Garage door opener

[zcarenow]

Is there a website out there that shows how to install garage door openers? The manual that comes with mine is hard to figure out. I just need the basics to get started on it. Thanks.

[buffalobill]

[Patrick Cleburne]

Sounds like you'd be better served hiring someone to do it. You don't seem to have the skill to tackle a potentially dangerous job like that.

Patrick

[Pop]

: : Sounds like you'd be better served hiring someone to do it. You don't seem : to have the skill to tackle a potentially dangerous job like that. : : Patrick : : I respectfully disagree; armed with basic instructions and a diy background, many people are capable of the installation. It's not an inherently dangerous task unless one tries to do things without basic knowledge/instructions. Been there, done that; three times.

Pop

[Joseph Meehan]

I don't see much danger in that job, unless it involves running a new electrical circuit.

Remember they are installing an opener, not the door. Installing a door often involves working with a set of springs that can be dangerous.

[Steve B]

If you can't read the instructions, I doubt you could hang it up safely. Hire a pro before you kill yourself or mess up the unit.

My SIL and I installed one in about four hours. Afterward, we saw that if we had any experience at all, it would have taken an hour. THEN I found out that Lowe's would have installed it for $40. I told him next time he had to do one, I would flip him for the $40.

Have it installed. If there's a problem, you merely pick up the phone. Steve

[Steve B]

I'm sorry. Didn't the OP say he couldn't understand the instructions? And hanging a garage door is "inherently dangerous" both during the installation and afterward.

Go ahead and install it even if you can't comprehend the instructions?

Yeah. Right.

Steve

[Steve B]

"Joseph Meehan" wrote

So which is it? Dangerous? Not dangerous? Is 110v. electricity dangerous? Are those springs dangerous? Do they need tweaking? (not a job for a newbie that can't follow the directions for putting up the opener) The track is VERY EASY to tweak.

Steve

[mm]

And is tweaking good or bad?

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[Steve B]

Tweaking, meaning minor adjustments is good.

Tweaking a straight piece of track, as in bending unintentionally, is bad. (This is VERY easy for an inexperienced person to do while installing a GDO by themselves.) Particularly if that person does not comprehend the instructions. Unless you are a pro, I think it is a two person job. And it is good for one of those people to comprehend the instructions.

Tweaking, as in adjusting garage door springs if you don't have experience doing so, is dangerous.

And just plain tweaking will rot your brain.

Steve

[Joseph Meehan]

The OP appears to already have the door installed and is just adding the opener. Putting in an opener is not (IMO) "inherently dangerous."

The fact that the OP does have a problem understanding the instructions is an indication that he may not be up to the job, but that is greatly overweighed by the fact that he has recognized that fact and is asking for additional information BEFORE he begins. I would rate his abilities very high do to his recognition of his limits.

[Joseph Meehan]

It sure is and I hope you don't plug in table lamps, after all that is also dangerous and uses 120V (we have not had 110V for a long time) :-)

I believe if you can read, you will see where I noted a warning about working with the springs.

Maybe reading is not one of your better skills?

It would help in this case if you quoted the entire message and read the entire message. If you snip the message and don't understand it, don't blame me.

[Steve B]

"Joseph Meehan" wrote

Whatever, Joseph.

I stated what I thought, you stated what you thought.

Have a nice day.

Steve

[hallerb]

Yeah me too, I have iunstalled a couple, PIA if you ask me.

But with installs under 50 bucks I would rather watch others do the job.

Big thing!!!

MAKE SURE ITS MOUNTED TO THE STUDS SOLIDLY. if not it might come down and damage your vehicle..:(

[Rich]

Worst case scenario, he will get the door opener installed without any problems, but while he tests it he is so wrapped up in his delight that he figured out the instructions about installing it thing, but he doesn't realize that the down force is adjusted wrong and he just brought the door down on his child's neck with excessive downforce and the kid is pinned to the ground suffocating but he didn't understand the instructions about releasing the door. On a lighter note he could bend the shit out his door....

[zcarenow]

It is a garage door opener, not a garage door. Just wanted to clear this up. I got this from a friend who bought it years ago, but never used it. He lost the manual. It was an old Genie. I tried finding it on there website, but can't find the manuals there. Must have been a real old model or something. I just need instructions since i think i'm mechanically inclined enough. Thanks.

[do_not_spam_me]

A Yahoo search for "how to install a garage door opener" yielded this as one of the first hits:

You need to measure the headroom, that is, the minimum distance between the ceiling and the highest point of the door, which you find by opening the door partially until its to reaches maximum height. The opener may not work if the headroom is too small, but there may be a special low-headroom adapter to get around this.

Assemble everything on the ground and cycle it a few times to make sure the trolley travels correctly and doesn't get jammed at one of the extremes. Most likely you'll have to set up the optical sensor and transmitter to make the opener close. Use only a 3-wire *GROUNDED* outlet for power, and realize that some 3-wire outlets aren't grounded (this may be OK, but only if the outlet is protected by a ground fault interupter). Remember the opener will be used in a wet environment, so you must eliminate the possibility of electric shock.

Find the center of the garage door opening and install the bracket far enough above this so the top of the door will never touch the bottom of the rail. The opener attaches to this and is then swung up at the opposite end. You'll need a ladder on which the opener can sit temporarily before its attached securely to the ceiling with metal brackets ("L" angle). These brackets may not be included with the opener. You'll likely need to attach 2 L angles to the beams overhead.with 1/4" lag screws, taking care to center the screws exactly in the beams. Decide whether the L angles should go parallel or perpendicular to the overhead wooden beams, and measure to center the opener in the middle of the door opening. Drill holes of proper size to prevent splitting the beams. Then to these L angles bolt flat pieces of steel between the opener and L-angles, using 1/4" bolts, nuts, and lock washers. Do NOT use metal pipe strapping for this; it's far too weak. You probably want the kind of L angle and flat steel that has a hole about every 1/2", resembling Erector Set beams. It's important to use lock washers since the motor vibrates a great deal and can cause bolts to vibrate gradually loosen. In addition, a jam nut against each nut wouldn't hurt.

The trolley arm needs to be attached to the center of the door. Some doors have a bracket for this, but with others you may have to install a horizontal reinforcement beam.

Openers made in the past 10-15 years are designed to not close the door unless the optical safety beam system is installed and working. Install this device properly since it's one of the most effective safety devices and by far the most sensitive one. You may need to mount the brackets on blocks of wood to let them extend pas any door springs that sit vertically near the floor. Use special electrical staples with cardboard insulators to attach the wiring to the wall since regular staples will pierce the wire insulation. Normally the ends of the wires are stripped and simply wrapped around the contact screws at the opener, but for a neater installation you can use crimp-on spade connectors. Install the wiring for the wall button similarly. Secure the wiring so it can't get tangled in the mechanism, such as with nylon wire ties, and take care not to let it abrade against sharp metal. To protect the wiring, either cover it with split looming, or cover the sharp edges with the looming.

The first time you operate the opener, have the trolley disengaged, in case it jams. After attaching it to the door, adjust the opening and closing limits for the right amount of door travel. Finally, adjust the force settings so the opener doesn't reverse during normal operation. You may have to increase the force as the temperature changes and affects the springs. If the door won't open or close even with the greatest force settings, the door mechanism may be binding, or the springs may have to be adjusted for proper balance. When a door is correctly balanced it will slowly fall when opened about 1/3 of the way and released, slowly rise when opened about 2/3 of the way and released.

[g.a.miller]

Contact Me at [e-mail] for answers to this anthony-- Anthony's Door Systems

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