Our Garage Door opener Jerks when it opens and closes. Its like the opener does not make an effort to open easily or slowly, its like it just dropped the clutch. does not matter if its up and closing or closed and starting to open !
Are there any openers on the market that stated the movement slowly ?
Thanks
Hi, Chain drive, belt drive, screw drive? Consult manual, there may be an adjustment for that.
I have seen many openers jerk when starting. In my new house, with new doors and openers it works pretty smoothly, but they are fairly light weight fiberglass, 1 car doors and are, as I said, brand new. One thing to check is that the door is properly weight balanced by the springs. The opener should not have to push a lot of door weight. With the door disconnected from the opener, you should be able to open and close it fairly easily. If not, the springs may need to be adjusted. Adjusting springs is not for the faint of heart and can be REAL dangerous. It's usually a job left to a professional door person. All hat said, a wooden, 2 car width door in the up position can be somewhat hard to start as there is quite a bit of mass to get moving.
disconnect opener the emergency release.
now try the door by hand check for rough spots hangups. door likely needs lubrication
this door have long springs? they stretched? be sure they have safety restraint cables!
Sounds like the spring that ties the two ends of the chain together is weak or loose. There is no clutch. Unless your track is binding the door it's entire length. A heave drag will make it bounce in both directions.
Its a LiftMaster Chamberlin Professional, Formula II It uses a belt with teeth.
The system has been up 5 years and has been jerking since the day it was intalled. I questioned the builder on it, but he stated that there was nothing that he could do.
Its not a question of spring tension or lubrication, its just a fact that the panels of the door have some natural play between them and when the opener starts to move, its with an abrupt manner. The whole door (all the panels) bounce back and forth for about a 2 count, before it settles down and travels the rest of the distance.
One would think that a designer would design the opener to start out slowly and then get up to speed. Not just close a contact and engage the motor like dropping a clutch (I know there is no clutch, just trying to draw a picture).
Any ideas, Thanks
Hi, Checked belt tension? Or loose sprocket/pulley on thw ahaft? Ours is screw drive and there is an adjustment for that. S\\Yet, better consult the manual.
Not to be too much of a wisea$$, but my idea is that the builder is right... there's not much that can be done!
That opener may jerk a little more than others because the belt drive probably has a little more stretch (= springiness) than the chains or worm drives used in other openers. So one solution would be to replace the opener with one with a different type of drive, although every opener I've seen does what you're talking about to some degree.
From a design perspective, having the motor start slowly would be great but would considerably increase the cost of the unit. Right now it's just got a dirt-cheap motor and a relay to turn the motor on and off. A variable-speed motor and control circuit would be much more costly.
Not to be too much of a wisea$$, but my idea is that the builder is right... there's not much that can be done!
That opener may jerk a little more than others because the belt drive probably has a little more stretch (= springiness) than the chains or worm drives used in other openers. So one solution would be to replace the opener with one with a different type of drive, although every opener I've seen does what you're talking about to some degree.
From a design perspective, having the motor start slowly would be great but would considerably increase the cost of the unit. Right now it's just got a dirt-cheap motor and a relay to turn the motor on and off. A variable-speed motor and control circuit would be much more costly.
Try adjusting the UP/Down force. Tweak the adjustment until the jerking motion stops.
Try some oil on the big spring above the garage door. I had that problem and lubricating the spring along its length eliminated the jerkiness.
Interesting
Yes. I had a single garage door replaced in the past month or so and the installer stated to spray the spring and tracks with "silicone spray" every few months (friction?)
Must be belt stretch then. Must have been a cheap belt from the start or not tight enough.
there's not much that
has a little more
So one solution would
every opener I've seen
would considerably
a relay to turn the
more costly.
They DO make soft-start motors. Don't know if you can get one for that.
Not too hard to try is it?
It may not be the opener at all.
Read this link, click on the first _2_ links in the article. See if this may be your problem.
Is there a reason you tacked on to the comment, verses just commenting on the thread.
Please quote what you respond to and not make it look like LouB said that.
LouB said "Interesting" not what you said. Just asking. In a third world country in may look deceptive.
Yes, lube the overhead spring is GOOD. I've got pros that tell me that!
there's not much that
has a little more
So one solution would
every opener I've seen
would considerably
a relay to turn the
The Genie "Excelerator" model has a variable speed motor and only costs $10 or $20 more then similar regular motor models. The Opening speed is twice as fast as the closing speed. And it self adjusts the first time it runs (or after there's a power outage) by going very slow and setting it's own stops at each end. It's the typical genie screw drive, which I've always gotten outstanding service from. It also seems to start and stop more gently in general then "regular" openers.
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