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

Google it . I replaced the gears in mine (about 23+ YO) a while back
and I got them from some place on the internet, dirt cheap. Made is
much much
quiter too. I think I found a place that carries replacement parts for
all kinds
of GDO. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the place, but am
sure
they are still in business. Simple google search shows quite a number
of shops
carrying parts etc.

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...or+opener+gear

And of course, there's Ebay.

I also replaced the ancient radio control unit with one from Sears
(rolling codes etc).

A few years ago when I was shopping for a new opener at Home Depot I was
told that the openers are basically made by Chamberlain and you were only
purchasing the brand. I compared the bodies and frames of several brands
and they all looked alike in structure. The cover shape changed a bit but
the layout inside seemed common. The new thing now is the silent belt
design.
I was given a unit with a control board problem and I am setting it up
to open my chainlink driveway gate. I hope next week I will have a crude
system cobbled together. No remote but better than pushing the bloody
thing.
Unless you change to belts the rail and chain seem common. I use the
original old rail on a Sears when the old one died.
Randy


"Doug White" wrote in message
...
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

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

You probably won't save very much money (if any at all) by not getting
the rail, so it's probably not worth the effort to try to use it. The
rails are pretty much the same, but the pulleys at the header end are
not the same amongst all units.

Doordoc
www.DoorsAndOpeners.com

I have a Genie that is 15 years old and had a problem. Genie, just up the
street said it was obsolete, no parts and to buy a $400 new one...I went
manual!

"Doug White" wrote in message
...
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

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.

I bought the the new style gear and machined the center out and made a
steel bolt in hub. Working great for the past 5 years.


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

Keywords:
In article . com, "rashid111" wrote:
Google it . I replaced the gears in mine (about 23+ YO) a while back
and I got them from some place on the internet, dirt cheap. Made is
much much
quiter too. I think I found a place that carries replacement parts for
all kinds
of GDO. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the place, but am
sure
they are still in business. Simple google search shows quite a number
of shops
carrying parts etc.

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...D,GGLD:2004-17,
GGLD:en&q=garage+door+opener+gear

And of course, there's Ebay.

I also replaced the ancient radio control unit with one from Sears
(rolling codes etc).

I checked with a couple of the online places, and they all claim the
parts aren't available. I suspect that the stock of gears has been used
up because this is the standard failure mode.

Doug White

I believe we still have a few of the 41A1425 gears left (not much
demand for them anymore) at Action Automatic Door & Gate in SW Fla.
Call 800-375-3667 8:00-5:00 EST Mon-Fri & ask for parts to verify.

Doordoc