Recommend a Garage Door Opener

The janky ass Menards special that came with the house is eating itself alive. I soldered in wires, and adjusted everything that I can to the nth degree. Its loud, temperamental, and I'm done with it.

What do we like? I want to be able to service this thing when needed, I want it to be quite, and I need enough power to open a two bay door. I dont need that power yet, but I dont want to buy another opener when I expand the single into a 2 1/2 car garage.

I know we can do better than big box stores.

Not sure of brand but the new style with the motor on the end of the spring rod is the way to go.

Datsun240ZGuy said:

Not sure of brand but the new style with the motor on the end of the spring rod is the way to go.

100%. I know you said no big box but I've had this one on a 16 wide by 20 tall commercial door for 3 years now with 0 issues. Probably opened/closed 15 times a day. 
 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Chamberlain-Wall-Mount-Direct-Drive-Ultra-Quiet-Garage-Door-Opener-with-Battery-Backup-RJO70/312647614

I just disconnected mine from the opener and open it manually, because this house has 3 garage doors with openers and all 3 broke within a year of purchase. 

I have had two Liftmaster chain drives in two different houses. They both worked fine. I was able to buy a rebuild kit with sprockets, gears and small parts, probably 10 years ago. I think I used a sprocket and a couple of bushings out of the kit to fix our old opener. That was at our old house over eight years ago.
 

We replaced springs and rollers  on this door about two years ago, but the opener is still the same. It's original to the house, 20 + years old. 
 

We park in the garage so the door gets used 4-5 times a day. 

Liftmaster, Chamberlain, Genie.  All are reputable brands.  Chamberlain owns the Liftmaster brand.

Mine came with the house and have seen at least twice daily use for the last 22 years.  I replaced a control board in one of the units maybe 10 years ago.  That's it.  Reliable as an anvil.

Buy enough horsepower for your door size.  Make sure your door is properly counterbalanced with the right spring.  Make sure the door runs smoothly on the tracks.

I have a Liftmaster but never been a fan of how loud it is.  Adding in the door creaking and moaning now since it's gotten really cold it's probably time for new rollers and some lithium grease. 

My liftmasters only gave up the ghost when Lightning struck my house and the main boards fried. 
 

neighbor has a belt drive chamberlain that he got on sale at Costco. I'm jealous of how quiet it is. 
 

In reply to OLDYLR :

Lubrication and adjustment can really help quiet them down. Check the tension on the chain. 
 

Chain adjustment.

I just had a new door and opener installed on my garage and got a Liftmaster (wasn't asked, contractor handled it).  It's quiet but I can't stop it in-motion with one press of the button.  It just reverses and runs to the stop.  Honestly not a fan but not sure what to do about it.  Old opener worked great but was made before wireless remotes and the add-on unit someone wired in decades ago was dead so I was looking forward to the update.

I guess this is a warning as much as anything.

My wife and daughter use our 16' wide garage door as our front door.  I can constantly be heard telling them;

you guys are going to burn out that garage door opener motor opening it all the time.

It's similar to you telling your kids to turn off the lights when you leave the room.

An overhead chain or belt drive will never be as quiet as the style that connects to the roller. Not even close. 

We've had a belt-drive Chamberlain for 4+ years after a lightning strike took care of the last one. It's super quiet and hasn't given us any problems. But the few weeks we were having to open the door manually was a PITA. 

Open door > start car > back out of garage > get out of car and close garage > get back in car. 

It was worth the $450 or so we paid Lowe's for the opener and to have someone come install it.

I have a Genie belt drive I installed probably 4 years ago. It's quiet and works well. I have not tried any that attach to a roller, though.

I should probably file this in the "Today I learned" thread but a few years ago, at our old house, we had a circa 1950's garage door under the house.  No automatic opener.  Easy to open and close.  Then one day I heard a huge BANG!.  Wife screamed from inside the garage.  The spring had broken, the door come down, and she was trapped in the garage.  No problem I thought, I'll just lift this door.  Holy BERK THAT THING WAS HEAVY.  It was at least 10 times heavier than I thought it would be - it was real wood and real glass they way they used to build stuff.  I shudder to think what would have happened had it come down on her or our dog.  We ended up cleaning out the junk stacked in the corner so she could go out the side door.  I could not lift it.  

In reply to A 401 CJ :

Even modern doors are surprisingly heavy.  That spring does a lot of work, and boy do they make a sound when they break.

tester (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to OLDYLR :

Lubrication and adjustment can really help quiet them down. Check the tension on the chain. 
 

Chain adjustment.

I have one of my units that is in desperate need of a chain adjustment, so thank you for that!

The link is fuzzed up, though, so try this one instead:

Chain Adjustment (corrected link)

I was researching Liftmaster Jackshaft openers a couple of years ago. They more or less look the same, but a few of them had some common issues as I recall. I decided at the time that my next opener will be a Liftmaster MJ. Simple. Repairable. Rated for medium duty applications. No wifi capability or issues with controllers on the fritz.

If you care about that kind of thing, Chamberlain (which owns Liftmaster) is not playing nice with open source home automation:  https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/11/06/removal-of-myq-integration/

I do use home assistant for some things, but am of the "why would I want my garage door opener connected to the cloud" opinion.

I know you said "better than big box stores" but hear me out.  When I worked at the Pro Desk, one of my customers was an installer.  He would come in about once a month and buy every single one of these AND every single one of these we had on the shelves.  First one is belt drive with a phone app.  Second one is chain drive without the phone connectivity.

He swore by them, and they're both under $200.  He said "they just refuse to break"

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

This is said and done in this household as well.  Especially with the keypad for entry lid left up or battery cover knocked off laying on the ground. 

Following, my opener is from 1958, has leather and spring clutch with a remote from the 70's or eighties that makes a noise when you press the button.   The good news is that all the parts to repair it are available at McMaster Carr, literally no special parts.  The "electronics" are a screw drive with mechanical contacts.  I have looked into a newer retrofit app based remote system for it but as soon as I do something will die on it.

Costco sells Chamberlain and Liftmaster, that is what I will get...someday.   You know when the stars align and a sale, money burning a hole in my pocket and free time to install it all happen at the same time.

Genie DC belt drive. I have installed 5 of them in the last 10 years. They are flawless and silent. They also work when space is tight for a wall mount. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Is there a possibility of adding on an outside keypad to either of those openers? That would be far more useful than WiFi.

In reply to Toyman! :

I google Genie DC belt drive gives me about 20 different options.  Anything more specific? Or are all of them are good enough.