Class is now in session….
There are a lot of varieties of storage door openers on the market, so which one is best for you?? The very first thing it’s a must to understand, is that storage door openers aren’t a one dimension suits all software. Storage door openers are made to operate higher if its on the suitable sort of door, most of our repairs are performed on machines which can be both put in unsuitable or the opener is on the unsuitable sort of door, and in a variety of instances only a low high quality opener.
Now to date I’ve used the phrases “opener” and “machine” each have the identical that means, they confer with the whole mechanized operation so after I say “opener” I am not referring to the hand held machine in your automotive…that is known as a “distant management” or simply “distant”. With that being stated there are a number of varieties of storage door openers available on the market.. there are screw-drives, there are chain-drives there are belt-drives and final however not least direct-drives generally known as “Jackshafts”. However lets take them one after the other and begin with…
Screw-Drives
These machines have been well-liked (not essentially good) on all varieties of doorways for the higher a part of 45 years however…due to their design they do require common upkeep. Again within the late 6Os,7Os and early 8Os, Genie used a really sturdy metal within the “carriage” or “trolley” and the machines had been powerful! Even with out grease on the screw they might run for what appeared like perpetually then they switched to a lighter grade metal and all that went downhill, the openers would nonetheless go so long as any on the market offered you usually greased the screw however who ever does that!! So the common lifetime of the Genie screw-drive trolley was about 4-5 years and that is being beneficiant, Liftmaster or Chamberlain or Craftsman,all made by the identical mfg…(Chamberlain) additionally has a screw-drive and it has the identical drawback so to counter that they use a plastic interior trolley and a self lubricating housing across the screw to maintain the warmth and put on down, however the self lubricating housing actually solely lasts a few yr..or the equal of your guarantee then its again to the identical ol,identical ol,”grease-grease-grease”. My official opinion on screw-drives is…keep away from them, they’re previous know-how with a brand new look to them.
Chain Drives
The sort of machine has been round for so long as screwdrives give or take 5yrs they usually have come alongside approach. Chain-drives have at all times been very sturdy machines however caught a little bit of a nasty rap when Sears began promoting a do-it-yourself mannequin from Chamberlain known as the Craftsman, now this machine, though known as a “chain-drive” was pushed by a series on one facet and a cable on the opposite and it appeared like nothing might be performed to make this factor quiet as a result of the cable would stretch till it broke on the loop. So from then on the chain-drives began getting a nasty rap as a “coffee-grinder” or noisy machine, though it wasn’t a real chain-drive.
The Liftmaster 1300 collection of chain-drives…greenback for greenback are pretty much as good a machine as you may get, they’re versatile, in that they will deal with any sort of door from heavy wooden to mild metal, one-piece or sectional and they’re highly effective and cheap and comparatively talking…low upkeep, however to get so far they’ve had many good enhancements alongside the way in which. Chamberlain has added a series spreader which retains the chain from slapping the rail,swapped the entrance sprocket to a pulley drastically lowering chain noise, they switched out the metal worm gear to a nylon worm gear contained in the case to scale back warmth on the helical gear they usually eliminated the 2 rigidity springs off the interior trolley to scale back door bounce and its a strong one piece rail with a full wrap round chain.
The elements on this machine can deal with what the motor places out, so usually you do not want a 1/2 hp to carry the door, and so far as routine upkeep goes..there’s nearly none, simply have the 2 nylon gears contained in the motor case lubed each 7 yrs and that is about it, within the uncommon case the place you occur to personal a home proper on the seashore and solely use the opener in the summertime then you may spray the chain with a very good silicone to maintain the hyperlinks on the chain free. The 2 fashions I want which have been actual work horses for us during the last 20 years are presently known as #1346=1/3 hp and #1356=1/2 hp.
Belt-Drives
A number of producers make belt-drives today however I like to stay with probably the most dependable model which to me is Liftmaster, we stock most manufacturers however want to cope with the model with the least quantity of issues so lets deal with Liftmaster belt-drives for now. Remember the fact that belt-drive openers are a VERY door particular machine, they do NOT work on 1pc doorways very nicely or for very lengthy and may NOT be put in on a 1pc door. To maintain it easy there are two varieties of belt-drives…AC and DC.
The AC mannequin belt-drive generally known as a method I, is likely one of the early mannequin belt-drive designs and primarily its a chain-drive motorhead that is driving a belt as an alternative of chain. It’s minutely quieter than a chain-drive minus the ability and to me… not a very good machine, however a simple one to promote as a result of its cheaper than a DC mannequin and most of the people does not know the distinction, they simply know belt-drives are speculated to be prime of the road and this can be a belt-drive, so they’re none the wiser to the tips, sellers should purchase some of these machines less expensive than their DC motor counterparts and promote them for the belt-drive (premium) value. What makes a “DC motor” belt-drive quiet is the motor! In any other case why would they even supply it in DC, plus the opposite profit is with the ability to have a battery back-up hooked up so it is going to run even with the ability turned off.
In its easiest type a DC motor places out extra torque than an AC motor and the horsepower for DC is rated in “Newtons” somewhat than HP however the DC motors even have a “sluggish begin/sluggish cease” characteristic which helps preserve the whole operation quiet. When an AC motor machine is activated it goes O-60 or ought to I say “O to full pace” in a single shot…the second you push the button, however the door alternatively is just not on the identical web page and needs to withstand the sudden pressure and that is the place a variety of the noise comes from..mainly its the jerky-ness of the door resisting the opener, the place because the sluggish begin of the DC machines act as a smoother motivator for the door to get it going with out all of the jerky-ness, and it does the identical because it involves a cease, so for the primary two inches and on the final two inches it slows down, enormously lowering the clanky-ness of the whole operation.
The DC machines additionally electronically calibrate the strain wanted to function a door primarily based on its resistance and weight,
which leaves little room for installer error, in different phrases the installer can not set the machine to crush your automotive hood or your cat, AC motors are on the mercy of the installer, if he units the pressure adjustment too excessive, it crushes, if he units it too low the door will bounce again up on a chilly or moist morning when you are fortunately driving off to work not realizing your storage door shall be open all day and that model spankin’ new Craftsman software field you simply received in your birthday is about to be bought for a fraction of the value its value on the native swap meet….all since you thought you bought a belt-drive storage door opener for a discount value!! Remaining ideas…AC motor belt-drives= not good (higher off with a chain-drive) DC motor belt-drives=Superb, very quiet, however very door particular. (Solely works on a sectional door)
Jack-Shaft (Direct Drive)
This part is straightforward as a result of there’s actually just one accessible and its a Liftmaster # 3800, and it’ll solely work on sectional doorways. So for these of you searching for a machine that doesn’t mount to the ceiling like a standard machine does, the Liftmaster #3800 would possibly simply be what you are searching for, its quiet, has (800 Newtons) or the equal of three/4 hp and mounts on both finish of the torsion tube offered you may have atleast 10 inches of facet clearance, so the thought behind this opener is that you probably have a room above the storage, it removes fully… the vibration of a typical opener that hangs off the ceiling, or you probably have a low beam within the storage that helps the second story of your own home or have had a loft or storage shelving put in the place a typical opener can be mounted you could possibly nonetheless automate your door utilizing the sort of machine.
It will also be used on purposes the place you simply merely don’t desire an opener hanging down in the course of your storage.I’ve discovered through the years that the #3800 likes the heavier sectional doorways vs the sunshine non-insulated fashions, one other advantage of the sort of machine is that it’s going to carry a sectional door as much as 13 ft excessive with no modifications whereas a standard machine solely lifts doorways as much as 7’4″ with a standard railed machine you would wish to get an extended rail to accommodate the added peak of say an 8′–9′ or 10 ft excessive opening which is turning into extra widespread in newer homes.The Liftmaster #3800 has been a really dependable various for us since 2004.
Everyone loves selections, however given the truth that relating to storage door openers there actually are so many selections that it additionally makes it very simple to make the unsuitable alternative in your explicit storage door which might result in many future service calls and repairs so hopefully this may clear up a couple of issues for you relating to selecting the proper machine and you’ll have many “good” ups and downs with the suitable system.
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