Garage Door Opener Problems

[Thalermade]

16 foot door (2 cars wide). Sears 1/2 hp chain drive. Everything is 9 years old.

The plastic gear on the chain sprocket shaft has been ground smooth by the
gear on the driveshaft from the motor.

It looks like a simple fix, replace the gear. But before I do that I am curious about what caused the plastic gear to wear? Is this normal, or do I have a problem caused by the big torsion spring being out of adjustment..

Never had any problems before. Any thoughts apppreciated.

Thanks,
Russ

[LCHIEN]

well, I would release the door from the mechanism and raise and lower it by hand - the old fashined way. If it works OK, then your spring is probably OK. If it was not OK, ideally the force trip mechanism on your garage door should have reversed direction when opening in the difficult direction. All recent door openers have force trip mechanisms that are usually set pretty loose for safety. Nromally you can grab it and give it a shove against the motion direction and it will reverse direction.

I don't know about the wear-characteristics, tho, what brand is it?

[radhak]

16 foot door (2 cars wide). Sears 1/2 hp chain drive. Everything is 9 years old.

The plastic gear on the chain sprocket shaft has been ground smooth by the
gear on the driveshaft from the motor.

It looks like a simple fix, replace the gear. But before I do that I am curious about what caused the plastic gear to wear? Is this normal, or do I have a problem caused by the big torsion spring being out of adjustment..

Never had any problems before. Any thoughts apppreciated.

Thanks,
Russ

Had same problems a few months ago. A technician was visiting the neighbour, asked him to take a look : he hemmed and hawed, then told me i'd need to replace the whole shebang - all of $150 or more. Being a non-woodworking purchase, i was not not keen on it , so i went hunting for a sears parts shop (different from their regular shop) with the worn-out gear in hand. A salesguy looks at it, tells me such (small) parts are not sold on their own. I insist, he looks up, finds it is sold - for $1.99! Shipping cost me $6 more, but am able to fix it pretty easy. $150 saved, bonus points with LOML (she still recalls it as a major savings)

What I could add is, there are a bunch of thick screws-and-bolts that hold up the mechanism at various points along the chain, at the gearbox, etc. Mine had one fallen out some time back (never realized what it was when i found it on the floor), and the other was coming off too. I am guessing that lopsided weight added to the wear-and-tear, faster. Of course, 9 years is pretty long for it wear out normally. Still, you might want to check that all the bolts are in place - if not, a trip to HD with the correct measurements is needed.

Of course, as Loring suggested, first check it does work manually.

[eezlock]

Garage door opener...

I'd replace that defective opener with a better made heavy duty unit with one from LiftMaster, a whole lot better unit and they have rolling code technology that some others don't have. It prevents ones Like Genie or
others that have a fixed code from opening your garage door with an un-authorized opening remote device. eezlock

[TheRic]

Try looking at sears parts for parts you might need on MANY types of items. Even if they are not sears made items they still will probably have it. Have fixed many items myself from getting the parts thru them. They will show you a nice exploded diagram of the item. Some times several diagrams, depends on the item, and how old. Some diagrams allow you to zoom in. Can also print out the diagram, comes in very handy.

The diagram will give you a number for that part, which you need to look up on the parts list which will show the name of the part, part number, and cost. Can order right there on the parts page the number you need. It's one of the first places I go to when trying to fix something.

I sometimes look there to see how I might want to take various parts off, since the exploded diagram will give you an ideal of whats going on.

[Thalermade]

Thanks guys. Ordering and replacing Sears parts is no problem for me. My biggest concern is what led to the failure. I don't want to fix it and then have it wear out in a few months.

I feel there must be too much stress somewhere in the path, so I am having a garage door inspection done. I feel the door should open a little easier than it does, and there seems to be a "hitch" at several spots when I manually open/close.

Not willing to risk a potential "door spring calamity" . Then I will decide whether to repair the 9 yr. old Sears opener or spend some money for a quieter unit.

Russ

[JSCOOK]

I just came from Sears (looking for the remote possibility of getting a $40 router as posted on BT3) and happened to notice the 1/2HP Sears Door Openers on sale (I'm in the market for one myself) and FYI they are suppose to have a 10yr warranty IIRC ... might want to check first, may be completely covered.

16 foot door (2 cars wide). Sears 1/2 hp chain drive. Everything is 9 years old.

The plastic gear on the chain sprocket shaft has been ground smooth by the
gear on the driveshaft from the motor.

It looks like a simple fix, replace the gear. But before I do that I am curious about what caused the plastic gear to wear? Is this normal, or do I have a problem caused by the big torsion spring being out of adjustment..

Never had any problems before. Any thoughts apppreciated.

Thanks,
Russ

[Thalermade]

Garage Door Opener Problems - Repaired

Made the right choice. The service company showed up on time as promised, found that the big old spring had some problems and was out of adjustment. He also replaced a couple of old stuck wheels as well as replacing that chewed up nylon gear. Tuned, lubed and tested, the opener is running smoother and quieter now.

Money well spent. Very happy wife now that her garage door opener is working again.

As for the Sears warranty, mine was too old - no 10 year warranty back then. Though Sears had my warranty info available. Guess it is worth the time to mail in those cards.

Thanks again
Russ