[biotechee]

Any others I should consider in addition to the run-of-the-mill Craftsman/Genie/Chamberlain?

Anyone ever heard of Linear?

I want ultra quiet, no battery back-up required (battery back-up is just more crap that I have to "monitor").

TIA!

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[rhudeboye]

Good question.

For what its worth, I have a Craftsman and its been going strong for over 6 years now. Easy install and the remote works from about 4 homes down. Dual lights that work on a timer, lock off feature on the indoor switch and a lighted security keypad outside the door for when you forget your keys.

The downside is that its Pretty noisy. I've heard worse but I've also heard some that are simply a lite hum that cant be heard from inside the house.

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[biotechee]

Our Craftsman (chain drive) is 10 yrs old. The only issue I have ever had with it is one of the bulbs always burns out- I think it is due to excessive vibration. So I only have one bulb in it! Other than that, has worked like a charm.

We're on the cusp of getting a new garage door with insulation and all that jazz, so I really want to do the opener at the same time. Since I leave first in the morning, opening the garage door wakes everyone. I leave through the back door instead- much quieter! I keep the 968 in the garage therefore, I need to keep it outside the night before if I want to drive it to work. I don't like doing that!

I did do some things to my system that have helped:

1) Upgraded steel rollers to nylon rollers (both have bearings). This helped quite things down a lot. The nylon rollers were only $24 shipped from Ebay.

2) Added rigid foam insulation to the door. This did help a little.

3) Lubed the system, which hadn't really been done in 10 years! Shame on me.

All in all, it is now MUCH quieter, but still noisy. A Craftsman belt drive would probably do the trick.

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[rhudeboye]

<!--quoteo(post=70619:date=Apr 21 2009, 07:59 AM:name=biotechee)-->QUOTE (biotechee @ Apr 21 2009, 07:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->1) Upgraded steel rollers to nylon rollers (both have bearings). This helped quite things down a lot. The nylon rollers were only $24 shipped from Ebay<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

You're a world of help today. Not to say your not helpful at other times.. They just dont pertain to me. Now here I have 2 posts in a row saving me $$ Did you change out your rollers yourself?


FYI- A spring on my grage door popped on me last summer. I have a single insulated wooden door that serves a 2 car garage, Super heavy. When the spring was replaced the tech mentioned that I should have my rollers replaced also. He commented "shortly after the spring goes you stand a good chance of a roller breaking off. Should that happen while the door is up, it will come crashing down on your car". (ahh, an upsale technique I thought). How much, $40 per roller for the nice ones. I gave a smirk and declined. But now, ever time I open the door, in the back of my mind is his story.

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[biotechee]

Well gosh, I'm blushing! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

I have a simple single wall steel garage door that is no doubt much lighter than your wooden beast! I simply searched Ebay for "garage door rollers" and went from there. You'll need to measure the length of the roller shaft to determine which size you need. Normal ones for single doors and light double doors are usually 4" long. They make heavy duty ones that are 7" long, maybe even bigger. I needed 4" ones and I got the version with 11 ball bearings.

You can also search the web for garage door rollers if you need really heavy duty ones. That is what I did initially, then compared what was available to that on ebay. Ebay ended up being slightly cheaper because the deal I got included shipping all for $23.95. I think real top notch rollers can run up to $9-10 a piece.

Yes, I replaced mine by myself. The top four on each side were very simple. Just unbolt the roller mounting plate, remove it and switch out the old roller for the new. The bottom one on each side is connected to the spring/steel lifting wire mechanism, and as such, is under immense pressure. These two were more of a challenge. Since I didn't want to remove the roller mounting plate (connected to the spring/wire) so as to avoid the spring letting go (nasty!), I ended up disconnecting the door rails from the wall (one side at a time of course!). I left the upper most bolt in place and had the door lowered so the bottom roller was waist high. By disconnecting the rail from the wall, I was able to twist and pull the rail away far enough to slide the roller out from its mounting plate. Inserted the new roller and jostled the rail back into position. Reattached the door rail system. Done!

All in all, I think the rollers reduced noise by around 20-30%. Purely subjective since I don't have a dB measuring device!!!

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[rhudeboye]

The spring for my door was the most expensive spring they carried. The less expensive ones wouldn't do well with the weight. My door is over 400lbs. It came with the longest warranty as well. Looking at my door I can see the simplicity of changing out the other rollers. It just that bottom one thats got me doubting.

OK, I got some web surfin to do. thanks again

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[jeff968]

Now, for this question I actually would trust those guys over at consumer reports. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] Not sure if they've done any GDO tests lately.

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[DiREW0LF]

We replaced our garage doors two years ago with custom Wayne Dalton doors. At the same time we installed the Wayne Dalton openers. Ours have been super quiet and are completely out of the way since they don't mount in the same location as normal openers. Here is the link.

http://www.wayne-dalton.com/DirectDrive.asp

The only catch is you need to be using one of their doors since it doesn't use the same spring setup either.

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[biotechee]

Rhude-

Definitely search. You want to make sure the rollers you get are up to the task. Depending on your set-up, you should be able to figure out a way to change the bottom roller. Worth a shot I think.

Jeff-

I typically purge my CR mags relatively quickly, so I'll have to see what is left and check for reviews.

Dire-

Love the direct drive units. I'll look into them- thanks!

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[Jamie '92 968]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Our Craftsman (chain drive) is 10 yrs old. The only issue I have ever had with it is one of the bulbs always burns out- I think it is due to excessive vibration. So I only have one bulb in it! Other than that, has worked like a charm.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Try using a ceiling fan bulb. They are designed for high vibration environments.

Jamie

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[cosimo]

There is a cable that you can put through the springs that prevent them from crashing into your car. I have them installed. I learned the hard way. Also when a spring breaks my garage door guy said to replace both springs.

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[rhudeboye]

<!--quoteo(post=70680:date=Apr 22 2009, 07:44 AM:name=cosimo)-->QUOTE (cosimo @ Apr 22 2009, 07:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->There is a cable that you can put through the springs that prevent them from crashing into your car. I have them installed. I learned the hard way. Also when a spring breaks my garage door guy said to replace both springs.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Yeah, be surprised to find a pro installer that would only do one. I had both done. Id like to know more about that cable.

Gotta ask. What car did your door crash into?

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