same situation a few years ago I opted to go with
OverHead Door's "Phantom" units (perhaps owned/made by Alliance).
These units are the belt drive units and I can honestly say they are
the quietes door openers I've ever heard.



You ain't heard nothing yet until you have heard a Marantec "MacLift"
opener. My new house has one and it is silent. DC motor with programmable
acceleration/deceleration rates, LED troubleshooting, etc.

This is one damn nice opener!

Yeh, but as the door raises, it comes with in 20 inches of the screw drive
when the door is up or fully opened.

Tom


"Michael Baugh" wrote in message
. ..
He said he puts the Liquid Wrench on the screw drive. Nowhere close to the
door.
I use lithium grease in exactly the same fashion, and I give a squirt into
the outside locks at the same time.

"twfsa" wrote in message
news:7Qz1e.13080$%d7.220@lakeread03...
But doesn't the liquid wrench sling onto the exterior of the door,I'll
bet
it does leave a grease trail on the door.

Tom


"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
news:7pp1e.808108$8l.721793@pd7tw1no...
Danny wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under
other
names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the
same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided
you
have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up
correctly.
He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive
(it
is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in
all
models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as
they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:


On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair


A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The
first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I
was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it
opened
beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped
it
before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple
re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an
unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email



Hmmm,
My screw drive opener is 11 years old and still going strong. Never
needed repair.
Just spraying liquid wrench on the drive screw twice a year.
Tony

the genie screwdrives need to be lubed a bit after a while (I did it
after a year) This makes them a lot more quiet.
they sell kits at HD with cold and hot weather grease and a spraycan
for the hinges.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 20:56:12 -0500, Danny
wrote:

Chalk up another one for Chamberlain and those that it sells under other names,
listed here. This is what my door man said to me when I asked him the same thing.
He gave me a thumbs down on extra horsepower openers (I guess provided you have a
fairly normal sized door) if your opener and door were set up correctly. He gave a
thumbs up to belt drive units and a thumbs down to Genie screw drive (it is a screw
drive that they offer, correct?) He didn't like Genie in particular in all models,
especially the screw drive models, citing noise developing on these as they aged.

Hope this helps,

Danny

"G. Morgan" wrote:

On 21 Oct 2004 01:12:38 GMT "Krystonia5"
used 22 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.home.repair

A couple of days ago, the door started not shutting all the way. The first day
it left a 1" gap, then the 2nd day about 2". On the 3rd day, when I was
closing it, it only closed half way and then opened again, and it opened beyond
the stop and the door actually hit the drive mechanism but I stopped it before
it damaged the door. Can this type of problem be a simple re-calibration
problem? I doubt it, and i'm afraid i'll damage the door or cause an unsafe
situation if i just try to mess with it until it "seems" to work.

Those Stanley operators are junk. The tube rail was a bad idea then,
and still is. The best opener is made by Chamberlain (lift-Master,
Craftsman). The Lift-Master is preferable because it has a one piece
rail.

It sounds like the limit mechanism in your Stanley is toast.

-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email

Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying

I got Genie lube for the screw drive at HD and use minimal amount
annually. At same time the pivot points in the door hardware get
lubed also. Noisless.

On Fri, 08 Apr 2005 17:21:15 -0700, RT wrote:

the genie screwdrives need to be lubed a bit after a while (I did it
after a year) This makes them a lot more quiet.
they sell kits at HD with cold and hot weather grease and a spraycan
for the hinges.