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This morning my door made it halfway down before pooping the bed. I took it apart and noticed a lot of little shavings in the box that from my deduction were from the nylon gear that connects the door chain to the motor shaft. Upon touching the gear the teeth looked worn and flimsy and the motor was spinning fine but the gear just sat there.
The setup is a Lift Master 1/2hp original to the home built in 1996. So it made what I guess could be considered a good 19 year run and I'm in the market. A few questions though;
1) What brands/models are recommended?
2) I have two doors, identical openers. I am going to inspect this one as well for wear but would it be wise to replace both at the same time or just the one that is currently broken?
3) How DIY is this? I am a pretty handy person and since the doors and all are setup wouldn't it be a simple bolt on replacement with a new track an door connection?
If it's just the plastic/nylon gear that's broke, replace the gear. It's not rocket science to replace. I've replaced mine twice already. Parts are about 20 bucks and comes as a kit. Any Liftmaster dealer should have it in stock.
new units aren't really all that expensive, imo. and the newer ones come with wifi so you can remotely open and close from anywhere from your phone, which may not be a big deal to some , but it can come in handy at times.
I've driven away from the house with my mind somewhere else and then wonder if I've shut it and have to go back to double check for peace of mind.
Also , with some newer cars that you can remotely start, if its parked in your garage and you want to remotely start it you obviously have to open the garage door to allow the fumes to escape. again ....just a convenience of sorts .
If it's just the plastic/nylon gear that's broke, replace the gear. It's not rocket science to replace. I've replaced mine twice already. Parts are about 20 bucks and comes as a kit. Any Liftmaster dealer should have it in stock.
I just looked it up and saw some videos. Seems a little detailed but completely doable and much more worth the effort for $20-25 than almost $200 for a new opener. I'll be getting my model number so I can get the right part tonight.
Stick with LiftMaster/Chamberlain.
Best on the market.
Even LiftMaster and Chamberlain are not the same units despite being owned by the same company. The LiftMaster line is a professional installer line, while Chamberlain is a line for DIYers sold at big box stores. One major difference between the LiftMaster and Chamberlain units are that the LiftMaster units use a sturdier one-piece solid rail that the installer cuts to the appropriate length for your installation, while the Chamberlain units use a less sturdy multi-piece extendable rail.
We put Liftmaster in 100% of our rental houses. I love them. If it is 19 years old, I'd probably replace. They usually start to break more frequently after around 10 years. The springs on the door itself might need replaced too, they usually start to break about the same time.
I can't speak to the DIY part, we pay the garage door company to do repairs for us.
I had my two single doors & openers replaced in October 2013. Put in Liftmasters on both doors. The belt drive is SOOOO much quieter than the chain openers I replaced.
Love that the Liftmasters had a separate button on the wall remote where I can turn the garage door opener lights on/off.
If you can repair the opener yourself, I'd say try that first. I'm not handy at all.
I didn't realize how quiet a garage door opener could be until we moved into a house that had a Chamberlain belt drive opener. Makes me want to get rid of the Genie screw drive opener in our vacation house, even though it works perfectly fine (just noisy as heck).
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