Which Garage Door Opener?

S

silk27106

New member
I want to replce my existing garage door opener. Mine is loud and very slow. I went to LOWES the other day and saw demo and it appears the newer door openers are much better. I have a chain drive and it's about 5 years old. LOWES(and Home Depot) have a 1/2HP "screw" drive and it's 50% faster going up and normal coming down but it's very, very quiet. It's called a "Genie Excelerator" and it's $250.00. I don't have a remote kepad outside my garage and this comes with one. Is installing the remote kepad difficult? Here it is.....



http://www.geniecompany.com/Products/excelerator.htm





I then checked out Sears and their best is a 3/4HP chain drive part number 953990 at $230.00. Sears says this is quiet and 50% faster like the Genie but no demo to prove it. This is a CHAIN drive so I don't know how it could be quieter. The opener itself looks big with 2-100 watt bulbs and you can adjust the bulb off/on time. I saw a belt drive opener too at Sears but the salesperson didin't know much about it! Sears also offers a "75th Anniversery" screw drive opner at $169.99. Here .....



http://www.sears.com/sr/product/sum...gcemgdffmdflg.0&vertical=TOOL&pid=00953991000



Here is Sears "top of the line" opener......





http://www.sears.com/sr/product/sum...al=TOOL&fromAuto=YES&bidsite=&pid=00953990000



Does anybody here have experience with Sears garage door openers or how they compare to the Genie Excelerator?



Thanks in advance for any feedback.
 
I have a 3 car garage with 2 Chamberlain belt drives and one Chamberlain chain drive. The 2 belt drives are on the bays where we park the cars. The children's bedrooms are over these. The belt drives are quieter than the chain, however we have cheap builder quality doors and it's still noisy in the kids rooms. There is less nosie than with the old chain drive Craftsman openers that use to be there. Screw drive are supposed to be quieter than chain. Belts are supposed to be the quietest. By the way, Chamberlain make doors openers for Craftsman (or they use to). They also make a high end opener that the pros install. I can't remember it's name. The only difference is the high end opener have a one piece track and a longer warranty. Oh, they are sold with installation included. The one piece track saves a little installation time but has few, if any, other advantages.
 
I have the Lift Master Formula I Whisper Drive with a kevlar belt drive. Its alot quieter than the old chain drive model it replaced.



We wanted something that was going to be quiet. The funny thing was when the installer came he said some of the kevlar belt drives were quiet as can be and others were noisey on the same model.



Its working well for me.
 
I have one of those Genie Excelerator 1/2 HP screw drive openers. Its awesome. I can't imagine what else anyone would want in an opener.



Think of the wireless keypad like a remote control. All you do is attach it somewhere outside the garage, put in the batteries, and program it. Takes all of 2 minutes to hook up. I don't use it much but if I locked myself out of the house it would be a life saver.



IIRC, there are only 2-3 garage opener mfr's out there. Chamberlain makes Lift Master. Don't know who makes Craftsman. So compare performance and price and don't worry so much about the brand name.



If you are thinking of replacing your garage doors as well, consider a door/opener combo from Wayne Dalton. These are really killer but expensive.
 
Yeah, I agree with the Genie. I just bought a Genie Excellerator screw drive at Lowes, I think it was on sale for around $215.



It runs extremely quiet, you cant hear the motor over my door, and the door is somewhat quiet as well.
 
I picked up a Chamberlain screw drive opener (2 remotes & external keypad) for about $169.99 at Costco a few years back. Over all, it's a pretty quiet opener - when compared to my old chain drive Stanley.



I was watching an episode of "This Old House" a few months back. Tommy Silva picked up an old rubber mud flap from a truck. He then cut some rectangular pieces of rubber from the mud flap and drilled some holes into the rubber. He then used these pieces to hang the garage door opener from the ceiling. The rubber pieces absorbed a lot of the excessive noise and made a big difference on keeping the garage door noise limited in the bedroom above the garage.



The rubber mud flap option seems like a good idea. I have a living room above my garage and it still gets a little noisy. I guess the next time I see one of those large mud flaps from an 18-wheeler laying on the side of the highway, I'll stop and pick it up and perform my modifications at that time. :xyxthumbs
 
I have an old Liftmaster at my house.. well I had them come out and service it since it was making a lot of noise and I thought it might be ready to give up the ghost.. anyway, he replaced a part and really oiled it up and adjusted the garage door. He also tightened up all the nuts and bolts on the garage door and track as well.. now the thing isnt any faster but it is pretty darn quiet.. so this is just a suggestion..

you can do most of this yourself.. except I had this broken cog, and I had no idea where to get parts for this thing..

Good Luck

Dana
 
I have 1-Sears Craftsman Chain drive and 1-Chamberlain belt drive. Both of the motor housings are built by Chamberlain. I definately prefer the belt drive, it is much quieter. They both open at the same speed. My wife and I race them up all the the time and its always a tie. Actually I'd like to hear the Star Wars music when I open the doors then I wouldn't hear anything. I think I paid 229.00 for the belt drive at Valu Home Centers and 189.00 for the chain drive @ Sears, but this was 5-years ago. Neither one has required any service. Estimated ups/downs in 5-years 1600 for two.
 
I have a 2 liftmasters, one 1/2 hp and one 1/3 hp, both chain drive. The demo I saw in the dealer was quieter than they are in my house, but they still aren't too loud. We have bedrooms above it, and you can hear them, but they don't wake the kids if they are asleep. I think there is some sort of vibration/noise accessory that you can attach (maybe a rubber gasket between the opener and the mounting) that might make it quieter, but I'm not sure.
 
The garage that's part of our house has two Chamberlain/Liftmaster chain drives. If they're lubed up to the service department's satisfaction they shed lube on whatever is under them. With the chains dry enough to park under, they're pretty noisy. Our previous house had a screw drive that seemd to need less lubrication for smooth/quiet running. The belt drives oughta eliminate the lube-rain problem, that's what I'd look at.
 
Sounds like the new Genie Excellerator screw drive is a good one. Sears carries the belt drive. The belt drive would most likely be a little quieter than the screw, but the Excellerator will raise the door 2 times faster.



Would you people go with the Sears belt or Genie screw-excellerator?





Thanks again.:xyxthumbs
 
Yes I would definately go with the belt drive. They are like the Harley Davidson drive belts with kevlar reinforcing. I don't think your 1/2 horse motor will produce 6000rpm so I'm sure the belt will outlast the motor. Good Luck!
 
I saw something in an for a local home center made by wayne dalton called an I drive which is a direct drive it mounts above the door and has no rail etc it was like $240 with remotes. you can see it at www.menards.com
 
Ray said:
I want to replce my existing garage door opener. Mine is loud and very slow.
Click to expand...



Since you're going to have to do this anyway before you install the new opener (at least they say you have to) I suggest you try this BEFORE buying the opener. You may have already done this, but you didn't mention it, so here goes:



Disconnect the opener and open and close the door several times by hand. Is it smooth, quiet and properly balanced (just about stays in position at midpoint?). If you haven't done annual maintenance on the door for a while, a bit of adjustment and tightening on the hinges may be necessary, maybe a roller or two is wobbly and needs to be replaced, springs could need to be tensioned a bit, and a good lube never hurts.



In my experience, if it's been neglected for a few years, it displays the symptioms you're talking about - the motor strains (groans), it slows down and . . . . as I said . . . . you're supposed to do this anyway before you install a new opener.



For what it's worth, I appreciate the elegance of a screw drive. The best opener I ever owned was purchased over 25 years ago and had a SOLID 1" screw. These days the screws are generally narrower and (at least the consumer versions) come with segmented screws to make them easier to take home. I would personally always go with a screw anyway.
 
I have the Genie Excelerator and it's KING!!!!!!!! Opens amazingly fast, it's quiet and the remotes have great range. Also came with a wireless keypad. All for $186 on Ebay brand new. I'd buy it again in a snap. WAY WAY better than Craftsmen poop.



Joe
 
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