Automatic Garage Door Openers

Anyone have any opinions on them? Are Craftsman (sears) good? How about Genie? What is better, belt or chain? Does the bypass (if electric is out) come with it? Is outside transmitter necessary?

Any other helpful hints/suggestions? Thanks! no spam--remove last 3 letters in address to respond

Reply to
DSegal1027
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Don't know about the relative quality of brands, but I can tell you that there are LOUD openers and quiet openers, if that makes a difference to you. Also, while the outside transmitter is a bit of a luxury, it sure is a nice thing to have if you temporarily misplace a transmitter, or if you want to give a relative or friend easy access to your garage/house.

KB

Reply to
Kyle Boatright

While I have had few or no problems with Genie, I only have about 35 years experience with two sets of two openers. I suggest stopping by most any library and looking up the most recent Consumer Reports listing and see what they say.

Frankly I like the screw, which is what I have had. However I believe that any of the three can be good or bad depending on the specific design.

I believe they all come with this.

I would not be without one, but that is up to you. You can add one later if you change your mind.

I suggest you consider the speed and noise as factors of interest. Some of the new ones open rely fast. That would be nice. Some (often the same as the fast ones) also are much quieter than others. Those are the two things that I would look for if and when I ever need to replace what I have. Those features were not available when I bought my last set.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

My Craftsman chain drive is still going strong after 18 years. I don't have the currently available DieHard battery backup. I would say that the outside transmitter may or may not be necessary depending upon how you use your garage. I have an aftermarket battery operated pushpad type that I just put up last year because I keep a lot of tools in the garage and sometimes want to go from yard to garage without tracking dirt through the house. I got tired of opening a car door in the driveway to push the remote to open the garage door.

Reply to
willshak

I've had 2 sears openers over the past 25 or so years. With the 1st one the large nylon gear wore out after about 15 years, but at that time it was lifting a large (and pretty old) double wide door which has since been replaced with a much lighter door, so I expect opener #2 to last much longer! I also installed one on my daughters new build about 4 years ago as a 'housewarming' gift (the builder wanted $250 to put one in.)

As for the specifics, most, if not all, come with a manual override release that lets you disengage the opener in the case of a power or other failure. Since my garage is detached from the house, and has no other door than the overhead, I installed a keylock release that allows me to pull the manual release from outside the door.

The 1st opener came with a remote key-pad which was quite handy for opening the door when I was outside. The second did not, so I have to go in the house to open it. Not knowing your situation, consider where you are when you want to open the door, and figure what you'll have to do to get to a button to open in. If you are in the yard and need to get to a tool in the closed garage, will you need go all the way thru the house to open the door? If so, an external keypad (remote or wired) will save you time!

Reply to
mwlogs

The only really interesting opener is the I-Drive from Wayne Dalton. They sell it at either Lowes or Home Depot and Wayne Dalton stores. You've got to see it to see why it is different. It mounts right above the door and there is not central track to install or look ugly.

Reply to
Art

Get a LiftMaster (Chamberlain Group) operator(LiftMaster/Chamberlain are the people who make the Craftman operators for Sears). The LiftMaster belt drive operator is a good operator which is relatively quiet. An outside keyless entry is nice to have, it beats having to go through the house to open the door when you're out stomping in the mud on a rainy day. If the only way into the garage is through the garage door, maike sure that you have a "keyed emergency disconnect" installed.

Rich

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Reply to
Rich

My Craftsman chain drive has held for

15years now. Genie screw drives seem to hold up also.
Reply to
ROBMURR

One other thing - particularly oif you get a chain drive. Pay close attention to the mounting heights and the chain adjustments! In my daughter's neighborhood of new builds (none more the 3 yrs old) there are a handful of homes where there is a tell-tale grease slick along the center of the garage door that is an indication that the chain is either dragging on the door as it opens, or someone decided to dump a quart of axel grease on the chain!

Reply to
mwlogs

if i were in the market today (and probably will be soon as mine is pretty old and already has 3 handmade replacement parts) i would definitely give the trackless openers a long hard look.

randy

Reply to
xrongor

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