Garage Door Opener recommendations? Direct Drive / Jackshaft?

The open alert rule is something that we just added and makes it even better. We have a couple other smart devices that never saw much use, but this one is a killer app.

 

Get the liftmaster jackshaft 8500W no doubt. Modern look, led lights, backup battery and WiFi compatible. It is going to be your quietest opener and cleanest opener possible

never get a genie, period

 

I have a screw drive and it works fine. I also have Samsung SmartThings in my house and have a door opener and position sensor tied to it. I opened and shut my garage door from Taiwan once for giggles.

 

Chain= freight train
Belt= subway
Jackshaft= when did you get home honey

the speed of a chain or belt is dependent on the balance of your door not because it’s necessarily a chain or belt. Some brands/models are quick ie genie but they are junk and you’ll be lucky to get 5 yrs.

Chains most repairable part is the gears, belts don’t have the same problem with the gear as the chains but the belt does 10+ yrs but that’s all dependent on the balance of your door. If you can’t easily lift the door manually then your opener is doing more work than it should. Springs lift the door not the opener- the opener is just guiding it. Also liftmaster has lifetime warranty on the belts FYI and chains only 1 yr

 

Yes more space. False they do hold the door down. No sure what locking pin your talking about- it does have (liftmaster) a dead bolt like device included but to be installed a couple inches above a roller, so it is not used to keep the door down but extra security. Your problem is likely spring related and not properly balanced. And false on the cable “dropping off”. There won’t be a pulley on this setup and there is another device (cable tension) that will know when there is too much slack in the cable- if that’s the case your springs are not properly balanced.

psa: springs lose tension over time so you will need to check the door yearly (advised) manually to test the balance and adjust as necessary.

 

Reviews should be taken with a grain of salt similar to most advise given on tw. The 8500W is a new opener that has been updated from the older models (not just looks). Keep in mind that any opener relies on a door that functions properly manually. I’m sure a good portion of bad reviews were due to operator error or excess damage caused by a door that had/has issues.
The belts do t really stretch, it has metal internal. The teeth either break off more likely to a door not balanced or dry rot. Chains don’t lose tension really either- if the opener is lifting the weight of the door because of balance issues then it wears a bushing in the gears/sprocket and that is what causes the slack

 

FYI- Years ago the shop where I worked installed about a dozen, remote controlled jackshaft-type openers. They were great until we realized the doors could be opened from the outside by getting your fingers under the door and just lifting. We had to re-install all the locks and make sure they were latched every night. Before you buy one for your home or shop, you might want to look into that.

My brother-in-law has had a belt driven LiftMaster (??) on his house for a few years and it’s super smooth/quiet. Can recommend over a chain drive.

 

We replaced our chain drive with a Liftmaster belt drive. What a difference. Super quiet and as fast as I need it. If your door is adjusted properly, the opener is barely working.
Here in California, they made it mandatory that new installations have to have a battery backup because a few old ladies couldn't open their garage doors when the power went out during the fires. Now they have a battery and a lift system to not maintain.

 

Modern jack shaft units have locking mechanisms. Even my ancient Wayne Dalton iDrive had a locking mechanism. The Chamberlain/Liftmaster units come with a deadbolt lock that is actuated during the opener cycles. I highly doubt that any modern unit would not have some kind of lock mechanism as standard.

 

I put in a Genie gear drive 15 years ago that sounds like a couple cats fighting during opening and closing. Thought it was the door, but the door with the opener discontented is quite as hell.

My folks have a Over Head brand belt drive that is damn near silent.

 

Depending on the brand, it may have a lifetime on the belt. Also screw drives are a step backwards from a belt and not nearly as quite (similar to chains) the most common failure with the screw is the trolleys teeth getting stripped or the plastic coupler between rail and motor

The newer ones have WiFi built in and the higher models with battery backup

I’d check to see how heavy your door is, if it’s crawling like a snail then it might be struggling. The door should hold its own weight at waist high and stay up at the header and not creep down or slam down

Rollers play a huge part in noise and smoothness. Definitely get the nylon w/ bearings and not the plastic flinstone wheels they sell at hd- they drag and can actually cause enough resistance to be a problem. You shouldn’t have to retighten your nuts/bolts on the door unless it’s a wood door. Edit added: do not remove the bottom brackets to replace the bottom rollers. The tension will be released and your liable to get a cable/bracket smacked in your face, hands/fingers

Get the newest model 8500W it’s more than a software update with the WiFi or appearance with the modern look- it has changed/updated certain parts in the kit. The auto deadbolt is definitely nice, added security (you can now double up on the deadbolt, 1 per side on the newer unit if you desire)

The amount of times a opener is used is not really relevant to the operation of the opener as it is to the life span of the springs. Springs have a cycle life and will always break, just a matter of time. Also springs loss tension over time which is why I always recommend manually opening the door at least yrly and re balance as necessary to prevent possible future repairs to door or opener

there is no way you should be able to lift the door from the outside with a jackshaft engaged. It’s not the auto deadbolt that keeps the door down it’s the gear/lock mechanism in the unit itself. I’d say there was either a problem with the units or the install

 

Anyone that reads this know there are difference is what and where you get your opener. Craftsman and chamberlain and liftmaster are made all by the same company but craftsman and chamberlain are for the consumer/diy/homeowners. Liftmaster is more for the professional. Same parts for the most part but there are differences. Genie/overhead are really junk- save your money, now if you have this and it’s older it’s probably still working and if you think it did you well in the past so you’ll stick with them that’s a mistake. Genie/overhead (which is a rebrand) has gone completely down hill, lucky if you get 3-5 yrs. Wayne dalton is also junk.

openers are like any other appliance, 10-12 yrs before things can start to go wrong. Put a surge protector on your opener to protect the logic board. And lube your door more and never put grease in your damn tracks

 

You guys are making me nervous with all this failure talk, my garage has a Chamberlain Chain Drive and it's 25+ years old.

 

And here’s some pictures of my setup

 

Genie belt does the job no complaints belt lasted 5 yrs before replacement. When I replaced belt did dumb move forgot to set the up/down limit and it broke the plastic tooth in belt sprocket. Had to order new sprocket that had metal tooth. Dont like chain cause it loud maybe a heavier door its better w chain

 

Just know it’s gotten it’s life expectancy and I always tell my customers get as much life out of it as you can but as soon as you need to make a repair (unless you do it yourself) if might not be cost effective putting that money into an older unit. Other parts can fail and it can start nickel and diming you

 

See what I mean about genie… 5 yrs and needs fixing- it’s a shame.

See that’s the misconception- the opener does not is not supposed to “lift” the door that’s the springs job. Openers just guide it up and down. Now some doors are going to be heavier regardless like solid wood doors 3-4” thick, wind loaded but at the same time the springs if properly balanced should still allow you to let the door go at waist high and let go and stay there without slamming to the ground. Or raised all the way up without it creeping down below the header.

 

belt replacement part of maintence doesnt last forever like chain but alot quieter. $20 for 7ft belt the problem is unit discontinued you can order the new belts but need to mod the connector piece ez for me to do. conspiracy by manufacter to get you buy entire unit when its just the belt that is needed.

 

FWIW... I build houses... that's what I do.




The current job I'm building has these openers for the roll up doors.





They are 100%, without a doubt, completely and utterly JUNK!

We have had more problems with these openers than any other componant on these houses. Roll up door and opener issues account for over 40% of the Warranty issues we have on our job. I'd say between having to have them serviced during production, and warranty claims, after close of escrow... probably 50% of the openers have had to have some kind of service work done on them.


J-U-N-K

 

No it doesn’t last forever but you should be getting more than 5 yrs on it. Chain drives have there problem parts too- the chain may not break but the nylon gears inside will strip shred or the sprocket will shear off completely. I’ve never replaced a gear on a belt and it’s the same thing as a chain minus the difference in the sprocket design.