How easy is it to replace an old Sears garage door opener? (Update- DONE!)

[JEDI]

did anyone read the part that his broken garage door opener is 20yrs old?? I doubt that his opener has any of the safety and convenient features a new opener has. For safety's sake, new garage door opener is one of the cheapest home improvements one can make. you can get it done for under $400 installed!

I have the eye beam that prevents the garage door closing if something blocks the beam.

what other safety + convience features?

 

[JEDI]

Seriously check the belt drives. This is what I've got.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHzle4GD0wc

thx. it's a lot quieter than my chain driven opener.
I assume it's a new garage and you didn't have a rail?

or when u replaced the garage door opener, u had to buy a rail kit extender??
if so, why?

 

[richardycc]

I have the eye beam that prevents the garage door closing if something blocks the beam.

what other safety + convience features?

auto reverse, if it hits something on its way down, it will automatically roll back up. Rolling remote control code technology. For convenience features, things like control it by your smartphone, is your current opener Homelink compatible? Back up battery in case of power outage, etc. I doubt your current opener has all these features. newer opener would be a lot quieter too.

 

[sphenodont]

Why no love for screw drives? I had one at my last house, holy crap that thing was fast and quiet. I could hit the button at the front of the garage and the door would be fully up before I could quickly walk to it. My was a Genie.

I'll second the love for screw-drive openers. I don't think I could go back to a chain-drive, but it would require more work. He could probably repair or replace his with another chain-drive, but if he wants to change it out, it'd probably be best to hire someone to do it.

 

[JEDI]

Yes.

Pick a new one up and replace the rail and opener. You can even reuse the sensors and reuse the line for the controller.

why replace the rail + chain?

even tho I'm replacing a 20yr old craftsman opener with a newer model, the spinning part on top of the opener looks the same. (8 spokes)
even the holes line up for mounting the rail to the opener.

Just replace the opener and reuse the sensors, rail, and chain??

 

[Lean L]

Your choice. I specify replacing the rail since there are different technologies out there. If you got anything different then the rail must also go. If you think the old set up is good enough, just replace the opener.. or just the broken gear.

 

[JEDI]

Your choice. I specify replacing the rail since there are different technologies out there. If you got anything different then the rail must also go. If you think the old set up is good enough, just replace the opener.. or just the broken gear.

ahh yes.. just replace the opener in 15min (vs 3hrs for the opener/rails/chain):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeaR6Yhx6IY

yeah I can replace the gear but the new opener is 1/2hp vs the 1/3hp of the old one.

the old one doesn't lift the door when its below 32F outside for some reason.
yeah, it might be the garage door springs getting old and no longer assist enuf to lift the door when it's too cold.

but for the $ for a new gear, lube and the springs, I might as well spend double the $ more and get a new opener.

 

[JEDI]

done!

took an hr.
would have been a little less except my opener was set to the closed position but my chain was set to the open position so the slider was near the housing.

so when I pressed the button, the opener pulled the slider even closer to itself till it hit the housing and left a small dent.

had to take apart the chain and move the slider to where the opener expected it to be.
then made minor adjustments to up + down travel.

and would have been ALOT quicker but this model had a chain spreader. the old model didn't.
so I needed more slack in the chain then adjusting it so the chain only had like 1" slack again.

if it wasn't for the spreader, I could have just slipped the chain onto the new model and mounted it w/o adjustments.
it would have probably taken ~15min like in the video in the above post.

oh, the new model is MUCH quieter!

anyway, thx all for your replies!

 

[Zorba]

ahh yes.. just replace the opener in 15min (vs 3hrs for the opener/rails/chain):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeaR6Yhx6IY

yeah I can replace the gear but the new opener is 1/2hp vs the 1/3hp of the old one.

the old one doesn't lift the door when its below 32F outside for some reason.
yeah, it might be the garage door springs getting old and no longer assist enuf to lift the door when it's too cold.

but for the $ for a new gear, lube and the springs, I might as well spend double the $ more and get a new opener.

FYI: If your springs are providing the proper force, you will wear out your new opener very quickly. Detach the door from the trolley then raise and lower by hand, it should take little force to raise the door and the door shouldn't slam down.

If it is taking a lot of force to open the door, get the springs replaced or adjusted.