A quick favor to ask

[mapes]

So our garage door opener was acting weird and I decided to replace it. So yesterday while my wife was gallivanting in San Francisco with her sister I bop down to Sears and pick up a new 3/4 HP, quiet belt drive with battery back up and keyless entry unit. I spend 5 hours installing, calibrating and programing both the keyless entry and her car homelink capable rear view mirror.

Whats the first thing outta her mouth? It's not "ohh it's quiet" or "cool battery back up" or even mentioning the nice control panel LED with temp gauge/ clock and motion detector that turns on the interior lights.

She say's "Why does it take so long to open"? So I timed the opening sequence ...Nothing scientific mind you I just counted in my head. It took 12 seconds from fully closed to fully opened. Also because the previous open had issues it was only opening the GD enough to get her car in and out. Now it completely opens.

So my favor is if you have a 3 panel sectional tracked garage door the next time you open it could you time it and give me the result.

I think because it's quiet it's all in her head that it's taking longer....Anyways thanks

[Duke{CLR}]

So our garage door opener was acting weird and I decided to replace it. So yesterday while my wife was gallivanting in San Francisco with her sister I bop down to Sears and pick up a new 3/4 HP, quiet belt drive with battery back up and keyless entry unit. I spend 5 hours installing, calibrating and programing both the keyless entry and her car homelink capable rear view mirror.

Whats the first thing outta her mouth? It's not "ohh it's quiet" or "cool battery back up" or even mentioning the nice control panel LED with temp gauge/ clock and motion detector that turns on the interior lights.

She say's "Why does it take so long to open"? So I timed the opening sequence ...Nothing scientific mind you I just counted in my head. It took 12 seconds from fully closed to fully opened. Also because the previous open had issues it was only opening the GD enough to get her car in and out. Now it completely opens.

So my favor is if you have a 3 panel sectional tracked garage door the next time you open it could you time it and give me the result.

I think because it's quiet it's all in her head that it's taking longer....Anyways thanks

Lol, I don't have a garage yet but you could always disable it and have her open it manually for a week or two.

[Minerva]

lol, I Don't Have A Garage Yet But You Could Always Disable It And Have Her Open It Manually For A Week Or Two.

Lol !!!

[Raijin]

Well there are a few ?'s that i must ask you on this application
as well as breif descriptions that goes along with this as i am SEARS certified

1. what is your garage door pannels made of
are they hollow core foam and aluminum/or/steel pannels or are they of wood construction
....Hollow core doors or man made construction doors tend to opperate the same with little to no difference durring hot weather as that of moist or wet weather
...in essence they dont absorb moisture which in effect makes for a heavier door and often times fast motor driven garage door openers tend to seem slow when its the weight that is effecting the unit and not the actual timed speed, where as a dry door would seem to be about 10 seconds in your case down to 8.5 seconds... now im unfamiliar with your area location and weather ...im located in the land of Webbed footed Oregon Ducks and here Garage doors are compounded with many variables but the above is most common

also their is a bit of safety to a slowwer door then that of a fast door, that is especially a concern when children or pets are around that of the door as well
too fast and the door could injur a child or kill a pet

2. if the above common issues aren't observed have you made certain that your rollers,hinges,and all rotating drive mecanisims have been properly lubricated and or replaced where as necessary

[mapes]

Well there are a few ?'s that i must ask you on this application
as well as breif descriptions that goes along with this as i am SEARS certified

1. what is your garage door pannels made of
are they hollow core foam and aluminum/or/steel pannels or are they of wood construction
....Hollow core doors or man made construction doors tend to opperate the same with little to no difference durring hot weather as that of moist or wet weather
...in essence they dont absorb moisture which in effect makes for a heavier door and often times fast motor driven garage door openers tend to seem slow when its the weight that is effecting the unit and not the actual timed speed, where as a dry door would seem to be about 10 seconds in your case down to 8.5 seconds... now im unfamiliar with your area location and weather ...im located in the land of Webbed footed Oregon Ducks and here Garage doors are compounded with many variables but the above is most common

also their is a bit of safety to a slowwer door then that of a fast door, that is especially a concern when children or pets are around that of the door as well
too fast and the door could injur a child or kill a pet

2. if the above common issues aren't observed have you made certain that your rollers,hinges,and all rotating drive mecanisims have been properly lubricated and or replaced where as necessary

Whoa the last thing I expected was a certified technician!!!

So its the three panel (horizontal) metal door. It double walled constructed and the upper panel has 3 or maybe 4 (can't remember right now) glass panes measuring about 11" x 3' .

So weather shouldn't matter but I'm in central coast California.

I will check the rollers. Although I would expect the rollers to effect both the old and the new opener in the same manner. While I have you here man what type of lube and what's the lube application interval generally speaking?

Hey thanks again

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

Lol, I don't have a garage yet but you could always disable it and have her open it manually for a week or two.

That's what I would do.

One of mine took 10 seconds, the other 13.

[mapes]

Thanks Obi

[Apache Warrior]

I agree with Duke.
That reminds me of the time I helped a friend put up a cieling fan in his living room. It's July and the outside temp is over 100 with 100% humidity. He has vaulted ceilings and the crawl space in the attic was very low. Temps were very high. She came came home right after we finished installing it. The first thing out of her mouth was " it's to high". We had it 7 feet from the floor. Did I mention my friend is 6' 5" tall? I thought he was going to kill her. I told her if it was any lower it would hit her husband in the head. She still thinks it is to high. Did I mention she is 5' 0"?
Apache

[Qicmee]

My door opener is a dual mode version: 8 sec. up, 12 sec. down.

Clearly, the new one takes longer only because it has to open all the way.

[Raijin]

Whoa the last thing I expected was a certified technician!!!

So its the three panel (horizontal) metal door. It double walled constructed and the upper panel has 3 or maybe 4 (can't remember right now) glass panes measuring about 11" x 3' .

So weather shouldn't matter but I'm in central coast California.

I will check the rollers. Although I would expect the rollers to effect both the old and the new opener in the same manner. While I have you here man what type of lube and what's the lube application interval generally speaking?

Hey thanks again

HEY THERE, forgive me i was under the impression that you replaced the whole unit minus that of the rollers , instead of just the powered unit, i know why would someone do that , trust me i have seen worse in my field

anyways if the rollers are the same as that of the previous door unit , then dont concern yourself with them
may i ask did you get the chain driven unit or the Worm driven unit,
the chain driven units, tend to be alil noisy and the chain can stretch over time and create added noise , so going by what you stated earlier on how quiet it is i am gonna assume you purchased the worm driven unit
the above is for answering your ? to me on what lubricant to use

depending on your geographic location your sears dealer will have your required lubricant in stock at any of the Sears Certified Tech Departments, however if you find that either they are out of your location or are outta the way and your local sears department look at you in the and you feel the need to the living crap outta the sales clerk, then here is what we used in the service department

for Worm driven units

Product ID. # M P LITH
Product Name. Ultra Lube
MFG. southwest div
WITCO CORPORATION
OLATHE KANSAS 66061
913-782-5800

this stuff comes in cardboard tubes that are about as long as a calk tube and are meant for the Zerk grease guns, but all you do is remove the cap and you have a choice in how you apply it ...carefull though this stuff is Black and extremely sticky
either use a throw away stiff bristle bush to apply or i like to use a ziplock bag, stick grease into bag, ziplock the bag shut after removing as much air as possible, cut 1/4th inch off corner then squeeze the grease out to apply it before and after worm drive gear so that it coats the entire worm drive gear evenly under normal use about a tablespoon dollop infront and behind is about all that is necessary one tube will last you about 20+ years lol

for the chain driven units:

any dry High in Graphite content lubricant (otherwise known as lock ease)
its a pain to lubricate the chain driven units as the chains require more attention
the graphite lubricants get everwhere, and you must lubricate each chain link sepparately as the lubricant is in powder form
and it is messy

one way to speed the application up is to fold a shop rag into thirds and soak it with wd-40 then liberally apply graphite powder to the damped cloth and hold it to chain then rub the chain making certain to coat all sides of chain
the wd-40 will eventually evaporate from the chain and leave the graphite residue

[mapes]

HEY THERE, forgive me i was under the impression that you replaced the whole unit minus that of the rollers , instead of just the powered unit, i know why would someone do that , trust me i have seen worse in my field

anyways if the rollers are the same as that of the previous door unit , then dont concern yourself with them
may i ask did you get the chain driven unit or the Worm driven unit,
the chain driven units, tend to be alil noisy and the chain canstretch over timeand create added noise , so going by what you stated earlier on how quiet it is i am gonna assume you purchased the worm driven unit
the above is for answering your ? to me on what lubricant to use

depending on your geographic location your sears dealer will have your required lubricant in stock at any of the Sears Certified Tech Departments, however if you find that either they are out of your location or are outta the way and your local sears department look at you in the and you feel the need to the living crap outta the sales clerk, then here is what we used in the service department

for Worm driven units

Product ID. # M P LITH
Product Name. Ultra Lube
MFG. southwest div
WITCO CORPORATION
OLATHE KANSAS 66061
913-782-5800

for the chain driven units:

any dry High in Graphite content lubricant (otherwise known as lock ease)
its a pain to lubricate the chain driven units as the chains require more attention
the graphite lubricants get everwhere, and you must lubricate each chain link sepparately as the lubricant is in powder form
and it is messy

one way to speed the application up is to fold a shop rag into thirds and soak it with wd-40 then liberally apply graphite powder to the damped cloth and hold it to chain then rub the chain making certain to coat all sides of chain
the wd-40 will eventually evaporate from the chain and leave the graphite residue

Sorry I wasn't clear. I bought a belt drive. About the lube I thought when you said rollers I assumed the hinge pins and the track rollers for the door itself. Not the track. BTW the unit I got was.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...1&blockType=G1

[Raijin]

ahh thats a good unit, unfortunantly by todays standards you really cant go by what yesteryears power houses or the older garage door units did , dont get me wrong todays units are similar in opperation but when it comes to the manufacturing of said items they just arent made the way they used to be...lol that said if you have the belt version you shouldnt have an issue with lubrication, although i do have a sugguestion for you

pick up 1-or-2 more belts...for future serviceability, drop them into a manilla envelope with some of those dessicant packets you get with a new pair of shoes or electronics and tape it to the top of garage door opener head unit, that way either you or the new owners of your home have a few more years worth of work with the head unit

as for maintenance i would just ensure the rollers in the tracks are lubed with wd-40 or a good silicone lubricant (make sure what you use that it has moisture displacement), other then that its pretty simple upkeep me thinks

[mapes]

as for maintenance i would just ensure the rollers in the tracks are lubed with wd-40 or a good silicone lubricant (make sure what you use that it has moisture displacement), other then that its pretty simple upkeep me thinks

Cool thanks for the info. I happen to have some firearm moisture displacing lube that should do the trick.

[tigershilone]

10 seconds opening for the double wood door with craftsman 3/4HP chain drive
13 - 14 seconds opening for the single wood door with craftsman 1/2HP chain drive

Save your expensive gun lube for your guns, use either WD40 for periodic lube or white lithium EP in small amounts for less periodic maintenance.

Tiger_Shilone

[DougBob]

LiftMaster Professional
1/2 HP Belt Drive

10 secs Up
10 secs down
Single car metal door, with three insulation filled panels.