[BlueBSH]

I have a two car (two door) garage which has a 4 panel high door on each door... right now it has two types of openers a craftsman chain and a genie screw drive... the genie one is very loud and having to lube it all the time gets annoying... and the lube turns black and falls on the floor sometimes...

I am looking for a replacement that and have a controller that can control both openers... I was looking at a chamberlain system... its the belt driven one because I'd like to get it as quiet as possible....

anyone have any experience with these? any comments? It's going to cost me about $440 to replace both openers with the higher end model, which has battery backup also... and I think its a DC motor instead of AC... I'd assume DC runs quieter being how DC motors are designed?

also what do you think is a good HP? I don't want to over do it as this isn't a large door, its just two normal car sized doors just go with 1/2 hp?

 

[jeffrow1]

I like the belt drive models. Have had several over the years, had to repair one once. It was probably due to too much work due to lifting a wood sectional with weak springs.

 

[BlueBSH]

I like the belt drive models. Have had several over the years, had to repair one once. It was probably due to too much work due to lifting a wood sectional with weak springs.

I have no idea if the springs on mine are doing their job or not... they've been in place since 1997... they aren't the torsion type that you have to ratchet until they are correct, just the overhead springs that have the steel wire connected to them... springs that are under any kind of tension scare me :laughing: probably best to get those looked at by a pro huh? I can handle the opener installs myself as everything is already in place, including all the angel iron from the ceiling, would just have to adjust it probably to fit the new opener bracket on the unit...

we always had screw drives, but after reading, belt drive sounds nicer

 

[DexterII]

The way that I have always checked springs is to disconnect the opener, and then manually raise the door; if the springs are doing their job, you should be able to raise and lower the door with one hand, and it should remain, without assistance, fully open and fully closed. (This may or may not be the right way to do it, but it is how I was told a long time ago, and it has worked for me over the years. Regardless, be careful, because a garage door can hurt you bad, or worse.) In regard to the Chamberlain belt drive opener, that is what I installed when my almost 30 year old Sears chain drive failed about 5 years ago, and I am 100% satisfied with it. As for noise, it is my opinion that a lot of that has to do with proper door alignment and maintenance, and while a little bit quieter, I am not convinced that there is a lot of difference between chain and belt. In regard to a DIY project, yes, it is fairly straight forward. However, you are smart to be thinking of the springs, and you are even smarter to consider having them done by an expert, so in the interest of "doing it right", you may be wise to contact your local garage door company, and ask what they would charge to replace the springs and install an opener at the same time. I am not going to say what a friend of mine was recently quoted, as it can vary by location, etc., but when he told me what it would cost, I told him that it would be crazy for him to not have them do it.

 

[BlueBSH]

The way that I have always checked springs is to disconnect the opener, and then manually raise the door; if the springs are doing their job, you should be able to raise and lower the door with one hand, and it should remain, without assistance, fully open and fully closed. (This may or may not be the right way to do it, but it is how I was told a long time ago, and it has worked for me over the years. Regardless, be careful, because a garage door can hurt you bad, or worse.) In regard to the Chamberlain belt drive opener, that is what I installed when my almost 30 year old Sears chain drive failed about 5 years ago, and I am 100% satisfied with it. As for noise, it is my opinion that a lot of that has to do with proper door alignment and maintenance, and while a little bit quieter, I am not convinced that there is a lot of difference between chain and belt. In regard to a DIY project, yes, it is fairly straight forward. However, you are smart to be thinking of the springs, and you are even smarter to consider having them done by an expert, so in the interest of "doing it right", you may be wise to contact your local garage door company, and ask what they would charge to replace the springs and install an opener at the same time. I am not going to say what a friend of mine was recently quoted, as it can vary by location, etc., but when he told me what it would cost, I told him that it would be crazy for him to not have them do it.

what's the remote range with the chamberlain? my genie one has the range of I need to be right in front of the darn door to get it to work.... unless the battery is brand new then I can get to the end of the 50 ft driveway and do it

 

[DexterII]

I will try to remember to check this evening, and to confirm this for you, but I think that I have used both the remote that came with the opener, as well as the smart button or whatever it is in my pickup, from down by the barn, which is probably 70-80 feet.

 

[iamrfixit]

The chamberlain belt drive is a great choice, very quiet and dependable opener. I have installed several of them with no complaints. The opener remote has great range, I installed 3 of them in a friends new house recently and he can open and close the doors from his shop building that is easily over 400 feet away.

 

[BlueBSH]

well installed two of them over the weekend, gawd these things are so quiet compared to the genie screw drive that it sounds like they are a battery powered remote control car..... when I use to be in my car outside and opened the door you could hear the genie go grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr now its to the point I can't hear it at all outside besides the rollers clanking on the door track (they seem to be slightly out of alignment where the curve connects to the straight)...

tested battery backup also worked good...

only have one problem..... one of them after getting it installed the battery backup led was flashing red, but no beeping...... the other one was flashing green...... figured wait a day let it charge....... 2 days later now its solid red on one and solid green on the other.... going to have to call the company to ask them what to do... checked the voltage on the battery and its 13.2v should be 13.4 checked it on the other and it was 13.4v, might have a battery that came defective... hopefully they will replace it for free.... don't want to take this apart to take back to lowes ugh