Tall garage door opener???

[firetruck41]

Ok, late to the party, and I will admit I didn't read every post. This year, I had a spring break on my 7' double wide door. I decided to replace the springs/bearings, and replace the old chain drive opener with a Jack Shaft opener. I ordered the Jask Shaft Opener from Amazon, it is a Chamberlain brand, and seems like the only good option for a non-commercial unit. I have been VERY happy with it. Very quiet, you just hear the humm of the motor, and whatever the noise the door makes on the tracks. It ramps up/down, so there is no "hurky jurky" when it starts to open or when the door stops. It has a separate dead bolt. It is very easy to install, and does not require anything other than one screw to mount the motor.

As far as the spring, it was not too difficult. I followed the directions, on the website I will link below, to a tee, and it was a safe operation. I also ordered the springs from the same website. If you research the springs on the site, you will find, the springs that were originally installed on your door are not the right ones, or have a very short life span. There are all kinds of options listed, for springs which will last longer. I switched from a single spring to a double setup, so there is less stress on the springs, and it is more symettrical stresses on the rest of the garage door hardware.

DDM Garage Doors It's like a ih8mud faq, but for garage doors. You might be able to source the equipment locally, but for all the info, it was well worth it to me to buy from DDM, and I think it was still cheaper than most other options out there.

 

[Super Slow Rodeo]

Have you found an affordable solution for you garage door?

Here’ is how I solved that problem on my shop doors.

I bought two 440 lb Harbor Freight 120v winches on sale with a coupon.

The shop has two doors, one a 12 X 16 and a 12 X 12 ft, and have only had to replace one winch over the last 7 years. Relay failed.

The door uses the normal coil spring tensioner and I mounted the winch on one side of the door. The pulley that comes with the winch I mounted at the top of the door bracket like this.

The cable runs up next to the track, trough the pulley and down the door to the bottom roller. Since the door is tensioned to around 40 lbs to lift the winch and pulley will never wear out.

The winch control hangs down next to the door latch. When the door is in the lower position and the latch in the lock position I put the control behind the slide lock. This serves as a reminder to unlock the door before trying to raise the door. As you can imagine the winch will destroy the door if the latch is left locked while trying to raise the door.

As you’ve probably figured out by now, this does not power the door down, so the pull rope will need to stay attached should you raise your door so high as to not have enough weight for gravity to lower the door. A minor inconvenience considering I rarely raise my door that high. The only other drawback is you have to keep your thumb on the control until you get the door where you want it and lowered. Single lined, the winch raises the door about the same speed as a real garage door.

Cheap solution!
One of my sons installs garage doors for a living and he still is amazed at how well it works.

 

[bogus one]

mini-fridge?

lightweight.........

as far as beer cusumption goes, otherwise , your still a fatass

 

[se2000]

I am also late to this love fest. But I want to mention that the springs are going to have to be fixed before an opener can be used. openers don't have much lift power.
use the money you'd spend on the opener and get a pro shop to fix your misadjusted springs

 

[haystax]

Uhh, I don't think his springs are broken - he just needs an opener. Unless my reading comprehension skills are failing.

 

[se2000]

Since the door is going up part way, I don't think they are broken either. But they are not right. different springs or tension most likely.

 

[calstyl2]

Have you found an affordable solution for you garage door?

Here’ is how I solved that problem on my shop doors.

I bought two 440 lb Harbor Freight 120v winches on sale with a coupon.

The shop has two doors, one a 12 X 16 and a 12 X 12 ft, and have only had to replace one winch over the last 7 years. Relay failed.

The door uses the normal coil spring tensioner and I mounted the winch on one side of the door. The pulley that comes with the winch I mounted at the top of the door bracket like this.

The cable runs up next to the track, trough the pulley and down the door to the bottom roller. Since the door is tensioned to around 40 lbs to lift the winch and pulley will never wear out.

The winch control hangs down next to the door latch. When the door is in the lower position and the latch in the lock position I put the control behind the slide lock. This serves as a reminder to unlock the door before trying to raise the door. As you can imagine the winch will destroy the door if the latch is left locked while trying to raise the door.

As you’ve probably figured out by now, this does not power the door down, so the pull rope will need to stay attached should you raise your door so high as to not have enough weight for gravity to lower the door. A minor inconvenience considering I rarely raise my door that high. The only other drawback is you have to keep your thumb on the control until you get the door where you want it and lowered. Single lined, the winch raises the door about the same speed as a real garage door.

Cheap solution!
One of my sons installs garage doors for a living and he still is amazed at how well it works.

That Sir is awesome..............

 

[e rock]

Just go look at a couple different openers. Some styles do not easily lend themselves to easy home-brew extensions and some do. Screw-drive can't really be booty-fabbed, but they seem to be more likely to have extension kits available ($$). There are chain-drive ones where the chain rides in a precisely-fit channel - these also are no good for extending without the right kit.

Fortunately, the style that is easiest to modify for a tall door is also usually the cheapest because they're noisy. You want the chain-drive unit with a cable and a pulley at the door header end of the rail. You'll need to find a suitable spot to hack the rail in two and add an appropriate-length chuck of steel. It needs to be strong, but there is room to sleeve it or whatever you need to do since the rail is purely a structural piece.

You'll need to extend the chain (cheap bicycle chain) and probably the cable as well in order to make enough room for full door travel. The limit switches will still work just fine.

Still a good idea to get those springs tensioned correctly.

 

[wob]

If you're not dead yet, hire a damned pro. I replaced and reloaded a garage door ONCE.

Never again.